wavelength

Wavelength is the distancebetween identical points in the adjacent cycles of a waveform signal propogated in space or along a wire, as shown in the illustration. In wirelesssystems, this length is usually specified in meters,centimeters, or millimeters.  Inthe case of infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, and gammaradiation, the wavelength ismore often specified in nanometers (units of 10^-9meter) or Angstrom units(units of 10^-10 meter).

Wavelength is inversely related to frequency. The higher the frequency of the signal, the shorter the wavelength. Iff is the frequency of the signal as measured in megahertz, and w isthe wavelength as measuredin meters, then

w = 300/f

and conversely

f = 300/w

Wavelength is sometimes represented by the Greek letter lambda.

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Understand Windows tracert output to troubleshoot network connectivity Use this tip to troubleshoot Windows network connectivity problems from the command line interface using tracert. Each line in the tracert output is... Why would a computer show drive letters for discs that don't exist? If a computer shows drive letters for removable discs that aren't physically connected to it when no hard disk partitioning has been done, could a... Using tracert and TTL to troubleshoot network connectivity problems Learn how to detect packet loss with tracert and time-to-live (TTL) ping commands to troubleshoot Windows network connectivity problems and keep it...

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary availability  (SearchNetworking.com) 1) In a telephone circuit, availability is the ratio between the time during which the circuit is operational and elapsed time. 2) In a network... carrier detect  (SearchNetworking.com)