Solve for Wavelength of Commercial FM Radio Station at 90.1 MHz

[map7s]

Consider a commercial FM radio station that broadcasts at a frequency of 90.1 MHz. The associated electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength of ? m.

I'm pretty sure that this is a very easy problem, but for some reason, I don'ts really get it.

I was positive that I was supposed to use the equation c=wavelength*f

and I converted the frequency into Hz by multiplying by 1E6

and then I took the value of light (3E8) and divided it by my answer... is there something special about electromagnetic radiation the I failed to factor in?

 

[Hootenanny]

Nope, assuming you did the arithmetic correctly, your answer should be correct (around 0.3 meters).

 

[map7s]

thank you so much !

 

[madhusudan]

According to de broglie relation lambda=h/mv ...which implies that velocity is inversely proportional to wavelength. But According to the reletion

V=n lambda ... velocity is directly proportional to wavelength... How That diffenence is Causesd ? Am i going wrong Somowhere ?

 

[Dick]

According to de broglie relation lambda=h/mv ...which implies that velocity is inversely proportional to wavelength. But According to the reletion

V=n lambda ... velocity is directly proportional to wavelength... How That diffenence is Causesd ? Am i going wrong Somowhere ?

de broglie implies that velocity is proportional to lambda only for massive particles. Massless particles always travel at c. Where did you get V=n lambda? What is n?

 

[madhusudan]

Hey..

de broglie implies that velocity is proportional to lambda only for massive particles. Massless particles always travel at c. Where did you get V=n lambda? What is n?

n is the frequency of the wave and V=n lambda is the basic Wave equation

 

[Dick]

n is the frequency of the wave and V=n lambda is the basic Wave equation

Ok, so de broglie says lambda of a massive particle is inversely proportional to the velocity at a fixed mass. V=n*lambda says the the lambda of any wave is directly proportional to velocity at fixed frequency. The two statesments refer to different classes of objects with different properties held fixed. They are two quite different statements.

 

[madhusudan]

Ok, so de broglie says lambda of a massive particle is inversely proportional to the velocity at a fixed mass. V=n*lambda says the the lambda of any wave is directly proportional to velocity at fixed frequency. The two statesments refer to different classes of objects with different properties held fixed. They are two quite different statements.

okay. How it can be different ?de Broglie Equation deals with both particle and wave character ...and V=n*lambda equation deals with wave character.. Then how it can be different ?

 

[HallsofIvy]

The wave character of a massive particle. The formula cited in this problem is for electromagnetic radiation- light.

 

[Dick]

It's also important that different quantities are being held fixed in the two problems.