Wavelength of "Whip" CB Antenna on Car

  • Thread starter Thread starter endeavor
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Wavelength
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
1 reply · 2K views
endeavor
Messages
174
Reaction score
0
"A "whip" CB antenna on a car is 3.0 m long. When the car is moving along a highway, a standing wave is observed in the antenna that has 1.5 loop segments in it. What is the wavelength of the fundamental frequency of the antenna?"

I'm guessing that 1.5 loops segments mean that n = 3 in
[tex]L = n \frac{\lambda_{n}}{2}[/tex]
[tex]L = 1.5\lambda_{3}[/tex]
The fundamental frequency occurs when n = 1. So, since L = 3.0m,
[tex]\lambda_{1} = 6.0m[/tex]

I know I must be doing something wrong, because the answer is 12m.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
If you are missing the LaTeX graphics, like I am, here's the equivalent:
let L = length, x = wavelength
L = n xn/2
L = 1.5 x3
x1 = 6.0m