Question

Describe wavelength, amplitude, and frequency in relationship to vision and hearing.

Answer 1

Both vision and hearing share the same form of waves. The two stimuli are different in their composition but their waveform shares similar characteristics. A wave has two characteristics, amplitude, and wavelength. Amplitude is the height of the wave measured from the highest point to the lowest point. Wavelength is the length of the wave measured from one peak to another peak. Frequency refers to the number of waves passed from a particular given point at a given point in time and is measured in Hertz (Hz). It is directly related to the wavelength. Longer wavelength has a lower frequency whereas a shorter wavelength has a higher frequency.

For the human eyes, the wavelength is associated with the perception of color. For example, the color red has a longer wavelength, green has an intermediate wavelength, blue and violet has a shorter wavelength. The amplitude of light is associated with our experience of brightness and intensity of color. Larger amplitude means that the color will appear brighter.

Similarly, for the ears, the physical properties of a wave is related to our perception of sound. Sound waves are created by vibrations and cannot exist in space or in a complete vacuum. Frequency is related to our perception of sound's pitch with high-frequency meaning high-pitched sound and low frequency meaning low-pitched sound. The audible range of sound frequencies falls in between 20- 20000 Hz. The loudness of a sound is associated with the amplitude of the sound wave. Loudness is measured in decibels (dB) and higher amplitudes are associated with louder sounds. A sound louder from about 80dB to 130dB can cause potential hearing damage (for example, the sound of a truck at 25 feet away),