Question

When a wave is propagating from a rarer to a denser medium, which characteristic of the wave does not change and why?

Answer 1

Frequency of a wave does not change when the wave is propagating from a rarer to a denser medium because frequency (ν) is given by the relation

`"v" = "v"/lambda`

As the medium changes velocity (v) and wavelength (λ) change such that ratio remains constant.