(December 3, 2019 at 2:10 pm)Alex K Wrote: A frequency in the sense physics uses it refers to harmonic sine waves. Any other periodic change can in this sense be viewed as a combination of various harmonic oscillations with different frequencies on top of each other - google Fourier decomposition. The lowest of these frequencies determines the time it takes to complete a cycle, what one would colloquially call the frequency.
Wouldn't sine waves only be applicable to light? Perhaps I'm confusing music theory with physics, but basic sound waves can come in square waves, saw waves, etc. I don't know if these waveforms have a Fourier decomposition.
I thought frequency was more about how many cycles in a given time frame, not how much time to complete a cycle. Perhaps the difference is arbitrary however.
