Wave

In mathematics, a wave is often conceptualized as a periodic oscillation and can be represented by various functions, most commonly the sine and cosine functions. These mathematical waves are essential tools to understand and represent real-world phenomena in a variety of fields.

A general representation of a wave can be given by:

Where:

  • is the amplitude, signifying the maximum value of the wave.
  • is the wave number, related to the wavelength as .
  • is the angular frequency, connected to the frequency as .
  • is the phase shift, which determines the horizontal shift of the wave.
  • represents the position, and denotes time.

Synonyms

Related Terms