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Topic: Wavelength and Wavenumber  (Read 4541 times)

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FictionDurden

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Wavelength and Wavenumber
« on: February 03, 2005, 03:00:52 PM »
What are the similarities between wavelength and wavenumber? I cannot think of any, except that they involve waves. Their definitions are:

Wavelength: distance between two peaks or troughs of a wave
Wavenumber: number of wavelengths that fit into 1 cm.
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Offline movies

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Re:Wavelength and Wavenumber
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2005, 03:29:23 PM »
Wavelength is a measure of the actual size of the wave.  It has units of length.

Wavenumber is a measure of energy in the wave.  The units cm-1 are really units of energy, like Joules of calories.
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Offline Mitch

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Re:Wavelength and Wavenumber
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2005, 04:11:15 PM »
They are for the most part, just different ways of measuring the same thing.
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