Background: Figure B above shows an important relationship between the wavelength and frequency of a wave. The top wave clearly has a shorter wavelength than the second wave. However, if you picture yourself at a stationary point watching these waves pass by, more waves of the first kind would pass by in a given amount of time. Thus the frequency of the first waves is greater than that of the second waves. Wavelength and frequency are therefore inversely related. As the wavelength of a wave increases, its frequency decreases. The equation that relates the two is

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.

Question: Do the high frequency sounds have a longer or shorter wavelength than the low frequency sounds?
Answer: shorter

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.

Question: Do the low frequency sounds have a longer or shorter wavelength than the high frequency sounds?
Answer: longer

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.

Question: If Bill edited one sound to have a shorter wavelength did its frequency go up or down?
Answer: up

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.

Question: If Bill edited one sound to have a longer wavelength did its frequency go up or down?
Answer: down

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.

Question: If Bill edited one sound to have a higher frequency did its wavelength become longer or shorter?
Answer: shorter

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.

Question: If Bill edited one sound to have a lower frequency did its wavelength become longer or shorter?
Answer: longer

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.              
                                                  Patrick is measuring voltages with an oscilloscope. As he is testing various objects, he notices a number of frequency changes on the display.

Question: When Patrick saw a high frequency on his oscilloscope were the wavelengths long or short?
Answer: short

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.              
                                                  Patrick is measuring voltages with an oscilloscope. As he is testing various objects, he notices a number of frequency changes on the display.

Question: When Patrick saw a low frequency on his oscilloscope were the wavelengths long or short?
Answer: long

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.              
                                                  Patrick is measuring voltages with an oscilloscope. As he is testing various objects, he notices a number of frequency changes on the display.

Question: If Patrick noticed a long wavelength on his oscilloscope was the frequency high or low?
Answer: low

Situation: Bill is working in a sound studio recording sound effects for a short film that he is working on. Some of the sounds he captured have a very high frequency and others are very low frequency. When he is done he begins to edit the sound with a computer program.              
                                                  Patrick is measuring voltages with an oscilloscope. As he is testing various objects, he notices a number of frequency changes on the display.

Question: If Patrick noticed a short wavelength on his oscilloscope was the frequency high or low?
Answer: high