High School

A local FM radio station broadcasts at a frequency of 97.5 MHz. Calculate the wavelength at which it is broadcasting.

Wavelength = ___________ meters

(1 MHz = \(10^6 \, \text{s}^{-1}\))

Answer :

Final answer:

The wavelength of a local FM radio station broadcasting at 97.5 MHz is calculated using the speed of light and the frequency, resulting in a wavelength of approximately 3.077 meters.

Explanation:

To calculate the wavelength of a radio wave, we can use the formula:

c = λ f,

where c is the speed of light in a vacuum (approximately 3 × 108 m/s), λ is the wavelength in meters, and f is the frequency in hertz (Hz). Rearranging the formula to solve for wavelength gives us:

λ = c / f.

Since 1 MHz equals 106 Hz, the frequency of the FM radio station broadcasting at 97.5 MHz is 97.5 × 106 Hz.

Plugging the values into the formula we get:

λ = (3 × 108 m/s) / (97.5 × 106 Hz)

λ = 3.077 × 108 m/s / 9.75 × 107 Hz

λ = 3.077 × 108² m/s / 9.75 × 107 Hz

λ = 3.077 × 10 m/s / 9.75 Hz

λ = λ ² λ m/s λ Hz

The wavelength of the broadcast from the local FM radio station at 97.5 MHz is therefore approximately 3.077 meters.