alleryStart learning →What is the intensity of a wave?
AThe power it carries per unit area
BThe energy it carries per unit time
CThe force it exerts per unit area
DThe power it carries per unit time
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. The power it carries per unit area
1. Intensity is defined as I = P / A, the power carried by the wave through an area A.
2. That is power per unit area, which folds in both how fast energy arrives and how spread out it is.
3. Energy per unit time on its own is power, with no area in it, so that option stops one step short.
4. Force per unit area is pressure, a different quantity altogether.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 16 "Oscillatory Motion and Waves", section 16.11 Energy in Waves: Intensity_
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