What does the amplitude of a wave measure?
AThe distance between two adjacent wave crests
BThe number of crests passing a point each second
CThe height of the crest above the null point
DThe speed at which the wave crest travels
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. The height of the crest above the null point
1. Amplitude is the height of a wave crest measured above the null point.
2. It describes how large the disturbance is, not how often it repeats.
3. The spacing between crests is wavelength, and the count of crests per second is frequency, so neither matches this definition.
_Source: OpenStax Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 15 "Light", section 15.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum_
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