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A wave involves the repeated and periodic vibration of a medium. As each particle of the medium undergoes its up and down (or back and forth) vibration, the familiar wavelike pattern is established in the medium. The frequency of a wave refers to how often the particles of the medium vibrate back and forth about their resting position. Mathematically, frequency is the number of cycles per unit of time. As such, the units of frequency will have the form of cycles/time or waves/time or vibrations/time. The standard metric unit of frequency is the Hertz (abbreviated Hz) and has the meaning of per second. In referring to a frequency as being 10 Hz, it is assumed that there are 10 repetitions (cycles, waves, vibrations, etc.) occurring per second.
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