Wavelength is defined as the distance between the repeating parts of any propagating wave of a particular frequency. Wavelength is designated by the symbol, or rather the Greek letter (λ) lambda. Water waves, sound waves, light, or any other type of electromagnetic wave exhibits the wave like phenomenon and is associated with a particular wavelength and frequency.
Wavelength and frequency are inversely proportional and related by the formula that wavelength equals speed of wave divided by the frequency of the wave. Thus, waves that have higher frequencies have shorter wavelengths as compared to low frequency waves, provided the speed of both is the same. Light waves in vacuum travel at the speed of light; hence their speed is 3×108 m/s.
The difference in wavelengths is how the different kinds of electromagnetic energy are differentiated. Visible light is in the range of 700 nm wavelength to 400 nm. This corresponds to 430 to 750 THz in frequency. Sound that is audible to the human ear is between the 20 Hz to 20 KHz frequency which corresponds to wavelengths of 17 m to 17 mm. Thus audible sound wavelengths are much higher than the wavelengths of visible light.
As the medium changes, the wavelength of a wave can change even though the frequency remains the same because the speed of the wave changes. While electromagnetic radiation is usually quoted in terms of wavelength of the wave when traveling in vacuum, wavelengths of sound waves are expressed in those of a medium, as sound requires a medium to travel.
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