The constant approximately 186,000 miles per second is a property of light known as what?

The constant approximately 186,000 miles per second is a property of light known as what?

• A. Speed
• B. Wavelength
• C. Frequency
• D. Amplitude

Answer: (A)

That value is the speed of light in vacuum—the rate at which light propagates through empty space. It’s a universal constant for all electromagnetic radiation, around 299,792 kilometers per second (about 186,000 miles per second). It isn’t wavelength (the distance between wave crests), frequency (how many wave cycles per second), or amplitude (the wave’s height or brightness). These other properties describe the wave’s behavior in different ways, and they’re related to speed by the equation c = f × λ, where frequency times wavelength equals the speed of light.

That value is the speed of light in vacuum—the rate at which light propagates through empty space. It’s a universal constant for all electromagnetic radiation, around 299,792 kilometers per second (about 186,000 miles per second). It isn’t wavelength (the distance between wave crests), frequency (how many wave cycles per second), or amplitude (the wave’s height or brightness). These other properties describe the wave’s behavior in different ways, and they’re related to speed by the equation c = f × λ, where frequency times wavelength equals the speed of light.