What is the period of a wave?

The period of a wave is defined as the time it takes for one complete cycle of the wave to pass a given point. It is inversely related to the frequency of the wave, which is the number of cycles that pass a point in one second. The relationship can be expressed mathematically as:

Period = 1/Frequency

This means that if you know the frequency of a wave, you can find the period by taking the reciprocal of the frequency. For instance, if a wave has a frequency of 2 Hz, the period would be 1/2 seconds, indicating that it takes half a second for one complete wave cycle to occur.

The other choices relate to different wave properties or physical quantities but do not accurately represent the definition of wave period. For example, frequency multiplied by wavelength gives the wave speed, while speed multiplied by amplitude and distance multiplied by time involve different relationships in physics that are not pertinent to determining the period of a wave. Thus, understanding the correct relationship between period and frequency is critical in wave physics.