The Speed of Travelling Waves

How fast a mechanical wave travels is decided entirely by two properties of the medium it moves through: its elastic (restoring-force) properties and its density (inertial properties) -- never by the wave's own frequency, wavelength, or amplitude. A single medium can support both a transverse wave and a longitudinal wave simultaneously, and in general these two travel at DIFFERENT speeds through the very same medium, since the relevant elastic modulus differs (elasticity of shape for transverse, elasticity of volume for longitudinal). Th …