What is frequency?

Frequency describes the number of waves that pass a fixed place in a given amount of time. So if the time it takes for a wave to pass is is
1/2 second, the frequency is 2 per second. If it takes 1/100 of an hour, the frequency is 100 per hour.

Usually frequency is measured in the hertz unit, named in honor of the 19th-century German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. The hertz
measurement, abbreviated Hz, is the number of waves that pass by per second. For example, an "A" note on a violin string vibrates at
about 440 Hz (440 vibrations per second).

What is wavelength?
Forms of electromagnetic radiation like radio waves, light waves or infrared (heat) waves make characteristic patterns as they travel
through space. Each wave has a certain shape and length. The distance between peaks (high points) is called wavelength.

The difference in wavelength is the way we tell different kinds of electromagnetic energy apart.
Figure from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's publication: Basics of Space Flight Learner's Workbook. http://www-
b.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/

How are frequency and wavelength related?

Electromagnetic waves always travel at the same speed (299,792 km per second). This is one of their defining characteristics. In the
electromagnetic spectrum there are many different types of waves with varying frequencies and wavelengths. They are all related by one
important equation: Any electromagnetic wave's frequency multiplied by its wavelength equals the speed of light.

FREQUENCY OF OSCILLATION x WAVELENGTH = SPEED OF LIGHT

We can use this relationship to figure out the wavelength or frequency of any electromagnetic wave if we have the other measurement.
Just divide the speed of light by whichever measurement you have and then you've got the other.

Figure from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's publication: Basics of Space Flight Learner's Workbook. http://www-
b.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/

How is data put on radio waves?

There are two common ways to put information in a radio wave, and you've likely run into them yourself. They are called A.M. and F.M.
just like the two choices you've always known are on a radio. To understand these two ways of sending information it is important to
know that radio waves, by themselves, have very regular patterns. Generally they keep the same amplitude or frequency all the time.
(Amplitude is the "height" of the radio wave, frequency is how close the waves are to each other.)
A.M. stands for amplitude modulation. In this method, the information is put into a radio wave by varying the amplitude. For example, if
all we wanted to do was send 1's and 0's, we could have just two different levels of amplitude that correspond to these numbers--1 being
high, 0 being low.

F.M. stands for frequency modulation. This time the amplitude is kept constant, it is the frequency that is varied..