Harmonics

What is an harmonic?

An harmonic of a particular frequency (the fundamental frequency f) is another frequency that is an integer multiple of the first one. For example:

if f = 125MHz, the harmonics would be: 2f = 250MHz, 3f = 375MHz, 4f = 500MHz ..... etc

In the diagram below it can be seen that harmonics share common nodes.

(the diagram need improvement by someone with a better drawing program and skills than I have - any takers? Thanks Tim R )

Mathematically, the basic wave equation is:

<math> \mathit{v}=\mathit{f}\times \lambda </math>

v is the velocity of the wave in metres per second - a constant close to the speed of light for radio waves in the atmosphere.

f is the frequency of the wave - how many cycles pass a fixed point per second

<math> \lambda </math> is the wavelength of the wave in metres - the distance between two peaks of the wave.

So, as the frequency increases, the wavelength decreases - a doubling of frequency causes a halving of wavelength etc.