Wavenumber Wavenumber In the physical sciences, the wavenumber (also wave number or repetency) is the spatial frequency of a wave, measured in cycles per unit distance or radians per unit distance. Whereas temporal frequency can be thought of as the number of waves per unit time, wavenumber is the number of waves per unit distance. In multidimensional systems, the wavenumber is the magnitude of the wave vector. The space of wave vectors is called reciprocal space. Wave numbers and wave vectors play an essential role in optics and the physics of wave scattering, such as X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, and elementary
Counts per minute the modern digital indicator, totalised readings came to be directly indicated in decimal notation. Counts per minute The measurement of ionizing radiation is sometimes expressed as being a "rate" of counts per unit time as registered by a radiation monitoring instrument, for which counts per minute (cpm) and counts per second (cps) are commonly used quantities. Count rate measurements are associated with the detection of particles, such as alpha particles and beta particles. However, for gamma ray and X-ray dose measurements a unit such as the sievert is normally used. Both cpm and cps are the rate of detection events