Angular frequency
In
physics (specifically
mechanics,
angular frequency ω (sometimes called
angular velocity) is a measure of rotation rate, almost invariably given in units of
radians per
second, or simply s
-1 since radians are dimensionless. One revolution is equal to 2π radians, hence
where
T is the period and
f is the
frequency.
Using angular frequency instead of ordinary frequency is convenient in many applications, as it avoids the excessive appearance of π. In fact, it is used in many fields of physics involving periodic phenomena, such as quantum mechanics and electrodynamics.
For example:
Using 'ordinary' frequency, this equation would be: