Student Performance in Measuring Distance with Wavelengths in Various Settings

When physics students are asked to measure the distance between two fixed locations using a pre-defined wavelength as a ruler, there is a surprising failure rate, at least partially due to the fact that the ``ruler'' to be used is not fixed in length (see ``Is a Simple Measurement Task a Roadblock to Student Understanding of Wave Phenomena?,'' by M. Kryjevskaia, M. Stetzer, and P. Heron, The Physics Teacher 51,560, (2103) and references therein). I will show some data from introductory classes (algebra- and calculus-based) that replicate this result, and also show some interesting features when comparing a setting involving slinkies with a setting involving surface waves on water.