Material Detail

This Java applet demonstrates the harmonics of the air in a tube as an example of standing longitudinal waves. It illustrates the movement of the molecules in the air during such an oscillation. (Obviously the particles in reality move much shorter distances, and the real movement is very quick.) The nodes, i.e. the places where the particles don't move, are marked with "N". "A" means an antinode, i.e. a place where the particles oscillate with maximal amplitude. Note that at an open end of the tube there is always an antinode, at a closed end, however, a node! (Note: Source code available on site. Foreign language versions also available.)

Disciplines:

• Science and Technology  / Physics  / Oscillations and Waves  / Waves