Instructions

  1. Choose between Longitudinal and Transverse waves from the options at the top of the settings panel.
  2. Click the radio buttons to choose between continuous mode and pulse mode.
  3. Continuous mode:
    • Use the sliders to adjust the basic wave properties (frequency, wavelength, amplitude, speed).
    • Toggle 'Label oscillations' to show/hide arrows showing the oscillations of individual particles.
    • Toggle 'Label peaks & troughs' to dynamically label the peaks and troughs of the wave.
    • Toggle 'Show graph' to show/hide a graph of displacement vs distance.
    • Toggle 'Measure distance' to bring up a ruler and two adjustable bars that can be used to pull up some markers for measuring distance to do wave speed experiments.
    • Toggle 'Show balloon/duck' to show how each type of wave affects a real-life object.
    • Toggle 'Rotatable mode', dragging the grey ring will rotate the wave, useful to explain why oscillations should be described as perpendicular/parallel rather than left/right or up/down.
    • Toggle 'Play tone' (Longitudinal mode only) to play a tone, adjusting the frequency/wavelength and amplitude will adjust the pitch and loudness.
  4. Pulse mode:
    • Click the 'Emit pulse' button to emit a single wave pulse.
    • Adjust the 'Pulse strength' slider to change the size of the pulse.