PhysicsUKINTERACTIVE LAB

WAVES · PATTERNS · DISCOVERY

Ripple Tank Lab.

Investigation 01

Measure a progressive wave

Use several wavefront spacings to find wavelength, then test the wave equation.

YOUR WAVE TANK

Top view · 120 cm × 72 cm
Interactive top-down ripple tank.
+ crest0 rest− trough

Run the waves. Pause a pattern. Take a closer look.

Paused

A LITTLE HELP GETTING STARTED

Make a wave. Follow its story.

  1. Choose an investigation. Each topic opens an editable experiment. Switching topics keeps your setup in this tab.
  2. Run and pause. Watch the pattern develop. Step advances the frozen field; Restart waves clears it while keeping the apparatus.
  3. Build your experiment. Click a part to add it. Drag it in the tank, or open Properties for exact positions, sizes and angles. Undo and redo recover setup changes.
  4. Measure it yourself. Choose Ruler, pause the waves and place A and B on matching crests. Count complete gaps, not crests. The ruler estimate depends on your placement. Choose Probe to see displacement against time at a point. Click an active instrument again to put it away.
  5. Reveal the physics. Open the explanation below the tank for model predictions, discussion prompts and key terms. These predicted values are separate from your ruler estimate.

Keyboard: focus the tank, then Tab through its items. Arrow keys move the selected item (Shift for smaller steps); Enter opens Properties. Escape leaves the selection. Space runs or pauses; Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y undo and redo. Both ruler endpoints can be chosen in Properties. Tab from the last item leaves the tank.

Double slit: choose investigation 06 for straight wavefronts passing through two gaps, or add a Double gap to any setup. Properties adjusts each gap's width and the centre-to-centre separation. Narrow openings spread the waves so they can overlap and interfere.

The model: green crests and pale mint troughs show positive and negative vertical displacement in relative units; dark green is zero displacement. Colour does not represent water depth. The field includes reflection, diffraction and interference. Direction arrows are guides for the primary source in simple arrangements; overlapping waves can travel in several directions. Real ripple tanks also have viscosity, dispersion and imperfect boundaries.

AQA / OCR · GCSE and A Level waves