Comprehensive Ripple Tank Applet
This beautiful and highly adjustable simulation of a ripple tank allows student exploration into the principles of diffraction and interference. The student controls frequency, number of sources, barrier placement, and a variety of other parameters. This simulation is best used with advanced physics students.
Diffraction and interference are particularly difficult wave phenomena to explain and illustrate without using a classic ripple tank. This simulation of an animated ripple tank provides the student with the opportunity to explore of these phenomena. The student can select from a wide variety of experimental set-ups, control wave frequency and the quality of the graphics, and manually insert various barriers into the tank to observe the effects on the interference pattern.
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