Standing Waves on a Slinky

Standing waves on a slinky show how wave superposition and reflection can create stable patterns. These waves, also called stationary waves, appear to stay in place even though the material is moving up and down. They are formed when two waves travel in opposite directions with the same frequency and amplitude.

Standing waves, or stationary waves, are waves that appear to not propagate and they are most evident in a vibration. For example, when a taut string is plucked, the resulting waves appear to vibrate up and down, with no linear movement. These are actually produced by the interference of two waves traveling in opposite directions, with the same ...