Standing Waves

Sometimes waves do not seem to move; rather, they just vibrate in place. Unmoving waves can be seen on the surface of a glass of milk kept in a refrigerator, which is one example of standing waves. Vibrations from the refrigerator motor create waves on the milk that oscillate up and down but do not seem to move across the surface. These waves ar...

When a taut string is plucked, the resulting wave vibrates up and down. This is produced by the interference of two waves traveling in opposite directions, having the same frequency and amplitude.

Ideally, when a traveling wave meets a boundary, it gets reflected back and forth. The wave pattern remains stationary along the string while i...