Graphing the Wave Function

Consider the wave equation for a sinusoidal wave moving in the positive x-direction. The wave equation is a function of both position and time. From the wave equation, two different graphs can be plotted.

Consider a sinusoidal wave traveling in the x-direction.

As its wave equation is the function of displacement and time, a particle's motion in the medium can be graphically represented by displacement-position and displacement-time graphs.

At a fixed time, the particle's displacement varies as a function of the position.