Waves Intro

Waves Intro Screenshot
  • Frequency
  • Amplitude
  • Wave Speed

Topics

  • Frequency
  • Amplitude
  • Wave Speed
  • Wavelength
  • Water
  • Sound
  • Light

Description

Make waves with a dripping faucet, audio speaker, or laser! Adjust frequency and amplitude, and observe the effects. Hear the sound produced by the speaker, and discover what determines the color of light.

Sample Learning Goals

  • Make waves with water, sound, and light and see how they are related.
  • Discuss wave properties using common vocabulary.
  • Explain how changing the frequency and amplitude affects the characteristics of the wave.
  • Design an experiment to measure the speed of the wave.
Version 1.0.2

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Waves Intro‌ Remote Lab ‌ A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein UG-Intro
HS
Remote
Lab
Physics
Earth Science
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein updated by Diana López HS
MS
Other Biology
Chemistry
Earth Science
Physics
Properties of Waves Virtual Lab Amy Mattes MS Lab
Guided
Physics
Writing an Equation for the Wave Sean Cordry UG-Intro Guided Physics
Intro to Waves I: Basics of waves in liquids Don Loving UG-Intro
HS
MS
HW
Guided
Physics
Introduction to Waves: Liquid Matter, Sound, and Light Lonny Villalobos, M.Ed. HS
MS
Guided
Lab
Physics
Wave Intro Simulation Worksheet Bonnie Meaders MS Lab Physics
Introducción a la Física: medidas, unidades y relación entre variables A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López UG-Intro
HS
HW
Guided
Lab
Remote
Physics
SECUNDARIA: Alineación PhET con programas de la SEP México (2011 y 2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López HS
MS
Other Mathematics
Chemistry
Physics
Biology
PREPARATORIA: Alineación de PhET con programas de la DGB México (2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López UG-Intro
HS
Other Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
PRIMARIA: Alineación con programas de la SEP México (2011 y 2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López K-5
MS
Demo
Guided
Lab
HW
Discuss
Mathematics
Chemistry
Physics
Astronomy
Werkblad Inleiding Golven Roland Van Kerschaver MS HW
Lab
Physics
Guião de Exploração Teresinha Patrício MS Remote
Guided
Physics

Language Download or Run Tips
Albanian All shqip Run now Valët: Hyrje
Basque All Euskara Run now Uhinak: sarrera
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Talasi - Uvod
Catalan All català Run now Ones: Introducció
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 波动入门
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Waves Intro_波的介紹
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Valovi - uvod
Czech All čeština Run now Vlny: úvod
Danish All Dansk Run now Bølger: Intro
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Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Ondas: Intro Download teacher tips PDF
Russian All русский Run now Волны. Введение
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HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.

iPad:
iOS 12+ Safari
iPad compatible sims

Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.

Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims

Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.

Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.

Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Sam Reid (lead developer)
  • Amy Rouinfar (lead designer)
  • Noah Podolefsky (original designer)
  • Wendy Adams
  • Diana López Tavares
  • Ariel Paul
  • Kathy Perkins
  • Katie Woessner
  • Cheryl McCutchan (graphic arts)
  • almond-0.2.9.js
  • base64-js-1.2.0.js
  • FileSaver-b8054a2.js
  • font-awesome-4.5.0
  • game-up-camera-1.0.0.js
  • he-1.1.1.js
  • himalaya-0.2.7.js
  • jama-1.0.2
  • jquery-2.1.0.js
  • lodash-4.17.4.js
  • pegjs-0.7.0.js
  • seedrandom-2.4.2.js
  • text-2.0.12.js
  • TextEncoderLite-3c9f6f0.js