WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Superposition of Standing Waves

coefficients

c

1

0

c

2

0

c

3

0

c

4

0

c

5

0

c

6

0

c

7

0

c

8

0

c

9

0

c

10

0

time

This Demonstration shows a linear superposition of 10 standing waves, of the form

ψ(x,t)=

10

∑

n=1

c

n

cos(nπ

ω

0

t)sin

nπx

L

. The box is of unit length and each standing wave has its endpoints fixed at

x=0

and

x=L

. The coefficients

c

1

,

c

2

,…,

c

10

can be selected.