WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Standing Waves and Chords

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time
excitation
harmonic
perturbation
reflection at end
fixed
free
show vectors
A chain of oscillators of finite length can be excited harmonically or by another perturbation which propagates to the end of the chain. In the case of harmonic excitation, the wave is reflected and interferes with the original wave to generate a standing wave. You can choose between the reflection at a fixed end, which results in a phase shift of
π
, or a free end. The vectors for the individual oscillators can be shown.