Wavicle

Wavicle simulates a shallow square tank of water - a ripple tank - allowing users to add various obstacles and ripple-making devices and see what wave effects results.

Add a sources of waves and a barrier containing two small holes to illustrate the double-slit experiment and see the interference effects. Add a source of circular waves and a parabolic reflector to see how a radio telescope works. Compare this to the way in which waves reflect from a circular or straight reflector. Investigate the ways in which waves of various wavelengths are diffracted when they pass through a small gap; How does the wavelength and the size of the gap affect the diffraction pattern? Find out for yourself. Investigate refraction when the wave speed changes.

Wavicle provides a library of pre-arranged experiments, but it also allows you to play around for yourself, just like a real-life ripple tank experiment, and save the configurations you come up with to examine again later.