The Transverse Sine Wave Maker Interactive is an adjustable-size file that displays nicely on smart phones, on tablets such as the iPad, on Chromebooks, and on laptops and desktops. The size of the Interactive can be scaled to fit the device that it is displayed on. The compatibility with smart phones, iPads, other tablets, and Chromebooks make it a perfect tool for use in a 1:1 classroom.

 

In very simple terms, we like to thing as an oscillator as something that wiggles back in forth while maintaining the same central position. Oscillators wiggle in time. This is very simply put but put in a language students can understand. And once again, simply put, we like to think of a wave as a collection of coordinated wigglers extended across space. If a vibrating object is a wiggle in time, then a wave is a wiggle in time and space. The language is simple but finding a system to demonstrate it to students takes some work and often involves a high potential for making a mess. A paint bucket oscillating as a pendulum and dripping paint (or sand) on moving butcher paper (dragged by a constant speed vehicle) is a great demonstration but leaves a mess that most teachers don't want to deal with. And a collection of several synchronized pendulum bobs of varying length does an equally good job of highlighting the connection between periodic motion and wave motion. While it's not a mess, it is a chore to set up and the first period is likely to destroy for the periods that come after.

Perhaps we can offer a solution to the mess and the chore - the Transverse Sine Wave Maker. The oscillating turntable and attached marker provide a display of a wiggle in time. The nature of that wiggling can be modified by two sliders - a frequency slider and an amplitude slider. The marker leaves a trace of its up and down wiggles on a sheet of butcher paper. And to extend the wiggling across space, the butcher paper can be moved. This transverse movement is controlled by the paper speed slider. The oscillating system and butcher paper can be paused and a background grid can be used to make measurements of the length of the oscillating pattern (wavelength). The background grid is composed of 1-meter squares with subdivisions every 0.2 meters.

This Interactive could be suitably used at just about any stage of a learning cycle on waves and sound. Numerous wave concepts are illustrated in the Interactive and a study of the numerical relationship between speed, wavelength, and frequency is easily done. As of this time (February 2025), we do not have a Student Activity Sheet prepared. We expect to have one completed by the end of the school year ... and ready for use in 2026. We also hope to add a Concept Checker. For now, enjoy the Transverse Sine Wave Maker.

 

 

There are numerous resources at The Physics Classroom website that serve as very complementary supports for the Transverse Sine Wave Maker Interactive. These include:

 

Visit the Concept Builders.

 

 

Visit the Curriculum Corner.

 

Additional resources and ideas for incorporating Transverse Sine Wave Maker into an instructional unit on waves and sound can be found at the Teacher Toolkits section of The Physics Classroom website.  Visit Teacher Toolkits.

 

 

 

We owe a special thanks to Physics teacher Martin Kirby for contributing this simulation to our Interactives collection. If you like this sim, you can tap on the Donate button and buy him a cup of coffee (or a pot of coffee); he'd appreciate it. Martin has contributed many other simulations to our Interactives collection. You can view them all by visiting our page listing all Martin Kirby Simulations. Or visit Martin's website (kirbyx.com) to learn more.

​