Using Computer-Generated
Animations as an Aid in
Teaching Wave Motion and
Sound
Marvin De Jong, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO
W hen students encounter the mathematics
of wave motion, they are at a new level of
mathematical sophistication, a step up
from kinematics formulas and F = ma. We have found
that graphing the equations of wave motion and pro-
ducing animations of various aspects of wave motion
on a computer, coupled with live examples of the
same phenomena, are helpful in understanding the
mathematics of wave motion and connecting it to the
real world. Without some real-world examples, the
kind of work described here, although quite visual, is
not terribly exciting to students jaded by computer
games and television. Simultaneously relating the
mathematics of wave motion to the computer graph-
ics and to demonstrations of the same or similar phe-
nomena seems to have a more dramatic and long-last-
ing effect than using either by itself. This article de-
scribes the graphics and animations that we generate
with a computer algebra system (CAS), namely,
Mathematica. Other software can also produce ani-
mations.1,2 Although many students have seen func-
tions and graphs that involve trig functions in mathe-
matics classes, they may not have connected them to
the topic of wave motion. A CAS or spreadsheet ani-
mation utilizes the power of a computer to help make
this connection clear. Finally, achieving the same re-
sults by asking students to graph functions with paper
and pencil is clearly impossible, although some of the
pencil and paper activities described by Arnold Arons3
are both realizable and extremely useful.
Animating a Traveling Wave
The expression that describes a sinusoidal traveling
524 DOI: 10. 10.1119/1.1631622
wave,
y = A sin [kx – 2
ft)], (1)
is one of the more difficult expressions for students
in introductory physics to visualize and understand.
Understanding is difficult in part because there are
two variables, x and t, and several parameters (the
amplitude A, the wave number k, the wave velocity
v, the frequency f, the period T, and the wavelength
) that are related in a variety of ways, some of
which follow:
2
1 v
k = ,  = f = ,  = 2
f.
 T 
By the time they reach physics, students have also
forgotten that a graph of y = f(x – a) is simply the
graph of y = f(x) displaced a units to the right, a result
encountered in high school or college algebra, and a
fact that would make Eq. (1) more easily understood.
Students may find Eq. (1) in a variety of forms in
introductory physics texts. For example, another pop-
ular form of Eq. (1) is
y = A sin[k(x – vt)].
(Note: In the classroom, we use f for frequency rather
than  because on the blackboard or in writing, it is
easy to confuse  with v, the velocity. My students
don’t like “.”)
One activity I use to help students understand
these equations and their relationship to actual phe-
THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 41, December 2003

Fig. 1. Several examples of the sequence of images
used to animate a traveling wave.
nomena is to use this equation within Mathematica to
animate a traveling wave, and with the same set of im-
ages the students make some simple measurements of
the parameters. The essential idea is to make a succes-
sion of images of the sinusoidal wave at various times,
given an amplitude, a wave number, and a frequency.
These images are played back in succession, and the
THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 41, December 2003
wave appears to move. From a single image a student
can measure the wavelength, while from multiple im-
ages at various values of the time, a student can mea-
sure the velocity and the frequency (or period). At es-
sentially the same time in the student’s experience, a
demonstration of a real wave traveling down a rope is
helpful to connect the phenomenon with the anima-
tion. The usefulness of the animation lies in the fact
that it helps to connect the mathematical model, Eq.
(1), with reality. This feature is aided by the fact that
in Mathematica the use of Eq. (1) is very explicit; it is
not simply a set of references to various cells.
The instructions we use for creating the animation
are unique to Mathematica. However, it should not
be difficult to translate the ideas in this article to other
CAS’s or spreadsheets. In any case, here are the Math-
ematica instructions that generate a table of 32 images
of the wave at times separated by 1/32 s.

f t]
y = Sin[k x - 2

k = f = 1
Table[Plot[y, {x,0,6

}], {t,0,1, .5/16}]
In subsequent animations and graphs we will omit
the Mathematica programs because they are available
from the author by email. Nevertheless, it is
extremely important for students to see that Eq. (1),
in one form or another, does appear in the program.
What Mathematica is doing is neither profound nor
subtle. It is simply saving us a lot of time. I do not
use these animations to teach Mathematica, but at a
minimum I want the students to know that we are
graphing some form of Eq. (1) or a combination of
such equations.
Neither the number of images nor the time be-
tween images is critical. Simply experiment with these
values until you are satisfied with the animation.
Once the series of images is generated, Mathematica
has a menu command that will animate the images;
that is, Mathematica displays the images one after the
other, in sequence, giving the appearance of a wave
moving to the right. Changing the sign of the 2
f
term makes the wave travel to the left. In Fig.1 we
show several of the images from the sequence used to
develop the animation.
525
Fig. 2. Example of an image from the standing wave ani-
mation.
Standing Waves
Another animation my students study is that of
two traveling waves that meet and interfere to make a
standing wave. Mathematically speaking, we are su-
perimposing the following two waves:
y = A sin[k(x – vt)] and y = A sin[k(x + vt)].
In the animation we reserve the interval along the x-
axis from 0 to 2
to view the wave traveling from
the left and the interval from 4
to 6
to view an
identical wave coming from the right. In the middle
interval, from 2
to 4
, we view the superposition
of the two waves (the standing wave). Refer to Fig.
2, where we show one of the images used in the ani-
mation. Note in Fig. 2 that we have chosen the
parameters so that only one antinode is possible.
There are many other variations.
During the same laboratory that the students are
studying this animation, we demonstrate real standing
waves on a spring that stretches about three meters
across the blackboard, so the students can recognize
the nodes and antinodes in both the real situation and
the mathematical model by generating some standing
waves themselves. The students will also do another
laboratory exercise related to standing waves on
strings (or in pipes) shortly after this one. The simul-
taneous exposure to both the mathematics and the
real phenomenon helps students gain an appreciation
of both. The CAS does the tedious arithmetic of
adding the two waves with no need to deal with tricky
526
Fig. 3. Beats: Adding two waves of different frequencies.
trigonometric identities; that is part of the beauty of
what we describe in this article. I point out to the stu-
dents where Eq. (1) shows up in the Mathematica
commands and how the waves are being superim-
posed (added). I might point out that Aubrecht, Bol-
land, and Ziegler2 produce a similar demonstration
using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, but add waves of
slightly different frequencies. Readers may wish to ex-
plore those possibilities as well as several others.
Beats
Next we examine the superposition of two waves
traveling in the same direction but with slightly differ-
ent frequencies to produce beats. The results are
shown in Fig. 3. A Play command in Mathematica
allows the two waves being combined to actually gen-
erate the sound, so the students can actually hear the
beats they see displayed in Fig. 3. To do this we
choose two frequencies that are 10 to 15 Hz apart
rather than the 44-Hz difference used to generate Fig.
3. I might add that students enjoy doing this little ac-
tivity, probably because many are aware of how instru-
ments are tuned and appreciate knowing the physics
behind the phenomenon. In a small, informal work-
shop type of class, have students bring in their own in-
struments and attempt to tune them to the same note.
I also set up two sound-generator/speaker systems,
connect the outputs to a dual-trace oscilloscope, and
demonstrate beats in that way, a demonstration that is
applicable to a large class.
THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 41, December 2003
Fig. 4. Two-dimensional interference.
Interference of Two Coherent
Sources in Two Dimensions: A
Simulated Ripple Tank
Next we move to interference in two dimensions.
Mathematically we put coherent wave sources at
points (a, 0) and (–a, 0) on the x-axis and look at the
resultant interference pattern in the x-y plane, such as
might be seen at some instant in a ripple tank. Then
we make images for a sequence of times and animate
this sequence. Only one of the images is shown in Fig.
4. Once again, Mathematica does the arithmetic and
the trig identities one typically finds in textbooks are
not needed. Of course, seeing both the animation,
which is very nice, and a real ripple tank is illuminat-
ing. One of the short exercises we do to begin to give
the student some additional power over the mathe-
matics is to have them find an expression for the dis-
tance from an arbitrary point (x, y) in the x-y plane to
the point (a, 0), and also the distance to (0, a), be-
cause it is the difference in these distances that is cru-
cial. Have them set up a coordinate system, indicate
the location of the sources, show an arbitrary point in
the x-y plane, and calculate the distance to the point
from each source. Little exercises like these help to fo-
cus their attention on the mathematics of interfer-
ence, which they then slowly begin to understand.
THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 41, December 2003
Fig. 5. Intensity pattern for the interference of two
sources located at (2, 0) and (-2, 0).
If you want to illustrate the intensity pattern rather
than the amplitude pattern, then before doing a densi-
ty plot, you must have Mathematica do a time average
of the square of the amplitude. The result is shown in
Fig. 5. Of course, this intensity pattern cannot be ani-
mated; you have taken the time average and time is no
longer in the picture. What you can do is animate a
sequence of images such as the one in Fig. 5 using the
source separation as the variable rather than time.
Such an animation quickly provides students with
some intuition of how the source separation affects
the interference pattern. Or, you could fix the source
separation and change the wavelength. In any case,
this is a good time to couple the computer graphics to
a demonstration with a laser and double slits with
variable spacing. More sophisticated graphics of inter-
ference patterns have been described by Mechtly and
Bartlett.4
Fourier Synthesis
Now we experience a small change in the direction
of this article to look at Fourier synthesis and Fourier
analysis, topics that we cover only briefly in my calcu-
lus-based introductory physics class, but which appear
to be of significant interest to students, in part because
synthesizers are almost everyday items. Typically, we
527
synthesize a square wave from the appropriate Fourier
coefficients and sine waves, all of which is easily done
in a CAS. We can then plot the reconstructed wave
with an increasing number of terms in the sum and
show how this increases the accuracy of the synthesis.
Animating a sequence of synthesized square waves
with the number of terms as a variable illustrates the
synthesis principal to the students, who are expected
to understand the general concept of synthesis rather
than the details. One of the synthesis results is shown
in Fig. 6.
Fourier Analysis
Analyzing an amplitude-versus-time waveform is
something the students find very interesting, and
Mathematica makes it quite easy to do this without
buying expensive equipment. The first step is to
record a waveform from a voice or some instrument.
Most computers have an accessory program that, in
connection with an inexpensive microphone, allows a
sound bite to be recorded and stored as a WAV file.
The sampling rate, 22050 Hz, is an important
parameter to find the time interval between samples.
Mathematica reads this WAV file, and a single com-
mand produces the discrete Fourier transform of the
data in the WAV file. An example waveform of a per-
son (me) trying to hum a C (one octave below middle
C) is shown in Fig. 7. It also appears that there may
be some analog-to-digital conversion noise on the
waveform. What I do in class is have students bring
their instruments and we go through the same
Fig. 7. Graph of part of the imported WAV file.
528
Fig. 6. Synthesizing a square wave by adding sine waves
of the appropriate amplitudes.
process, after which we make a few remarks about the
richness of the spectrum of some instruments com-
pared to others.
The data from the WAV file is then Fourier ana-
lyzed, and the results are shown in Fig. 8. There are
peaks at 150 Hz, 300 Hz, and 450 Hz. You can see I
missed the C note I was hunting for by more than a
few Hz. I am no Pavarotti. In any case, students like
to sing (although some are bashful) and play their in-
struments for the purpose of doing a Fourier analysis,
and they like to have a printed version of the analysis.
Of course, they understand more clearly what is tak-
ing place in the analysis after they first become famil-
iar with the concept of Fourier synthesis.
Related to Fourier analysis and an idea gleaned
from an article by Saba and Rosa,5 another activity we
Fig. 8. Discrete Fourier transform of the data pictured in
Fig. 7.
THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 41, December 2003
have done is to place a tape recorder on a quiet stretch
of highway (during the off-season here in tourist heav-
en) and have a student drive his/her car over it (hope-
fully missing the tape recorder) with the horn blow-
ing. Converting the results to a file and making a
spectrum analysis of the sound with the car approach-
ing and receding demonstrates the Doppler effect and
allows the speed of the car to be measured. Saba and
Rosa have a safer approach to this experiment that
makes use of one of the many low-cost spectrum ana-
lyzers that are available on the Internet.

Conclusions
We use these animations or demonstrations in sev-
eral classroom and laboratory exercises, and it seems
that the students not only enjoy them, but also have a
modest “Eureka” feeling when they see the mathemat-
ics, the graphs, and the real phenomenon all together.
If anyone would like to have copies of the Mathemati-
ca notebooks that generate the images, please contact
the author at mld545f@smsu.edu.

References
1. Ole Anton Haugland, “Spreadsheet waves,” Phys. Teach.
37, 14 (Jan. 1999).
2. Gordon J. Aubrecht II, T. Kenneth Bolland, and
Michael G. Ziegler, “Animations in spreadsheets,” Phys.
Teach. 37, 540–541 (Dec. 1999).
3. Arnold Arons, A Guide to Introductory Physics Teaching
(Wiley, New York, 1990), p. 203.
4. Bruce Mechtly and Albert A. Bartlett, “Graphical repre-
sentations of Fraunhofer interference and diffraction,”
Am. J. Phys. 62, 501–510 (June 1994).
5. Marcelo M.F. Saba and Rafael Antonio da S. Rosa, “A
quantitative demonstration of the Doppler effect,”
Phys. Teach. 39, 431–433 (Oct. 2001).
PACS codes: 01.50H, 01.40Gb, 01.50M, 43.75

Marvin De Jong, ex-professor (retired), is currently work-

ing on distance-learning projects for the Missouri Virtual
School at Southwest Missouri State University.
Missouri Virtual School, SMSU, 901 S. National Ave.,
Springfield, MO 65804

THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 41, December 2003 529