Sound and Waves
Explore sound and waves with interactive experiments. Make waves on a rope, play strings and bottles, find distances with echoes like a bat, hear the Doppler effect and see how sound travels through air, water and steel.
Sound and Waves experiments
Wave Machine
Shake a rope and change frequency and amplitude.
Try it nowMake Music
Pluck strings, blow and tap bottles and hear the pitch change.
Try it nowSound in Space?
Pump the air out of a bell jar and listen.
Try it nowBat Sonar
Send a ping and time the echo to find the wall.
Try it nowLoud vs. Quiet
Turn up the amplitude and watch the decibel meter.
Try it nowDoppler Race Car
Hear the pitch change as a car zooms past.
Try it nowRipple Tank
Watch water waves spread, interfere and squeeze through a gap.
Try it nowSpeed of Sound
Race sound through air, helium, water, wood and steel.
Try it now
Key equations
v = f × λdistance = speed × time ÷ 2higher frequency = higher pitch