Since Michael Faraday, scientists have watched the curious patterns that form in a vibrating liquid. By adding floating particles to such a system, researchers have discovered spiky, hedgehog-like shapes that Keep reading
Tag: Faraday waves
Freezing Waves
Vibrate a liquid, and you’ll get a pattern of standing waves known as Faraday waves. In this project, artist Linden Gledhill adds a twist to the usual view of these Keep reading
Shake It!
Vibrate a pool of water, and you’ll get Faraday waves, ripple-like excitations that form their own distinctive pattern compared to the driving vibration. But you don’t have to vibrate a Keep reading
Toad Singing
With spring heading into summer, many parts of the United States enjoy a nighttime chorus of frogs and toads. These amphibians are singing to attract mates and delineate territory. Some, Keep reading
Resonating on a Bounce
When we think of resonance, we often think of it in simple terms: hit the one right note, and the wine glass will shatter. But resonance isn’t always about a Keep reading
Psychedelic Faraday Waves
Vibrate a pool of water and above a critical frequency, a pattern of standing waves will form on the surface. These are known as Faraday waves after Michael Faraday, who Keep reading
Chinese Spouting Bowl Physics
In their newest video, the Slow Mo Guys recreated one of my favorite effects: vibration-driven droplet ejection. For this, they use a Chinese spouting bowl, which has handles that the Keep reading
Psychedelic Cymatics
Cymatics are the visualization of vibration and sound. Here photographer Linden Gledhill has taken a simple speaker vibrating a dish of water and turned it into some incredible art. When Keep reading
Alligators Water Dancing
Amorous alligators call to mates with a behavior known as water dancing. Their audible bellows are accompanied by infrasonic sound–vibrations below the 20 Hz limit of human hearing. These vibrations Keep reading
The Dance of the Droplets
Milk and juice vibrating on a speaker can put on a veritable fireworks display of fluid dynamics. Vibrating a fluid can cause small standing waves, called Faraday waves, on the Keep reading