Waves & Interference

This simulation applies the universal wave equation, v = f λ, to a wave of adjustable frequency travelling through a medium of adjustable speed, and superposes two coherent point sources of that wave arriving at a point with a phase difference Δφ between them — the standard phasor-addition result A = √(A₁² + A₂² + 2A₁A₂cosΔφ), which reduces to fully constructive interference (A₁ + A₂) at Δφ = 0 and fully destructive interference (|A₁ − A₂|) at Δφ = π — computed by the shared `@scienceverse/simulations-core` package, not an approximation invented for this page.

Five parameters — medium wave speed, frequency, both source amplitudes, and phase difference — are each adjustable within a scientifically valid range, from slow mechanical oscillations through audible sound to electromagnetic frequencies up to 1 THz. Every recomputation runs in a dedicated Web Worker, off the page’s main thread. A shareable link captures the exact current parameters via the simulation’s own versioned state schema. Readers whose browser cannot run canvas rendering, who prefer reduced motion, or who have JavaScript disabled see the real computed values below instead, in an accessible data table.

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