🌊 Bathtub Waves

🟢 Ages 5–8

Wave speed 0.5 Damping 0.008 Depth 60%

Max height: 0 px

💡 Superposition! When two waves meet, they add up — one big wave! Then they pass through each other and continue.

Click / tap the water to make waves 🌊

🌊 Waves in a Bathtub — Physics of Water

Press the water and watch waves travel, bounce off the walls, and pass through each other! This is the same physics that causes ocean waves, sound, and even light to behave the way they do.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

Water waves follow the wave equation: each part of the surface is pulled toward the average of its neighbours. When a wave hits a wall, it reflects perfectly. When two waves meet, they add (superposition) — creating a temporarily taller wave — then each continues on its way unchanged.

🎮 How to Use

Click or tap the water to create a ripple. Try the "Drop a Stone!" button for a big splash in the middle! Adjust Wave Speed to see how fast waves travel. Increase Damping to make waves fade faster. Decrease it to see waves bouncing for a long time.

💡 Did You Know?

The wave equation used here is the same one James Clerk Maxwell used to show that light is a wave! This 160-year-old equation describes water waves, sound waves, light waves, seismic waves — all from the same simple idea: energy spreads from high points to low points and back again.