ripple tank

• A ripple tank is used to observe the features of water waves
• Components of a ripple tank setup:

  • Shallow tray of water
  • Vibrating bar connected to a power pack
  • Light source above the tank
  • Sheet of white paper below the tank
• To measure the wavelength of water waves:

  • Place a ruler on the paper
  • Freeze the image of the waves
  • Measure the distance between one wave and 10 waves (10 wavelengths)
  • Calculate the wavelength by dividing the total distance by 10
• To find the frequency of water waves:

  • Count the number of waves passing a point in 10 seconds
  • Divide the total number of waves by 10 to get the frequency in Hertz
• To determine the speed of water waves:

  • Use the wave equation: wave speed = frequency x wavelength
  • Multiply the frequency (in Hertz) by the wavelength (in meters) to calculate the wave speed
• Alternative method to determine wave speed:

  • Select a wave and measure the time it takes to move the length of the tank
  • Calculate the speed by dividing the distance traveled by the time taken