This simulation visualises sound as what it physically is: a mechanical pressure wave spreading through a medium from a vibrating source, not a picture or a beam. Every particle in the field oscillates in place while the disturbance itself travels outward.
A grid of particles represents the medium. Each particle's vertical displacement and colour follow the wave equation y(r, t) = A · sin(kr − ωt) · e^(−damping·r), so compression and rarefaction bands ripple outward from the source exactly as pressure zones do in real air.
Drag Frequency and Amplitude to change pitch and loudness, Speed of sound to see how the medium changes propagation, and Damping to control how quickly the wave loses energy. Press Pulse to send a single expanding wavefront instead of a continuous tone, or Restart to reset time.
The wave speed equation v = f × λ links every slider together: raise the frequency while speed of sound stays fixed and the wavelength λ shown in the panel shrinks automatically — the same reason a police siren's pitch sets how tightly its wavefronts are packed.
Sound is a mechanical wave: a vibrating source pushes on the medium around it, creating alternating zones of compression and rarefaction that propagate outward while the medium's particles themselves only oscillate around a fixed point.
y(r, t) = A · sin(k·r − ω·t) · e^(−damping·r) — displacement at distance r and time t.
k = ω / v = 2πf / v — wave number from angular frequency ω and propagation speed v.
v = f × λ — the speed of sound equals frequency times wavelength, shown live as λ in the side panel.
Because v = f × λ, doubling the frequency while the speed of sound stays fixed halves the wavelength — try raising Frequency and watch λ in the panel shrink while the ripples on screen pack tighter together.