Ripple Tank

A damped 2D wave equation solved on a 384×288 grid. Add sources, build walls, change the medium and watch interference appear.

Presets

Brush size 3 Medium wave speed 0.55×

Brightness 1.0×

Wave speed 0.30 Damping 0.000 Simulation speed 6 steps/frame

Frequency Amplitude Phase Velocity (→)

What am I seeing?

Orange is a crest, blue a trough. Waves obey the equation u_tt = c²∇²u − damping.
Walls reflect waves. Slits let them through and they diffract; two slits produce interference fringes on the screen.
A slow medium (shallower water) bends waves toward the normal: a convex slow region focuses like a lens, a wedge acts like a prism.
A source moving toward you compresses the wavefronts: the Doppler effect.
Boundaries of the tank are absorbing, so waves leave without bouncing back.

Shift-drag erases with the Wall and Medium tools. Space toggles pause, Delete removes the selected source.