Animated Applets

Mostly Musical Acoustics

Bruce Richards
Oberlin College
Department of Physics & Astronomy
bruce.richards@oberlin.edu


[Important Note: Modern web browsers no longer run Java applets. So this collection of animations, coded as Java applets, must be executed outside a web browser. Because the applets are unsigned applications from an "unidentified developer," security settings will block their execution unless "http://www2.oberlin.edu" is entered in the Exception Site LIst in the Security Tab of the Java Control Panel. Further instructions are found on the web page of each applet.]

Index

Title Description
Vibrating Strings The motion of a bowed string, a plucked string, and a hammered string.
String Modes Shows how the motion of a bowed or plucked string is the sum of normal mode vibrations.
Harmonics Icon String Harmonics The motion of a bowed string when touched by a finger to play harmonics.
Drum Circular Membrane Selected normal modes of a circular membrane, or motion of a struck membrane.
Pipes The first three normal modes of vibration of air in cylindrical pipes with selected end conditions.
Tapered Pipe The first three normal modes of vibration of air in a pipe open at both ends whose taper may be adjusted continuously from cylindrical to conical.
3 Deg Icon Three Degrees The three normal modes for longitudital vibrations of a system with three degrees of freedom are shown, along with the more general motions following two different initial conditions.
Beats Showing the addition of two sine waves of slightly different frequencies.
Simple Harmonic Motion The relation between simple harmonic motion and circular motion.
Color Mixing What do you get by mixing or absorbing red, green, and blue light?