When most people think of waves, they imagine something like an ocean wave… it moves through the water and isn’t confined to one area. Some waves don’t travel at all – they are called standing waves.

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Picture two waves traveling in opposite directions. One is going to the right, the other going to the left. What happens when they combine? Using superposition, we can figure out what the interacting waves look like when they interfere with each other.

Did you notice how there are places along the string where the string is not moving at all? It’s at permanent rest… it’ doesn’t vibrate at all. Those places are called nodes. The places where the amplitude is greatest is called the antinodes.

Click here to go to next lesson on Nodes and Antinodes.

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