What are waves and resonance?

Waves and resonance: v = f × λ. A wave is a wobble that travels, carrying energy but not the stuff it moves through, and its speed is how many waves pass each second times the length of each one: v = f × λ.

Read how it works: What are waves and resonance? · The history of waves and resonance · More boxes on Glassbox

Chapters in this interactive model

1. A wave carries a shape, not the stuff: Shake one end of a rope and a wave runs along it at v = f × λ.
2. Sound is a push passed through the air: Pitch is frequency, and a string or pipe only rings at certain notes.
3. Light is a wave too, and so is your microwave: Electromagnetic waves all travel at c, so λ = c ÷ f.
4. Push at the right rhythm and small pushes add up: Everything that can wobble has a natural frequency. Drive it there and it resonates.
5. When waves meet, and a famous myth: Waves add and cancel, beat, need (or don’t need) a medium, and one bridge wasn’t resonance.