In this post, we conduct an investigation to distinguish between progressive and standing waves, as a part of the Prelim Physics course under the module Waves and Thermodynamics and sub-part Wave Behaviour. A progressive wave is a wave that travels continuously in a medium in the same direction without a change in amplitude, while a standing wave is a wave in which the position of the maximum and minima do not travel, but remain in place.
The following two videos demonstrate the properties of progressive and stationary waves.
Part 1: Progressive and stationary waves
Part 2: Demonstration of standing waves with a slinky
Want to learn more? Check out more of our Preliminary Physics resources here!
