The Wave Moves On. The Rope Stays.

You'll learnwhat actually travels when a wave passes, how to tell transverse from longitudinal by watching one particle, and why only the string — never your hand — sets the wave's speed.

A wave races down a rope, but one amber piece of that rope just bobs up and down and goes nowhere. Following that one piece settles this whole topic. Twelve short steps; press Next for each one.

12 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · TRACK ONE PARTICLE · THE STRING OWNS THE SPEED · v2

the wave moves on, the rope bobs in place · the string sets the speed

Before you start

What you're looking at

A rope carrying a wave, with one piece of the rope painted amber so you can follow it instead of following the wave.

The question

Does anything actually travel down the rope — and what could make the wave go faster?

Step 1 / 12