Sprinkle sand on a vibrating plate and hidden geometry appears. Chladni figures are standing waves made visible — the grains gather where the plate holds still.
Chladni Plate PatternsLive
visible standing waves
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Presets
Bow or drive a metal plate at a resonant frequency and sand sprinkled on top dances away from the moving areas and settles along the still nodal lines — Chladni figures. Each pair of mode numbers gives a different symmetric pattern, a direct, physical picture of a two-dimensional standing wave.
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How it works
When a plate vibrates at a resonant frequency, points on the nodal lines stay motionless while the rest oscillates. Sand bounces off the moving regions and settles on those still lines, tracing a symmetric pattern set by the mode numbers. It is one of the most beautiful demonstrations of two-dimensional standing waves.
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