Intro Solitons The KdV Equation The Morning Glory Cloud Sources

Introduction: The Magnificent Properties of Waves



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First, we'll go through a short review of waves we commonly see in life. The objective of this is to bring to mind the properties of these waves. It'll make you appreciate the solitary wave even more when we get to it :)



http://www.education.com/study-help/article/transverse-longitudinal-waves/


So, let's consider an object. It could be a rock, a frog, even a Helmholtz coil if you'd like. Now, let's throw it into a pond. It will create ripples. These ripples will oscillate between a trough and crest, creating an amplitude. The waves will start with a large amplitude, then they will gradually loose magnitude over time, i.e. dissipate.



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Now, let's throw two vacuum tubes in the pond, just for kicks! Assuming they land at different locations on the water's surface, some of the ripples will travel towards each other. Those that collide will experience either an addition of their amplitudes or a subtraction. This is dependent on their phase.