Physics · Study 025
Standing Waves
The first six harmonics of a string vibrate one above the other, with their sum at the bottom. Click a harmonic to mute it and reshape the wave.
What you're looking at
The six upper traces are the modes of a string fixed at both ends: one hump, two humps, three, and so on, each oscillating faster than the last. The yellow trace is all the active modes added together, weighted so higher harmonics are quieter.
The idea behind it
Any shape a string can take is some mixture of these modes, which is the heart of Fourier analysis. With all six present the sum behaves like two sawtooth waves passing through each other. Mute the even ones and the edges square off. An instrument's timbre is this recipe of harmonics.
Try this
Click or tap any of the six harmonics to switch it off or on, and watch the sum change.
