The Mini Ripple Tank is a great way to address the wave-energy standards and to teach about the properties of waves by showing how water waves behave. This is in keeping with the history of physics and the modern experimental approaches to science instruction. The Mini Ripple Tank eliminates the clumsiness of the larger ripple tanks of old and gives the opportunity for students and teachers to interact with the wave properties quickly and engagingly. Because of the competitive price, and variety of available experiments. It is even reasonable to buy a class set.
Getting Familiar
The Mini Ripple Tank contains a small pan for water and a vibrating source. The strobe light below projects waves of various frequencies on a fold-down screen. Both the strobe and the wave frequencies can be varied, generating many interesting effects. There is also a synchronizing mode which links the two (this is very helpful when measuring wavelength).