What is OrbWave?
This iPhone app is an animated simulation of the popular "pendulum wave" or "wave pendulum" physics demonstration (as shown in this video) -- with a few extra features. The experiment uses a line of pendulums with progressively increasing lengths that are set in motion with identical initial displacements. The independent oscillations of each pendulum collectively produce patterns that become more chaotic over time.
Of course, a simulation like OrbWave can do some things a real experiment can't, such as:
Buy from App Store
Of course, a simulation like OrbWave can do some things a real experiment can't, such as:
- cover the spheres with your own photo from your iPhone album (as shown to the left)
- or select from a set of pre-supplied ball patterns
- speed up, slow down or skip time
- quickly change the number of balls
- adjust how the oscillation periods change from top to bottom
Buy from App Store
Using OrbWave
The control panel for configuring OrbWave is accessed by tapping the "i" button in the bottom right corner of the main screen. Most of the controls should be self-explanatory, but just to be certain:
- Animation Speed -- controls the rate at which simulated time progresses. Moving the slider to the left slows time down, and moving to the right speeds time up.
- Screen Top Period, Screen Bottom Period -- these sliders adjust the time it takes for the orb at the top or bottom of the screen to complete one back-and-forth oscillation across the screen. The periods of the intermediate orbs change progressively from screen top to screen bottom, so these two sliders affect all of the orbs.
- Number of Balls -- sets the number of orbs to simulate. Left for fewer, right for more.
- Start -- sets how much simulated time to "skip" before starting the display. This allows you to jump ahead in time and see later stages of the simulation without having to wait through the preceding stages.
- Image -- the left set of buttons allows you to select one of the pre-defined images. Tab the "Load" to get an image from your photo album.
- Done - tap this to go back to the main screen and see the effects of your changes.
OrbWave Fun
This shows a progression of sample main screens over time for one configuration. Of course, a static picture can only hint at how fascinating this is to watch!