How to Create a Wave in a Glass of Water

Lena and Petya were always eager to try new experiments, and today they decided to create a wave in a glass of water. Lena had read about how waves can be created in liquids, and suggested to Petya that they try it with regular plastic cups. Since they loved studying scientific phenomena, this experiment was a great opportunity to understand how waves propagate and how water reacts to different influences.

— Have you ever tried creating a wave in a glass? — asked Lena, pulling out plastic cups and filling them with water. — It’s quite simple, but you can see how the waves spread through the water. We will create a wave with one cup and see how it moves!

Petya walked over to Lena with interest:

— A wave in a glass? That sounds like the ocean! How are we going to do that?

Lena smiled and began explaining:

— It’s very simple! We’re going to use two cups. One cup will be the source of the wave, and the other we will keep where the wave will move. We’ll influence the water in one cup, and the wave will spread through the liquid.

The two began gathering the materials. Lena filled two plastic cups with water and placed them next to each other. Petya took one cup and gently rocked it to see how the wave would start to spread in the other cup. And after a few seconds, the wave began to spread through the water!

— Look, the wave is coming! — said Petya, watching as the water started to move and the wave passed from one cup to the other. — This is so cool! But how does it work?

Lena explained:

— It has to do with how water transfers movement. When we rock the cup, we’re transferring energy to the water, and it starts to move. The water in the cup begins to oscillate, and those oscillations spread throughout the water, creating a wave.

Petya took the other cup and tried to influence the water in it to see how the wave would move in the opposite direction. He gently rocked the cup, and the wave began to spread in the other direction.

— This is so interesting! We can change the direction of the wave and see how it moves through the water. It’s like the real ocean, but in a glass! — Petya exclaimed, enthusiastically watching the process.

Lena nodded:

— Yes, and that's not all! If we make waves with different strengths, we can see how they interact. For example, we can try creating two waves in different cups at the same time and see how they meet!

Petya happily agreed and started experimenting. He rocked the cups with different intensities to create waves of varying strength. Lena watched as the waves collided, transferred their energy to each other, and then moved apart.

— Look at how the waves transfer! It’s like real water, just on a smaller scale, — said Lena, watching as the wave transferred from one cup to the other.

Petya was thrilled that they managed to create such a simple, but fun model of a wave and said:

— We could even make a real wave with this method if we add more water and use even more cups!

Lena agreed:

— Yes, we can keep exploring how waves interact and how they spread. This is a great way to understand how the physics of water works and how energy moves through liquids!

The kids were satisfied with the results of the experiment. Not only had they created a wave in a glass, but they also learned how water can transfer energy and how waves interact. Lena and Petya decided that next time they would try to create even more complex experiments using water and other liquids. But this simple experiment with the wave in a glass was their first step into discovering amazing physical processes.