Target

Families

Thematic

Acoustics | Physics

Keywords

bells | explore | physics | sound | vibration | waves

Duration

4 min

Typology

Video

A Chladni plate consists of a flat sheet of metal, usually circular or square, mounted on a central stalk to a sturdy base. When the plate is oscillating in a particular mode of vibration, the nodes and antinodes that are set up form complex but symmetrical patterns over its surface. The positions of these nodes and antinodes can be seen by sprinkling sand upon the plates; the sand will vibrate away from the antinodes and gather at the nodes.

Video courtesy Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demonstrations. You can access the original activity or find out more about it, at Chladni Plates.