Wave diagram creator

Welcome to the Wave Diagram Creator, a specialized tool designed for physics educators. Create, manipulate, and export diagrams for basic wave physics you can use for assessments or classwork.

Note: This is a continual work in progress. What you see below is not the final product, I will continue to add additional functionality as time goes on.

Interactive Graph Tool Placeholder

How to Use the Wave Diagram Generator

Wave Type

At the top of the left panel, choose one of five wave types:

Transverse
Longitudinal
Standing
Pulse
Interference

Each wave type shows its own relevant controls below.

Transverse and Longitudinal

Wavelength (λ): shown as a percent and as a value in meters
Cycles: how many full wavelengths are drawn
Amplitude (% of max height): shown as a percent and as a value in meters
Phase offset: in degrees or radians (toggle between the two)
Transverse shows crest and trough labels
Longitudinal shows compression (C) and rarefaction (R) labels

Standing

Medium: choose String, Open pipe (open-open), or Closed pipe (open-closed)
Harmonic (n): sets which harmonic is shown, and displays the resulting wavelength
Amplitude (% of max height)
Node (N) and antinode (AN) points are labeled on the diagram

Pulse

Y scale: adjusts the vertical scale of the diagram
Pulses section: each pulse has its own Position, Width, Amplitude, Side (Above/Below), and Direction (left/right arrow)
Add pulse adds another pulse to the diagram, useful for showing superposition
Show superposition (result) and Show individual pulses control what's visible when multiple pulses overlap
Animation controls at the bottom: Play/Pause, Reset, Step forward/back, Speed slider, and an "Auto-pause at overlap" checkbox that stops the animation when pulses meet

Interference

Wavelength (λ), Cycles, and Amplitude, same as Transverse
Animation mode: Sweep Δφ or Traveling waves
Sweep Δφ mode has a Phase difference slider you can set manually, plus Play/Reset/Speed controls to animate it automatically
Traveling waves mode animates both waves moving and colliding, with its own Play/Reset/Speed controls
The diagram shows Wave 1, Wave 2, and the Resultant wave, along with the resultant amplitude formula and its calculated value
Constructive (C) and destructive (D) points are labeled on the diagram

Annotations

Available annotations vary by wave type, and may include:

Equilibrium axis
Background grid / axis scale
Wavelength (λ) and Show λ value
Amplitude (A) and Show A value
Crest / Trough labels
Propagation direction arrow
Node / Antinode markers
Resultant amplitude formula

Caption

Add an optional caption, which appears at the bottom of the diagram in all exports.

Presets

Reset to defaults
Built-in presets you can load directly, such as Simple wave, Fundamental, 3rd harmonic, Open pipe n=1, Closed pipe n=1, Sound wave, Two pulses, Constructive, Destructive, In phase (0°), 90° phase, and Anti-phase (180°)
My presets: name and save your current setup for later, including custom λ/A scale values

Export Note

PNG exports render at 2x resolution for crisp printing. Enable the background grid and enter custom λ/A values to label axes with real physical units.

Exporting

At the top of the left panel:

Copy PNG
Copy SVG
SVG export
PNG export
PDF export

Wave diagram creator

Interactive Graph Tool Placeholder

How to Use the Wave Diagram Generator

​

Wave Type

At the top of the left panel, choose one of five wave types:

Transverse

Longitudinal

Standing

Pulse

Interference

​

Each wave type shows its own relevant controls below.

​

Transverse and Longitudinal

Wavelength (λ): shown as a percent and as a value in meters

Cycles: how many full wavelengths are drawn

Amplitude (% of max height): shown as a percent and as a value in meters

Phase offset: in degrees or radians (toggle between the two)

Transverse shows crest and trough labels

Longitudinal shows compression (C) and rarefaction (R) labels

​

Standing

Medium: choose String, Open pipe (open-open), or Closed pipe (open-closed)

Harmonic (n): sets which harmonic is shown, and displays the resulting wavelength

Amplitude (% of max height)

Node (N) and antinode (AN) points are labeled on the diagram

​

Pulse

Y scale: adjusts the vertical scale of the diagram

Pulses section: each pulse has its own Position, Width, Amplitude, Side (Above/Below), and Direction (left/right arrow)

Add pulse adds another pulse to the diagram, useful for showing superposition

Show superposition (result) and Show individual pulses control what's visible when multiple pulses overlap

Animation controls at the bottom: Play/Pause, Reset, Step forward/back, Speed slider, and an "Auto-pause at overlap" checkbox that stops the animation when pulses meet

​

Interference

Wavelength (λ), Cycles, and Amplitude, same as Transverse

Animation mode: Sweep Δφ or Traveling waves

Sweep Δφ mode has a Phase difference slider you can set manually, plus Play/Reset/Speed controls to animate it automatically

Traveling waves mode animates both waves moving and colliding, with its own Play/Reset/Speed controls

The diagram shows Wave 1, Wave 2, and the Resultant wave, along with the resultant amplitude formula and its calculated value

Constructive (C) and destructive (D) points are labeled on the diagram

​

Annotations

Available annotations vary by wave type, and may include:

Equilibrium axis

Background grid / axis scale

Wavelength (λ) and Show λ value

Amplitude (A) and Show A value

Crest / Trough labels

Propagation direction arrow

Node / Antinode markers

Resultant amplitude formula

​

Caption

Add an optional caption, which appears at the bottom of the diagram in all exports.

​

Presets

Reset to defaults

Built-in presets you can load directly, such as Simple wave, Fundamental, 3rd harmonic, Open pipe n=1, Closed pipe n=1, Sound wave, Two pulses, Constructive, Destructive, In phase (0°), 90° phase, and Anti-phase (180°)

My presets: name and save your current setup for later, including custom λ/A scale values

​

Export Note

PNG exports render at 2x resolution for crisp printing. Enable the background grid and enter custom λ/A values to label axes with real physical units.

​

Exporting

At the top of the left panel:

Copy PNG

Copy SVG

SVG export

PNG export

PDF export