When sound
leaves a pattern.
A tone to hear. A pattern to explore. A question to take into the world.
This model shows mathematical nodal lines. It is not a measurement or a prediction of what your speaker, water, or a metal plate will produce.
Meet a frequency.
Start with your device volume low. Sound begins only when you press Play.
Sound is off.
Explore the pattern separately.
The mode numbers change the sketch. There is no universal frequency-to-shape map.
What is cymatics?
Cymatics explores patterns produced by vibration in materials. In a Chladni plate experiment, grains can collect along nodal lines where the plate moves relatively little.
The resulting pattern depends on the material, shape, mounting, and vibration modes—not frequency alone. A browser tone becomes a physical experiment only when it drives suitable equipment.
Explore Chladni plates · Exploratorium ↗Begin with noticing.
- Play a quiet tone. Change its frequency slowly.
- Stop the tone and explore the pattern sliders.
- What changes? What stays symmetrical?
Future project: document a physical plate experiment and compare observations with models.
How this sketch works
The image highlights near-zero values of cos(nπx)cos(mπy) − cos(mπx)cos(nπy), with x and y from 0 to 1. It is a simplified mathematical pattern, not a calibrated plate simulation. Equal mode numbers cancel everywhere, so the display explains that case.