Wave Interactions

In science class we used a tray of water to find out how waves interact. We used the tray of water and 2 clay barriers to find out what would happen when we made waves by shaking the tray

we did this test 3 times without barriers in different directions, 3 times with 1 barrier, and 3 times with 2 barriers.

First, we tested 3 times with no barriers. We shook the waves back and forth, thinking that when the 2 waves from either side met in the middle they would stop but amazingly it seemed that they just passed through each other without even slowing down.

Second, we tested the waves with 1 barrier on the side, this time when we shook the tray we creating 3 different pools of waves. 2 that were very fast but bounced off the barrier and 1 that went to the ends of the tray. Which was very unusual to watch.

Lastly, we put another barrier opposite to the first 1, leaving a small gap in the middle. This time when we shook the tray all the water on one side of the barrier stayed on that side and all the water on the other side stayed there. We predicted that if you put different color food coloring on both sides the wouldn't change any paint even if you shook it.

In conclusion I've learnt that there are many invisible waves all around us that we can't see. Some bouncing off objects depending on the depending on how intense it is.