Cymatic CreationSaige KumarAward: Top 100
School: viewpoint school / photo dept. This image captures the study of visible sound and vibration, known as cymatics. This was photographed by placing a small container (in the container both oil and water were poured in) onto a Chladni plate attached to a mechanical oscillator connected to a signal generator, where we can then control the frequency and amplitude manually, and then lit with LEDs. A Chladni plate is a metal plate that, when vibrated, will form patterns of nodes and antinodes on its surface. Nodes and antinodes are features of waves that are created when two waves, traveling in opposite directions, meet and superimpose each other: nodes are the points with minimum displacement where the wave isn't moving, and antinodes are points of maximum displacement where the wave has the greatest amplitude. By manipulating the frequency and amplitude, we can adjust where these waves meet, how fast they meet, and the sizes of the waves meeting, all causing different patterns once the waves are superimposed. Materials have natural frequencies at which it vibrates most efficiently, known as resonant frequencies. When an external sound wave matches a material's resonant frequency, the amplitude of vibration increases significantly, leading to more pronounced and complex patterns. Additionally, the viscosity of the liquid in the container plays a role as the higher the viscosity the more the liquid will absorb wave energy and thus affect the speed it takes for the wave to move across the container. Ultimately, cymatics gives us an insight to the physical manifestation of sound and how vibrations can shape the material world in incredible ways. 
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