Narrow long wave tank with paddle
Jacobs Ladder toy
Cards

 

Code Number: 3B45.30

Demo Title: Solitons

Condition: Excellent

Principle: Single Waves

Area of Study: Oscillations & Acoustics, Waves, Solar and Galactic Astronomy

Equipment: 

Narrow long wave tank with paddle, Jacobs Ladder toy, cards, cloth covered board.

Procedure:

Fill the wave tank with about 2" to 3" of water.  With the paddle give a long smooth forward stroke and the Soliton should be produced.  The Soliton wave will only be good until it hits the end of the wave tank at which time many interference and reflecting waves are set up.  Let the water come to a quiet state again before you can repeat the experiment.

Tipping the first block of the Jacobs Ladder toy should start a cascade wave down the length of the toy.  Repeat the experiment by tipping the first block the other way.

The playing cards Soliton is fairly easy to do once the cards are spread evenly across the cloth covered board.  Use a single card to lift up one end of the line of cards and the Soliton can be maintained by running the card across the top of the wave.

References:

  • Martin Gardner,  "Physics Trick of the Month - A Playing-Card Soliton",  TPT, Vol. 40, # 4, p.  229, April 2002.
  • Antonio B. Nassar, "Build Your Own Soliton Generator", TPT, Vol. 36, # 8, p. 498- 499, Nov. 1998.
  • Ron Edge, "Solitons", TPT, Vol. 36, # 8, p. 483- 485 Nov. 1998. 
  • Claude Laroche, Thierry Dauxois, Michel Peyrard, "Discreteness Effects on Soliton Dynamics: A Simple Experiment", AJP, Vol. 68, # 6, p. 552, June 2000.
  • Erik Winkler and Junru Wu, "An Experiment to Study Localized Excitations - Nonpropagating Hydrodynamic Solitons", AJP, Vol. 58, #11, Nov. 1990, p. 1100.
  • John A. Whitehead, "A Laboratory Demonstration of Solitons Using a Vertical Watery Conduit in Syrup", AJP, Vol. 55, # 11, Nov. 1987, p. 998.
  • M. Olsen, H. Smith, and A. C. Scott, "Solitons in a Wave Tank", AJP, Vol. 52, #9, Sep. 1984, p. 826. 
  • Alessandro Bettini, Tullio A. Minelli, and Donatella Pascoli, "Solitons in Undergraduate Laboratory", AJP, Vol. 51, #11, Nov. 1983, p. 977.
  • "Interacting Solitary Waves", Physics Today, Nov. 2012, p. 20.
  • Jearl Walker, "2.31, Solitary Waves", The Flying Circus of Physics Ed. 2, p. 95.
  • Dick Teresi, "Mysteries of Lake Champlain", How it Works - Science Supplement, Spring 2000, p. 175-181.
3B45.30 - Solitons