Wave Machine

We’re surrounded by waves! Sound and light travel as waves to our ears and eyes. Ocean waves crash onto the beach. Radio waves broadcast music to our cars. We even use waves to cook our food - in microwaves! A wave travels through things but can only travel through things that are connected. Try making this wave machine to see how all different kinds of waves move!

In this experiment, you will create a wave machine using tape, skewers, and gumdrops. Observe what happens when you tap one skewer. It creates a disturbance that twists the tape, causing a disturbance in the skewer after it. This creates a wave that bounces back when it reaches the skewers. When a wave hits something solid (that they can’t move through) they reflect back in the opposite direction.