Wave interference is a relatively simple scientific concept that can be difficult to grasp at first. Many are introduced to the idea in high school or college physics, usually being shown something like the double slit experiment. Whilst this is a great demonstration of the wave properties of light it’s not exactly obvious how the constructive and destructive interference actually works. Something like the following video, I feel, gives a far better visual impression of what wave interference and superpositioning does in the real world.
The really cool demonstration comes in at about 55 seconds in where they demonstrate a concentric wave singularity, or what they call “The Spike”. Basically they make the waves work in such a way that once they meet in the middle they all interfere with each other at just the right point. This results in the rapid formation of a cavity in the middle which is then slammed shut as the waves return to their peak. The resulting geyser flows upward for far longer than you’d expect it to which is a great demonstration of the power of constructive interference with waves.
FloWave itself was constructed to replicate currents and waves seen in the ocean. This allows companies and researchers to test out their technologies in a controlled environment before they get deployed offshore, potentially saving costly repairs and re-engineering. That means that it’s mostly used to test out how things respond to various kinds of waves and currents, rather than generating awesome wave spikes that shoot water several stories into the air. Still I’d love something like this on a smaller scale to do my own demonstrations of wave interference.
