The design of a ripple tank built in an undergraduate student project is described. Water waves are excited acoustically using computer programmable wave shapes. The projected wave patterns are recorded with a video camera and analyzed quantitatively. From the propagation of wave packets in distilled water at three different depths, the phase and group velocities are measured in the frequency range from 2 to 50 Hz. Good agreement with theory is found. The propagation of wave trains of different shapes is recorded and explained on the basis of the stationary phase approximation. Various types of precursors are detected. For a depth slightly above the critical depth and thus nearly dispersion-free, the solitary-like propagation of a single pulse is observed. In shallow water, the compression of a chirped pulse is demonstrated. Circular waves produced by falling water drops are recorded and analyzed.
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2011
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