Demo Wave Packet

This stand-alone demonstration shows how a wave packet forms from the incremental addition of a spread of waves that differ in wavelength. Input the central wavelength, the number of waves in the packet, and the incremental delta in wavelength between each wave. The graph axis is averaged amplitude versus relative position (scaled in units of wavelength).

The demo is relevant to illustrate the uncertainty principle for wavelength versus position. When we know wavelength to infinite precision (Delta lambda = 0), the resulting combination of all waves occupies infinite spatial position. As we become less certain about the exact wavelength, the resulting combination of all waves with the variation across that uncertainty becomes more localized in its spatial position.