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Session 6D1 DIDACTIC PRESENTATION OF WAVE PROPAGATION PHENOMENA BY MEANS OF COMPUTER ANIMATIONS

Drago Hercog 1
Abstract Physical phenomenon of wave propagation is intrinsically difficult to understand. The animation of analytical results can greatly improve student's understanding of them. This paper presents our experience in preparation and presentation of electromagnetic wave propagation animations for educational purposes. The choice of graphical presentation is first discussed. Then the waveforms to be used are enumerated. For didactic reasons, the presentation of wave phenomena in time domain rather than in frequency domain is advocated. The important guidelines to be followed when preparing animations are also discussed, including the requirement for clarity of contents and analytical presentation. We then describe how to simply and quickly create animations by means of Mathcad tool. Several characteristic examples, together with their educational goals, are presented. Animations have been used to support lectures of electromagnetic wave propagation for undergraduate students. The response of students was very positive and encouraging. They declared that animation presentations had much improved their understanding of the subject. Index Terms Animations, Didactic Tools, Mathcad, Wave Propagation. and many phenomena treated in engineering curricula are more than two-dimensional. A basic example of such a situation is the dependence on both space and time. Nevertheless, if a computer is used for the presentation, a time-dependent phenomenon can be shown by means of animation. So the time dependence is shown in a natural way. In any case, an appropriate tool to generate graphic presentations is needed. We chose Mathcad by Mathsoft, Inc. [2] for this purpose. We had already gained some experience with it when preparing diagrams for our textbook on electromagnetic waves propagation [3]. The textbook [4] is accompanied by an electronic handbook of Mathcad examples [5]. However, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how to choose the form and contents and how to generate and present animations of wave propagation phenomena that can serve a a didactic aid to accompany s teacher's lectures. The experiences gained by the author when using such animations in an electromagnetic waves undergraduate course will be exposed.

GRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF WAVE PHENOMENA


Physical phenomena usually occur in the three-dimensional space. This means that there are at least five variables involved: three space variables, time, and one scalar value or two or three vector component values describing the physical phenomenon. If animations are used the time dependence is naturally represented in time, although slowed down or sped up to be shown at the speed of a few frames per second. Nevertheless, the number of values to be shown and space variables usually exceed the number of dimensions available on computer screen, which is only two. Three-dimensional graphs can also be shown on the two-dimensional surface to show the dependence of a value on two space variables, although in this case, it is more difficult to read values from it. Another possibility to acquire an additional dimension in a basically two-dimensional graphical presentation is to use colors to encode the values to be shown on a plane. Figures 1 (a) and (b) present the same physical phenomenon, a harmonic wave, in a threeand two-dimensional graph, respectively. The scalar field value is shown both on the z -axis and in colour in the first case, and is colour-encoded only in the second case. On the colour scale, red represents the most positive value, green zero and violet the most negative value. Although the presentation in Figure 1 (a) gives a realistic impression of a

INTRODUCTION
The phenomenon of wave propagation is the solution of a partial differential equation and boundary conditions which is reflected in its dependence on both space and time. It is therefore intrinsically difficult, especially for undergraduate students. Besides readable textbooks on the subject, e.g. [1], additional didactic aids are therefore welcome. Waves propagation can be discussed either in time domain or in frequency domain. Although the latter is limited to the treatment of harmonic waves, its area of application is nevertheless broader, being able to solve also the problems of dispersive waves. On the other hand, such a treatment hides the most characteristic property of a wave phenomenon its dependence on both space and time. We are therefore convinced that it is essential to begin the discussion and treat most basic phenomena of wave propagation in time domain. It is of great advantage if students can be shown this double dependency graphically. Any physical phenomenon can be much easier understood if it is graphically presented. However, both the surface of a paper and computer screen are two-dimensional,
1

Drago Hercog, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Traka 25, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Drago.Hercog@fe.uni-lj.si

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wave, it can be misleading: the field value may have nothing to do with the spatial dimension on the z-axis. distances betwen lines being such that there is the same flux between any two adjacent lines. The field lines for the vector field V in the xy plane are given by the differential equation dx/Vx = dy/Vy . (1)

Both representations of the magnetic field in the rectangular waveguide (mode TE10 ) are shown in Figure 4.

(a)

(b)

FIGURE 1
HARMONIC WAVE IN THREE -DIMENSIONAL (A) AND TWO -DIMENSIONAL ( B) GRAPH .

The problems of electromagnetic wave propagation that are discussed in university courses are usually not really three-dimensional. Often, the dependence on one or even two space variables can be avoided if the appropriate coordinate system is used and appropriately oriented. For instance, the wave shown in Figure 1 is essentially onedimensional and can also be shown in a two-dimensional graph with one space variable shown along one axis and the value along the other, as can be seen in Figure 2. In general, one space dimension will be sufficient if the directions of propagation of the plane waves to be shown are colinear. If the directions are coplanar but not colinear, or if cylindrical waves are to be shown, two space dimensions are needed. Problems that occur in a true three-dimensional space are more difficult to be shown graphically. One can have recourse to several presentations in different characteristic planes. For example, a spherical wave that is rotationally symmetric and depends on the elevation but not on the azimuth, can be shown in the equatorial and meridian planes, respectively, as can be seen in Figure 3.

(a)

(b)

FIGURE 3
SPHERICAL HARMONIC W AVE IN EQUATORIAL (A) AND MERIDIAN ( B) PLANE .

(a)

(b)

FIGURE 4 FIGURE 2
HARMONIC WAVE DEPENDENT ON ONE SPACE VARIABLE ONLY GRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF THEMAGNETIC FIELD IN A RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE : VECTORS (A ) AND FIELD LINES ( B)

Until now, only scalar fields have been discussed. However, electromagnetic fields are vector fields. A vector field distribution on a plane may be shown in one of three ways. The simplest, but not the most instructive, is to show each component of the vector separately. Alternatively, vector values are shown at selected points, represented by arrows indicating magnitudes and directions of vectors, or field lines are drawn in a plane such that the tangent on a field line has the direction of the vector field at that point, International Conference on Engineering Education

PRESENTATION OF WAVE PROPAGATION IN SPACE AND TIME


What to Show The topics of wave propagation include numerous phenomena which are quite difficult to imagine and understand if not appropriately presented. They are therefore excellent candidates to be shown graphically, especially by

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means of animations. We will present some examples more thoroughly later and will enumerate only a few of them here: propagation of single waves with different waveforms dependence of propagation speed and space dimension of a wave on medium properties field distribution in space and time polarization boundary conditions reflection and refraction of waves interference and standing wave dispersion effects of power loss How to Show The success of a graphic presentation certainly depends on its form and contents. When preparing animations, the educator must therefore be aware of the following. The visual appearance of the animation must have good quality and be attractive. The animation must have a well defined contents to describe and emphasise the phenomenon discussed. The contents must be easily understandable and as simple as possible. Composite phenomena must be decomposed, so that their components as well as the whole can be analytically understood. The complexity of animations and their contents must gradually rise. Waveforms A general scalar wave function that depends on time and space given by variable t and vector r, respectively, is given by (r,t) = (t (1 vr)/v) (2) (r,t) = 1(t (1 vr)/v) - 2 1(t - (1 vr)/v) + + 1(t 2 - (1 vr)/v) , (r,t) = cos( 1vr) 1(t (1 vr)/v) t

(5) (6)

where = is the phase constant. Finally, after wave /v phenomena are discussed in complex space, their transformations into time space are used, yielding harmonic functions: (r,t) = cos( 1vr +) . t (7)

To be able to show certain phenomena, such as dispersion, functions that have more than one harmonic component may be used. A good candidate in a telecommunications course is an amplitude modulated function (8), whose waveform and spectrum are well known to telecommunications students: (r,t) = A n cos( t c 1vr) + c + Am [cos(t l 1vr) + cos( t r 1vr)] l r

(8)

where = - , = + , and c = ( ), l = (), l c m r c m c l r = ( ). r

HOW TO CREATE ANIMATIONS


The choice of the tool used to create animations is governed by the following requirements. It must yield good quality animations. The development of animations must be quick and easy, not requiring specialist programming knowledge. The results of basic wave phenomena are given as analytical formulae which are usually even derived during the course. They can therefore be used as the source of animation development. We used the tool Mathcad by MathSoft, Inc. [2]. Basically, this tool allows a user to edit mathematical formulae and to calculate and draw results according to them. Several types of two- and three-dimensional graphs are available. From the viewpoint of this paper, it is important that Mathcad offers an easy-to-learn and easy-to-do method of creating animations. The predefined variable FRAME is used for this purpose. If formulae are to be animated in Nt +1 points over the time span of the time is to be expressed as t t = ( / N t ) FRAME . t (9)

where the vector 1 v and scalar v indicate the direction and speed of wave propagation. The waveform is given by the function Its choice is of utmost importance for the . didactic presentation of the wave phenomenon. At first, a wave may be imagined as a physical event, disturbance or information that propagates through space. It is therefore advisable to begin the presentation of waves with aperiodic functions, such as the step function (3) or a pulse (4): (r,t) = 1(t(1 vr)/v) , (r,t) = 1(t (1 vr)/v) 1(t - (1 vr)/v) . (3) (4)

Afterwards, more sophisticated waveforms, that will give rise to interesting interference phenomena, can be used, such as a double pulse (5) or the occurence of a harmonic wave (6):

When Mathcad is requested to create an animation over Nt +1 points it iterates the variable FRAME from 0 to Nt , recomputes the results of the selected graphs for each value of FRAME and creates the animation. This can then either be immediately played back using the usual Windows media player controls or saved as a video file in Microsoft

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Windows Media format .avi for later viewing. This file can also be inserted into a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or into a hypertext document. noticed. Due to the boundary conditions, the total field is continuous at the boundary.

SOME CHARACTERISTIC EXAMPLES


In this section a few especially interesting and characteristic examples of electromagnetic wave propagation presentation will be shown and their animations described. Problem characteristics that can be successfully explained by means of animations will be pointed out. A Single Wave Propagation The basic physical phenomenon that is interesting for a novice student is of course the wave propagation itself. The general solution of a second order partial differential equation yields a wave function of arbitrary waveform propagating through the space. To reinforce students understanding and notion of the wave phenomenon, animations of propagation of different waveforms as defined in (2)-(8), using different types of presentation as discussed in section Graphic Presentation of Three-Dimensional Physical Phenomena, are to be shown. Wave Reflection and Transmission, Perpendicular Incidence An electromagnetic wave incident at the boundary between two media with different properties is reflected from this boundary and also transmitted into the second medium if the latter is not perfectly conducting. The case of normal incidence is more simple and mu st therefore be treated first. The fact that is perhaps the most basic for a novice is that both reflected and transmitted waves occur as consequences of the incident one, the reason for it being the fulfilment of boundary conditions. Both these facts can be shown by means of animation of an incident electromagnetic wave having the form of a step or a pulse and propagating perpendicularly to the boundary between two media with, say, different permittivities and hence different wave propagation speeds. To allow the analytic comprehension of the phenomenon, the presentation must show each of the three waves separately, as well as the total field. It can then easily be seen that the reflected and transmitted waves appear exactly at the moment when the incident wave reaches the boundary, and also have the same waveform. Such an example, with the waveform (5) and the ratio of the speeds in the left and the right medium being 2:1, is shown in Figure 5 in the moment when the first half of the second pulse has reached the boundary. In the upper part of Figure 5 can be seen the incident wave in blue and the transmitted wave in cyan; in the middle, the reflected wave in magenta; and at the bottom, the total electric field in red. The green center line indicates the boundary. It can also be seen that the pulse width in the left medium is twice as wide as in the right one. When animated, the ratio of propagation speeds 2:1 can also be International Conference on Engineering Education 6D1-4

FIGURE 5
REFLECTION AND T RANSMISSION OF A DOUBLE -PULSE SHAPED WAVE .

Due to the summation of the fields of incident and reflected waves, interference occurs. The waveform (5) is somehow similar to a single period of sine wave, so the phenomenon of constructive and destructive interference can easily be introduced. Replacing the double pulse (5) by the waveform (6), the initial irregular interference is seen to be followed by the regular standing wave. Although not a true animation, the dependence of the steady state standing wave amplitude variation in space on the reflection coefficient can also be appropriately presented. The absolute value of reflection coefficient is varied in the range between 0 and 1 by means of the Mathcad FRAME variable. In the resulting video clip, the reflection coefficient can therefore be changed with the aid of the seek bar. An example is shown in Figure 6.

FIGURE 6
AMPLITUDE VARIATION OF A STANDING WAVE WITH THE ABILITY TO CHANGE THE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT.

In case of steady state harmonic standing wave, it is especially interesting to see how the wave propagates within August 6 10, 2001 Oslo, Norway

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the restrictions imposed by amplitude variations which cannot easily be seen in a still picture. To clarify the picture, both wave function and amplitude envelope are to be shown. Wave Reflection and Transmission, Oblique Incidence The phenomenon of reflection and transmission is much more complicated in case of oblique incidence. Firstly, the interference field in the first medium (where the incident wave occurs) is much more complex. It can be viewed as a combination of a standing wave in the direction perpendicular to the boundary and a travelling wave in the direction parallel to the boundary which can very well be seen in the animation. Again, it is advisable to show each of the three waves separately. Especially in a two-dimensional diagram (with colour-encoding of field values), the angles of incidence, reflection and refraction can easily be observed. The differences in propagation speeds and wavelengths can also be seen. Figure 7 shows in a three-dimensional diagram the incident, reflected and transmitted wave, each of them separately, where the propagation speed ratio between the two media is 1.5:1 and the angle of incidence is 30. In Figure 8 the total field distribution is shown. distributions along an axis perpendicular to the boundary (b), and along an axis in the medium of incident wave, paralel to the boundary (c). The speed ratio is the same is in Figures 7 and 8, but the angle of incidence is 45 this time hence the total reflection condition is fulfilled. Both in graphs (a) and (b), the exponential field decay in the second medium can be seen. When animation is run, it can well be seen that the propagation component perpendicular to the boundary disappears.

(a)

(c)

(b)

FIGURE 9
FIELD DISTRIBUTION IN INCIDENCE PLANE (A ), ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS ( B) AND ON VERTICAL AXIS (C), IN CASE OF T OTAL REFLECTION .

Electromagnetic Field Configuration and Polarization By means of animations, it is also possible to show different shapes of waves (e.g., see Figure 1 for a plane w ave and Figure 3 for a spherical wave) or different field configurations in space (e.g., see the magnetic field distribution in the rectangular waveguide in Figure 4). The electromagnetic field polarization is also of interest, especially in case of non-linear polarization. If the vector presentation of the field is animated, a vector can be seen either to only change its length and sign in case of linear polarization, or to turn clock- or counterclockwise, with its arrow staying on an ellipse or circle in case of elliptic or circular polarization, respectively. The magnetic field in a rectangular waveguide is elliptically polarized, with circular and linear polarizations at some places. This can be seen very well if Figure 4 (a) is animated. Dispersion FIGURE 8
I NTERFERENCE FIELD (FOREGROUND) AND REFRACTED WAVE FIELD (BACKGROUND ). SAME P ARAMETERS AS IN FIGURE 7.

(a)

(b)

(c)

FIGURE 7
I NCIDENT ( A), REFLECTED (B) AND T RANSMITTED ( C) WAVES SHOWN SEPARATELY. SPEED RATIO 1:1.5, ANGLE OF INCIDENCE 30.

In some transmission media that propagate electromagnetic waves, like waveguides and optic fibres, the speed of propagation depends on frequency. E.g., the speed of propagation in a waveguide is given by v( f ) = v0 1 ( fc f )
2

The discussion of the total reflection, either from a conducting or a dielectric surface, is extremely important because it can serve as the introduction into the treatment of waveguide fields. The total field distribution around the boundary between two dielectrics is shown in the twodimensional diagram of Figure 9 (a), together with field

(10)

where v0 is the speed in free space and fc is the critical frequency. As a consequence, different parts of signal August 6 10, 2001 Oslo, Norway

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spectrum propagate with different speed and the signal is distorted. This kind of distortion is called dispersion. Dispersion can most easily be demonstrated with the animation of a wave whose spectrum consists of only a few components, like the amplitude modulated signal given in (8). If the propagation of each spectral component as well as of the composite signal are animated, a careful viewer can notice different propagation speeds and the distortion of the signal that increases along the space axis. Figure 10 shows such a case, with the lower (magenta) and higher (cyan) frequencies being 25% apart from the central frequency (blue) and with the critical frequency twice as low as the central frequency. The distorted wave is shown in red. quickly as can be seen at the distances of 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 wavelengths from the origin at the left side of the upper diagram. Wavelengths and decay coefficients of the wave propagating in the dielectric along the metal wall and of that entering the copper are many orders of magnitude apart, so the scale of the diagram (a) and that of diagrams (b) are also very different.

(a)

(b)

FIGURE 12
MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH OF THEW AVE NEAR ( A) AND IN (B) THE LOSSY CONDUCTING MEDIUM.

FIGURE 10
DISPERSION OF AN AMPLITUDE MODULATED W AVE .

CONCLUSION
The techniques of generating animations were used by the author to prepare auxilliary teaching material for an undergraduate course on electromagnetic waves propagation at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The teacher would use a portable computer and a projector in the lecture hall to show animations sometimes after analytical results were obtained, or sometimes even before the derivation of formulae to let students guess about what kind of results are to be expected. The students response was very positive. They said the animations had improved their understanding of the phenomena discussed. Of course, much more examples were demonstrated than can fit into this paper. It is important to emphasise that such animations can be generated quite quickly and easily which allows the teacher to prepare them himself while concentrating on their contents and presentation, rather than on programming. They can then be used in different environments, like standalone video clips, parts of MS PowerPoint presentations or inserts in hypertext educational documents.

It is a good idea to show also the distortion of a signal with a wide spectrum, such as a sequence of pulses. In Figure 11, the undestorted signal is shown in blue and the distorted one in red.

FIGURE 11
DISTORTION OF A SEQUENCE OF PULSES DUE TO DISPERSION .

Power Loss Of course, neither conducting nor dielectric media are ideal. They consume some power which produces losses of the signal. Although the primary evidence of this fact is the exponential decay of the wave along its propagation path, other phenomena can also be observed, such as the presence of the electromagnetic field in the metal wall, exponentially decaying with the distance from the dielectric-to-metal boundary. This phenomenon is known as skin effect. In Figure 12 one can see the magnetic field strength of a wave propagating in a dielectric along a lossy conducting medium (copper). Field distribution in the dielectric along the axis paralel to the boundary is shown in (a) and can be seen to slightly decay in the direction of propagation. In the metal, the wave that propagates perpendicularly from the boundary into the conducting medium (b) decays very International Conference on Engineering Education

REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Baden Fuller, A., J., Engineering Electromagnetism, John Wiley & Sons, 1993 Mathcad 8 User's Guide, MathSoft, 1998 Hercog, D., Transmission Media in Telecommunications (in Slovene), University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, 1999 Paul, C., R., Whites, K., W., Nasar, S., A., Introduction to Electromagnetic Fields, McGraw-Hill, 1998 Whites, K., W., Visual Electromagnetics for Mathcad, McGraw-Hill, 2001, http://www.mhhe.com/engcs/electrical/whites/vem.mhtml

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