Lissajous figure, also called BOWDITCH CURVE, pattern produced by the intersection of two sinusoidal curves the axes of which are at right angles to each other. First studied by the American mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch in 1815, the curves were investigated independently by the French mathematician Jules-Antoine Lissajous in 1857–58. Lissajous used a narrow stream of sand pouring from the base of a compound pendulum to produce the curves. Source
This curve is done with these two parametric equasions:
x = A * sin(a*t + phi)
y = B * sin(b*t)
x and y are the points on the canvas, which are defined by:
The amplitute: A and B, it shows how hard the curve swings.
The constants: a and b which determine the number of lobes.
t is the constant for time and can not be manipulated in this demo.
And finally phi is the phase angle.
The creation of this website was inpsired by: Academo