What it takes to recreate the Rings of Power title sequence with Chladni figures

[embedded content] Steve Mold recreated the title sequence The Rings of Power using patterns produced by vibrating square plates.

When I first saw the opening credits for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, I thought the designs looked remarkably similar to what are called "Chladni figures": patterns that form when sand is scattered on a vibrating plate. It seems that I was not the only one. British science communicator and YouTube star Steve Mold received so much comment from viewers about the similarities that he decided to test this hypothesis by recreating the title sequence with his own vibration-generated patterns. He documents the trip and the associated science in the video above. The recreated final title sequence begins at 10:55.

The phenomenon is technically known as cymatics. In 1680, Robert Hooke experimented with passing an arc along flour-covered glass plates to induce vibrations and noted the telltale nodal patterns that formed in the flour. "A rigid plate will have a set of natural resonant frequencies, just like a string, and when the plate is excited to one of these frequencies, it will form a standing wave with fixed nodes," the physicist wrote. University of North Carolina, Greg Gbur. 2013. "These knots will form lines on the plate, unlike points on the rope." The flour on the plate made these nodal lines visible.

The 18th-century German physicist and musician Ernest Chladni perfected the method 100 years later when he repeated Hooke's pioneering experiments with circular plates, even demonstrating the effect before Napoleon. The various shapes or patterns created by resonant frequencies are known as "Chladni figures" in his honor. Chladni even came up with a mathematical formula to predict which patterns would form. The higher the oscillation rate, the more complex these numbers will be. Similar methods are still used when designing acoustic instruments: violins, guitars, and cellos, for example.

Enlarge / The closest mold might come from the iconic series of rings featured in the title sequence. YouTube/Steve Mold

Mould's videos explore a wide variety of topics, including one on the physics of the so-called "chain fountain" (rising self-siphoning beads) which inspired two physicists to test his hypothesis and to publish an article in 2014 . Mold also created a hugely popular YouTube video in 2016 about the science behind the Chladni figures, which he demonstrated by sprinkling couscous on a large square of vibrating metal. So he was a natural person to approach for those curious whether the title sequence The Rings of Power was created in the same way.

First, Mold took a closer look at the specific shapes featured in the title sequence, then tried to figure out how to recreate them (or a similar pattern) using his own vibrating plates, as well as the transitions between the patterns. . This involved more than a little calculation.

Mould used a program called Desmos to cycle through various combinations of the two variables at play and the patterns that should be produced on a square plate. (He ex...