Animation 2
The mixed wave is a superposition of two traveling waves of different magnitudes propagating in opposite directions. This case arises when the reflection coefficient has a magnitude between zero and one. In phasor form,

It follows that

The envelope of this wave has minima and maxima whose ratio produces the standing wave ratio (SWR)—an important measure of the power transfer capabilities of a transmission line link.
Observe a mixed wave for a reflection coefficient Γ = 0.5:
Animation 1: Mixed (uniform plane) wave.
Compare the animation of a uniform plane mixed wave with those of a
standing uniform plane wave and
traveling uniform plane wave.
Standing (uniform plane) wave

Traveling (uniform plane) wave
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