What to watch
- The bounding box alternates between two shapes.
- It has a larger active region than the blinker.
- Its phases are useful for explaining oscillator envelopes.
Oscillators
Toad
A period-2 oscillator made from two offset rows of three cells.
The toad demonstrates how a compact object can briefly expand and then contract back into its original phase.
- Category
- Oscillators
- Period
- 2
- Movement
- bounded
- Population
- 6 cells
- Bounding box
- 4 x 2
- Known since
- 1970
How to use it
Use it to compare period-2 behavior with a wider active envelope.
Compare this pattern with its family
Open the pattern in the lab, reduce the speed, and use single-step mode when a phase change is hard to see. The green preview marks births in the next generation; red outlines mark live cells that will die.
Next experiments
Compare nearby patterns
Move between similar structures to see which facts change: box size, lifespan, extinction, motion, and final ash.
Blinker
The smallest oscillator, flipping between vertical and horizontal lines.
- Size
- 3 x 3
- Lifespan
- 2
Beacon
Two blocks that repeatedly switch their touching corner cells.
- Size
- 4 x 4
- Lifespan
- 2
Pulsar
A large period-3 oscillator with strong fourfold symmetry.
- Size
- 13 x 13
- Lifespan
- 3
Pentadecathlon
A slim oscillator with a much longer cycle than its size suggests.
- Size
- 3 x 10
- Lifespan
- 15