Standing waves are harmonic waves with equal amplitude, wavelength, and frequency that are moving in opposite directions. Nodes are points where the amplitude is zero, while antinodes are points where the amplitude is at a maximum. For a standing wave pattern in a water pipe, if there are 4 nodes and 4 antinodes, and the sound wave speed is 300m/s and frequency is 250Hz, the length of the pipe can be calculated using the relationship that the distance between nodes or antinodes is one quarter of the wavelength.