I learned the physics behind the waves of the ocean. When it comes to water, a longer wavelength has a faster velocity. So those two are directly related. When wavelength directly affects the speed of the wave this is called dispersive waves. Non-Dispersive waves travel at the same speed in the medium regardless of frequency. For example, sound waves are non-dispersive.
When water is deep the velocity of the wave can be faster, and if the water is shallow, the velocity will be slow. Therefore depth, and the topography of the floor affect waves in so many ways. How they break, where they break, size and speed. For example lets say there is deep water and a wave is moving with great velocity. If all of a sudden the water gets shallow, the base of the wave will slow down but the top part of the wave remains at a high velocity because of inertia. When this happens eventually the base of the wave can't keep up with the top, so the top falls over thus creating a wave.
So therefore waves help create water waves, which break from a disturbance in their energy such as reef slows down the base of the wave(Just like how we had the string moving, and when we disturbed the movement of the string the string slowed down) but makes the top of the wave fall.
ReplyDeleteI love your picture! Great explanation too!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Josh on both your picture and your explanation on waves. It's very simple and easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteya that's exactly it.
ReplyDeletethanks guys!