Module 1 Discussion
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School
Southern New Hampshire University *
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Course
101L
Subject
Geography
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
3
Uploaded by MinisterSardine3121
Hello everyone. My name is Tom, I live in Queens, New York, and I am pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in environmental science. I enjoy nature and being outdoors in almost any capacity and I love hiking, biking, birdwatching, and natural waterways. I took PHY-101 last year but I never took the lab so I am taking it now. I think physics is way more interesting when there are hands-on experiments. I don’t struggle much with the math, but half the time I’m just unaware of what exactly I’m calculating. A motion that I have questions about is the motion of the ocean; or surface waves. The ocean never seems to stop generating waves and I never really thought to question it. Waves on the ocean surface are usually formed by wind. The water in waves don’t travel that much, the waves actually transmit energy across the water. “Waves are actually energy passing through the water, causing it to move in a circular motion.” (N.O.A.A., 2018) Wind blows across the surface of the ocean transferring energy to the water through friction. As the wind pushes against the water's surface, it transfers its energy to the water molecules, causing them to move, and creating small ripples on the water's surface. The stronger the wind and the greater distance it blows, the larger the waves will be. This means the velocity of ocean waves is not constant and depends on their wavelength. (Anne, 2021) As the wind continues blowing over
the water the waves become larger, and gravity starts to play a significant role. Gravity causes the water to move toward the ocean floor, creating a circular motion known as an orbital motion. Gravity pulls the elevated crests of the waves downward, causing them to lose energy and transfer it to adjacent water molecules. This transfer of energy causes the waves to move forward
and eventually leads to the formation of more mature waves known as gravity waves. “As wind blows against the water, it pushes some of it up. As the water rises, gravity pulls it down. Eventually gravity wins, but wind continues pushing the water, creating more waves.” (Moran, 2018).
One way to describe this motion so someone who cannot see it understands is to imagine a long rope. If you hold one end of the rope and move it up and down the wave will travel down the rope but the rope is barely displaced. The waves travel through the water, but the water itself does not actually move very much from its original position. I also found an analogy that might help. “An analogy is a crowd of people doing a Mexican wave in a stadium: they stay in the same location, but the wave they create travels around the arena.” (Alison George, n.d.)
I would use a diagram showing wave formation. Something that shows the circular motion of water molecules and how the energy of the wind is transferred to the water's surface, forming waves.
Resources:
Alison George. (n.d.). What causes waves in the ocean?
New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/question/causes-waves-ocean/
Anne, G. (2021, November 7). The Physics of Water Wakes – Hadron
. Isma.edu. https://sites.imsa.edu/hadron/2021/11/07/the-physics-of-water-wakes/#:~:text=While
%20light%20and%20sound%20waves%20propagate%20with%20the
Moran, D. (2018). Gravity Wave Defined
. Weather.gov. https://www.weather.gov/source/zhu/ZHU_Training_Page/Miscellaneous/gravity_wave/
gravity_wave.html#:~:text=Gravity%20waves%20form%20on%20the%20boundary
%20of%20fluids
Where do ocean waves come from?
(2018). Noaa.gov; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/waves.html
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