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How are waves formed ?

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  1. along coasts,water surges up and down the beach as wave after wave breaks on the shore. most waves are caused by winds which blow across the open sea. the height of a wave increases as winds grow in strength and, in stormy weather, waves may reach 12 metres or more in height.

    in the open sea , however, waves do not move water particles horizontally. try this - tie a rope to a fence and then shake the rope, ripples or waves run through the rope, but the rope itself does not move forward. waves in the open sea are much like this. near coasts, the nature of waves changes. when the depth of the water is less than half of a wave length [the distance between two crests] the water is said to be shallow. in shallow water the the rotating movement of the water drags against the bottom and slows down, causing the crests to move closer together. as the wave approaches the shore, the water in front is insufficient to complete the shape of the wave. it then breaks and water surges up the beach, falling back again as the next wave advances.


  2. Starting off in the ocean:

    1. Tides - these are caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon and are waves with usually two highs and two lows a day.

    2. Wind waves.  These are what you see out on the ocean and also lakes.  There are different types of wind waves including the swell waves.  These are the waves that you see out on the Atlantic coast even on a calm day and are formed by wind blowing over a long distance.

    3. Tsunamis.  These are caused by underwater earthquakes and are formed when a bit of the earths crust underwater moves upward or downward, causing the ocean above to be shifted up or down.  This can travel vast distances away from the source.

    Other types of waves which are much rarer are those where there is something like a landslide or a bit of rock falls into a resevoir or coastal inlet.  It's the same effect as if you drop something in a tub of water, kind of a ripple effect.  There's some amazing footage that I've seen of these on telly.

    Leaving water behind there are many other types of waves: radiowaves, microwaves, soundwaves.  There are also waves associated with earthquakes.  This is taking me back a bit now, but there are P and S waves which travel through the earths interior after earthquakes and are detected by seismic monitoring devices.  There are also waves that can go round the earths crust after an earthquake.

    I could go on and on but I think I've gotten the main ones covered!!  Hope this answers your question.

  3. The gravity of the moon creates tides, pulling the water in, this and weather creates waves

  4. by holding up your hand with your palm away form you and moving your hand side to side.

    on the ocean...   ...wind

  5. Likely waves are initiated over water by the Bernoulli principle that causes a baseball to curve due to its rotation when thrown.  Where the velocity of a gas increases (without adding external energy) its pressure must be reduced such that increase in kinetic energy (of velocity) is balanced by a loss in potential energy (pressure).  On the side of the rotating baseball moving in the direction of the throw the velocities are added and pressure drops (sucking the ball toward that side, etc.).  A gust of wind over the surface of water (lake or sea, etc.) would momentarily decrease surface pressure sucking up the water (relative to nearby water at a lower pressure).  Once the water surface has a vertical curve to it it would influence the flow of air and wind (like a roller coaster) increasing the difference in surface pressures and wave formation.  Once waves are formed by taking energy from the wind they have their own momentum to keep them going because water exhibits very little friction to dampen the waves.  The wind blows the waves in the same direction although the wave crests (wave forms) move much faster than any drop of water within the wave that merely moves up and down in a vertical circle.  The wave grows in length as more and more energy is added.  While sailing, skippers look for 'cat's paws' on the water surface that are a collection of newly formed (and temporary) tiny waves showing the direction of the most recent gusts of wind.

  6. put water on a cup then touch it observe, what happens?

    when you touched the water it created waves

    so waves are formed due to the movements that disturb it

  7. Tsunami waves are caused by the ocean plates shifting under the sea, and regular waves are caused by the moon's gravity pusing and pulling at the water's surface. that's why if you go to the beach, there are bigger waves at night time... :)

  8. wind speed, distance of open water that the wind has blown over; called fetch, and time duration the wind has blown over a given area.

    As the wind blows, pressure and friction forces perturb the equilibrium of the ocean surface. These forces transfer energy from the air to the water, forming waves. In the case of monochromatic linear plane waves in deep water, particles near the surface move in circular paths, making ocean surface waves a combination of longitudinal (back and forth) and transverse (up and down) wave motions. When waves propagate in shallow water, (where the depth is less than half the wavelength) the particle trajectories are compressed into ellipses

  9. by wind

  10. Waves derive their energy and motion from the wind.All waves have the same characteristics. The top is known as a crest,and crests are separated by troughs.Waves height is measured from trough to crest and wavelength from crest to crest.

    Waves consist of energy passing through water.The wave energy moves,not the water itself.

    As waves approach the shore,the water becomes shallower and the waves get higher.Finally,the wave front collapes,or breaks.The turbulent water created by breakers is called surf.

  11. The moon has a gravitational pull which causes the waves. Thats how we get tides as well.
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