Which best describes a ship's movement, swaying or rocking?

Question

Which best describes a ship's movement, swaying or rocking?

Answer 1

PITCH-Seesaw motion front to rear

ROLL-Leaning to port or starboard

YAW-rotation or spinning motion

Other movements are

Surge-forward motion

SWAY-sideways motion

HEAVE-upward motion

Answer 2

I would say the the boat rocks, but maybe that the top of the mast sways.

Answer 3

I think it depends on the direction the vessel is heading, which direction the swells are come from,  how big they are and also how big a vessel it is.  You can roll side to side, pitch fore and aft and yaw which is sort of a combination of the two.  More often than not, though, I would say on a larger vessel the motion feels like rocking.  Just the right tempo can sometimes be calming, but you can also get thrown across the room, into bulkheads, and out of your rack onto the floor.  The first time you go ashore after being at sea, that is when you feel the swaying.

Answer 4

There are actually 6 different ways a boat moves - these are known as the 6 degrees of freedom.  A ship can:

* heave - move up and down in a bobbing motion

* surge - move forward or backwards

* sway - a sliding motion from side to side across the surface of the water with out and rotation to the movement

* roll - a rotational movement from side to side (what you think of when you think of rolling)

* pitch - the rocking horse type movement where the ship rocks the bow and stern

* yaw - the rotational type movement when you can't quite get the ship to go exactly straight the ship seems to turn back and forth

Of course, in the real world any and all of these motions can occur simultaneously - but this is a good rule of thumb to use to make sure you get the correct term to describe the motion you really mean.

.  

Rocking implies a comforting repetitive motion, it doesn't really define which type of motion you are describing.  Generally one feels the rolling motion most - and it's not always a comforting feeling!