Essay

INSTRUCTIONS:
With the given information BELOW, in your own words, write a short essay relating refraction of water waves according to the article here. Post your essay as a comment to this article together with your name and section [ex. Jologs group - Section: Aristotle] in the selection like the one below.

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A wave is traveling disturbance. It carries energy and information from one point to another without transferring matter. A vibrating source in the medium is essential in the creation as well as transmission of mechanical waves. The medium can be solid, liquid or gas. An electromagnetic wave needs no medium in order to be propagated. A typical water wave, is the kind that occurs in the deep seas and oceans. A water wave is neither longitudinal or transverse, but a combination of both. If the displacements of the particles of the medium are perpendicular to to the direction of the wave motion, the wave is transverse; and if the displacement of the particles of the medium is parallel to the direction of the wave motion, the wave is longitudinal. The distance between two corresponding points in a wave train is a wavelength. the wavelength of an incident wave is equal to that of the reflected wave. The path a bit of water makes as the wave goes by is actually a circle. The figure 1 below is a nice illustration of a water wave, with the circles representing little bits of water. Notice how they spin in a circle as the wave passes.

The waves change their speeds and directions as they pass from deep to shallow portions of the water and as they approach the boundary between two different media at an angle. The deep and shallow portions are considered two different media. A long wave of water that moves continuously without breaking is a swell. It usually comes parallel to the shore because waterwaves refract as it hits the boundary between the deep and the shallow portions of the water near the beach.

Below is another picture that shows a nice illustration of a water wave. Here, imagine a water wave far off shore, with one of the red dots being a seagull or log floating (or you on a surf board when you’re past the surf zone just relaxing in the sun). If that sight is familiar to you, you may remember that as a wave passes underneath, the floating thing seems to slosh back and forth, seeming to fall down the back of the waves. This is really just the circular motion of the water as the wave rushes underneath!

QUESTION: HOW DOES WATER WAVE REFRACTION EXPLAIN WHY BIG WAVES OR SWELLS COME IN ROUGHLY PARALLEL TO THE SHORE?

Point system : RUBRIC ASSESSMENT

(also check Water waves and Tsunamis for additional reading resources prior to posting your comments)