Wave Studies with Ripple Tanks
Harwich High School Physics Class
Harwich, Massachusetts
Instructor Denise Sessler assisted by Tom Leach
Instructor Denise Sessler assisted by Tom Leach
Generating Waveforms with Vectors
Video of Surfer turning Potential Energy into Kinetics
Speed of Wave Advance: V=L/T
V is speed of advance; L is one wavelength; T is time of wavelength
Speed of water particles in a wave: S=Pi(H)/T
S is speed of the water particle; H is wave height; T is time of wavelength
Here is a formula and some rought calculations: Speed in mph = (1.75) * (swell period in seconds)
Building a Simple (and Inexpensive)Wave Generation Model
Grimley on the Physics of Surfing
Online Library for Surfing Related Papers
Creating an artificial surf reef
John Hopkins Signal Systems Control
VIRTUAL ENGINEERING/SCIENCE LABORATORY
Sine Wave, an electronically generated tone considered to be "pure" because of its lack of overtones.
Centripetal Force, a center-seeking force that causes an object to move in a circular path. For example, suppose a ball is tied to a string and swung around in a circle at a constant velocity. The ball moves in a circular path because the string applies a centripetal force to the ball. According to Sir Isaac Newton's first law of motion, a moving object will travel in a straight path unless acted on by a force (see Mechanics). So, if the string were suddenly cut, the ball would no longer be subject to the centripetal force and would travel in a straight line in a direction tangent to the circular path of the ball (if not for the force of gravity). As another example, suppose a person is riding on a merry-go-round. As the merry-go-round rotates, the person must hang onto the ride to keep from falling off. Where the person grasps the ride, a centripetal force is applied to the individual that keeps the person moving in a circular path. If the person were to let go, he or she would travel in a straight line (if gravity were absent). In general, the centripetal force that needs to be applied to an object of mass m that is traveling in a circular path of radius r at a constant velocity v is . Often, centripetal force is confused with centrifugal force. While centripetal force is a real force,-that is, the force is due to the influence of some object or field-centrifugal force is a fictitious force. A fictitious force is present only when a system is examined from an accelerating frame of reference. If the same system is examined from a non-accelerating frame of reference, all the fictitious forces disappear. For example, a person on a rotating merry-go-round would experience a centrifugal force that pulls away from the center of the ride. The person experiences this force only because he or she is on the rotating merry-go-round, which is an accelerating frame of reference. If the same system is analyzed from the sidewalk next to the merry-go-round, which is a non-accelerating frame of reference, there is no centrifugal force. The individual on the sidewalk would only note the centripetal force that keeps the individual moving in a circular path. In general, real forces are present regardless of whether the reference frame used is accelerating or not accelerating; fictitious forces are present only in an accelerating frame of reference.
