Water ripples project help please

[help me pls 123]

hey I'm doing a school project on water ripples and I'm trying to wrap my head around some of the basics I understand some of the water molecular and surface tension stuff but and still a little confused by it but I do have a couple of questions

What happens when a water ripple hits a different object (other ripple,land, buoy or boat)
Do deeper and shallower water make ripples different?
Does the size of the object dropped into water change the ripple pattern?
If I tried to make water ripples with a different type of liquid would it change the ripples
Can you merge water ripples

 

[berkeman]

Since this is for a schoolwork project, this thread may get moved to the Homework Help section of PF. I'll leave it here in Classical Physics for now.

What reading have you been doing on your questions? Can you post links to that reading and say which parts have you confused? What do you think are the answers to the questions you've asked above? The more effort you show in trying to answer your questions, the better we can offer you tutorial help.

 

[help me pls 123]

Since this is for a schoolwork project, this thread may get moved to the Homework Help section of PF. I'll leave it here in Classical Physics for now.

What reading have you been doing on your questions? Can you post links to that reading and say which parts have you confused? What do you think are the answers to the questions you've asked above? The more effort you show in trying to answer your questions, the better we can offer you tutorial help.

hey Berkeman thanks for your input most recently I have been finding trouble to find sources and websites to find the information I need and that is why I have so many questions if you have any questions or advice I would love to hear them.

 

[berkeman]

if you have any questions or advice I would love to hear them.

I would start with a Google search on terms like water ripple waves, water waves, gravity waves in water (note: Not gravitational waves, which are generated by moving masses like black hole mergers). Probably Wikipedia.org is a good place to do some searching as well, and you can follow the references and suggested reading in their article on water waves...

Let us know what you find, expecially if the search helps you to answer some of your questions.

 

[Baluncore]

You need to be more specific about the type of ripples you are considering and how they are generated. Ripples are just small waves, and so follow the same rules at a different scale, surface tension permitting.

What follows is a summary of a large field.
You must restrict your interest.

Dropping a pebble in a pond will radiate circular ripples due to the surface disturbance. Impact size and energy are important.

Where wind blows over a water surface, ripples form through positive feedback, then build over distance, called reach, to become long straight waves, and then a regional swell.

Do deeper and shallower water make ripples different?

Small waves in deep water are "linear", they pass independently through each other, while they pass the amplitude or height of the waves sum.

Waves in shallow water become "non-linear" when the bottom obstructs their normal progress, they gradually move faster, become asymmetric, then tumble and break. Surfers only enjoy the non-linearity.

What happens when a water ripple hits a different object (other ripple, land, buoy or boat)

Buoys and boats float on the surface waves, averaging the ripples, rolling with the waves.

Where a wave hits a vertical wall, the wave momentarily doubles in height, as it is reflected from the wall. The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.

Can you merge water ripples

A non-linearity is required for the waves to merge. For example, when a thin sheet of water runs down a surface, the bigger ripples overtake and consume the smaller ripples.

If I tried to make water ripples with a different type of liquid would it change the ripples

Gravity, density and viscosity all influence the size, and the way ripples move.

 

[Bystander]

Waves and Beaches: The Dynamics of the Ocean Surface
Book by Willard Bascom



Waves and Beaches: The Dynamics of the Ocean Surface by Willard Bascom is a classic 1964 book that explains the science behind ocean waves and beach formation, originally stemming from his work on predicting surf for amphibious landings. It's a foundational text in oceanography, written for a general audience, covering topics like wind waves, shallow water dynamics, and the surf zone, with updated editions now including modern climate change impacts.