Boat wavelength oscillation problem

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a scenario where a father and son observe oscillations of a boat and the propagation of wave crests towards the shore. The boat is 20 ft long, and the discussion revolves around calculating the distance to the shore based on the observed oscillations and wave properties.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the relationship between the boat's length, the wavelength, and the time it takes for wave crests to reach the shore. There is confusion regarding how to incorporate the time to shore into their calculations and whether to consider the number of crests that have already reached land.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance on how to calculate wave velocity and distance to shore using the given time and wavelength. There are multiple interpretations of how to apply the time to shore in the context of the problem, and while some calculations have been attempted, there is no explicit consensus on the correctness of the results.

Contextual Notes

Participants are working with both metric and imperial units, which may affect their calculations. The problem does not provide explicit information about the initial distance from the shore, leading to varying interpretations of the time to shore in relation to the oscillations.

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Homework Statement


a father and son went on a cruise that's 20 ft long. the dad observed the cruise swayed thru 22 complete oscillations in 38 s, and one wave crest pass per/oscillation. the son noticed that each crest required 13s to reach land and the wavelength is twice the length of the cruise. how far were they from land?


Homework Equations


velocity=wavelengh/T
velocity=wavelengh *f


The Attempt at a Solution



for the wavelenghth I have 13.33m because i converted ft into meters. then since they nentioned that the wavelenth is twice the size of the boat.
I wanted to divide the number of complete ossiclation 22 by the 38s, but when it added that it takes 13 seconds for each crest to reach land. I got a little confused..
should i continue to do that or should i figure how many crest had hiut land already??
please help! thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:
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How frequently were the wave lengths completing an oscillation?

That gives you the T for 1 oscillation.

Each wavelength is twice the length of the boat which is 20'.

So that tells you the wave velocity doesn't it?

Knowing the velocity and the time to shore, how far again is the shore?
 


yes, that's what i was doing until they told me that it takes 13 second to shore. I didnt know where that time to shore belongs. So i did all that and my answer came to be 299.39m. is that correct?

ThankYou LowlyPion. You have always been a great help and quick too.
thank you thank you. I appreciate it
 


phys1618 said:
yes, that's what i was doing until they told me that it takes 13 second to shore. I didnt know where that time to shore belongs. So i did all that and my answer came to be 299.39m. is that correct?

ThankYou LowlyPion. You have always been a great help and quick too.
thank you thank you. I appreciate it

Once you have your wave speed, then surely you know that D = v*t

Preserving more precision and noting that the dimensions used were kept in feet and not meters I get slightly more.

13*40/(38/22) = ...
 


yes, keeping in ft, i got 301 .. thank you so much for your help