Calculating Wave Distance Across Land

  • Thread starter Thread starter NoHeart
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a scenario involving wave dynamics and their interaction with land elevation. The original poster presents a question about the distance an 80 ft. wave would travel across land when approaching at a speed of 800 miles per hour, with the shore being 82 ft. above sea level.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants express uncertainty about the complexity of the problem, with one noting it exceeds introductory physics. There are hints at considering forces and friction, but no detailed methods are proposed.

Discussion Status

The discussion appears to be in an early exploratory phase, with participants acknowledging the difficulty of the question. Some guidance is suggested, but no clear consensus or resolution has emerged.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the original poster's lack of recent physics knowledge and the informal nature of the inquiry, as it is not a homework assignment but rather a personal request.

NoHeart
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
This isn't homework, but it's a question:
if an 80 ft. wave approaches shore at 800 miles per hour, and the shore is 82 ft. above sea level, how far will the wave travel across land?

My mom lives in California and has become obsessed with this earthquake that will allegedly happen tomorrow or twenty years from now (born-again christian, really into the whole "end times" thing). She thinks I'm smart and asked me to figure this out for her...It's been a while since I've had a physics class and I don't really know where to start with this.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
That is wayyyyyy beyond Intro Physics. :smile:
 
Umm... Well, if you do th- *mumbles on*
 
yep

yeah...i knew i couldn't be *that* stupid to be so baffled by the question...thanks anyway!
 
From what I can say LOL... If we were talking forces... Find friction O_o
 

Similar threads

Did the 1883 Krakatoa Explosion Leave Ships in Peril?
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
7K
What New Phenomenon in Seismic Waves Did I Discover?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
8K
Graduate How Does the Double-Slit Experiment Illustrate Wave-Particle Duality?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Current and Future AI Threats to Humanity and the Human Response
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
5K
Plate Tectonics: The Asthenosphere and Lithosphere
  • · Replies 33 ·
2
Replies
33
Views
19K
PF Fan Fiction: Mathematicians in Love
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
4K
Am I too old to be starting from the bottom?
  • · Replies 33 ·
2
Replies
33
Views
7K
Today's Fashions or the Lack Thereof
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
News Is Washington's Strategy in Ukraine a Prelude to a New Cold War?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
3K
News How long until the left labels Zell Miller a traitor?
  • · Replies 27 ·
Replies
27
Views
5K