Observe a demonstration of how wind energy transferred to water generates waves
The relationship between the strength of the wind and water waves.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: Every day on every beach waves rise and break. One wave always follows another. But did you ever wonder where waves come from?
[Music out]
Why do waves seem to strike parallel to the shore? And why do they break when they approach the shore?
We know that wind creates waves because on a day when the wind is not blowing the water surface is often smooth.
But on a windy day there are always waves. The wind that pushes this sailboat also pushes the surface of the water and makes small waves.
These huge waves, in contrast, were created by the gale winds of a great storm.
Let's see how wind makes waves. This is a wave tank. It was designed for studying waves under controlled conditions. At one end is a powerful fan, which blows air across the water.
The tank has glass sides so that waves can be seen from the outside. Watch what happens when we turn on the fan.
At first, the wind makes only small ripples on the water. As the wind continues the waves grow larger. The longer the wind blows, the larger the waves become.
Waves form when energy is transferred from the air to the water. Now let's speed up the fan. The waves grow even larger. We see that the harder the wind blows, the larger the waves become.
Finally, the biggest waves are found at the very end of the tank, farthest away from where the wind first strikes the water. It seems that the greater the distance over which the wind blows, the larger the waves become.
The wind blowing over this lake strikes the near side of the lake first and makes only small ripples.
But on the far side the same wind has produced much larger waves.
All waves travel out from the area where they were created.
They continue traveling until they meet an obstacle, in this case, the shore of the lake.
So when we see waves at the beach, where there is no wind blowing, it usually means that the waves have traveled from somewhere out at sea where the wind was blowing. Great storm waves like these are found where the wind has been blowing for a long time at high speeds, in the same direction, and over a long distance.
Waves spread out from the storm centers where they are created and may travel for thousands of miles before they lose their energy or meet an obstacle, such as the shore.
NARRATOR: Every day on every beach waves rise and break. One wave always follows another. But did you ever wonder where waves come from?
[Music out]
Why do waves seem to strike parallel to the shore? And why do they break when they approach the shore?
We know that wind creates waves because on a day when the wind is not blowing the water surface is often smooth.
But on a windy day there are always waves. The wind that pushes this sailboat also pushes the surface of the water and makes small waves.
These huge waves, in contrast, were created by the gale winds of a great storm.
Let's see how wind makes waves. This is a wave tank. It was designed for studying waves under controlled conditions. At one end is a powerful fan, which blows air across the water.
The tank has glass sides so that waves can be seen from the outside. Watch what happens when we turn on the fan.
At first, the wind makes only small ripples on the water. As the wind continues the waves grow larger. The longer the wind blows, the larger the waves become.
Waves form when energy is transferred from the air to the water. Now let's speed up the fan. The waves grow even larger. We see that the harder the wind blows, the larger the waves become.
Finally, the biggest waves are found at the very end of the tank, farthest away from where the wind first strikes the water. It seems that the greater the distance over which the wind blows, the larger the waves become.
The wind blowing over this lake strikes the near side of the lake first and makes only small ripples.
But on the far side the same wind has produced much larger waves.
All waves travel out from the area where they were created.
They continue traveling until they meet an obstacle, in this case, the shore of the lake.
So when we see waves at the beach, where there is no wind blowing, it usually means that the waves have traveled from somewhere out at sea where the wind was blowing. Great storm waves like these are found where the wind has been blowing for a long time at high speeds, in the same direction, and over a long distance.
Waves spread out from the storm centers where they are created and may travel for thousands of miles before they lose their energy or meet an obstacle, such as the shore.