Waves Flashcards
What is the crest?
The peak of a wave
What is the trough?
The low area in between two waves
What is wave height?
The vertical distance between the crest (peak) and the trough of a wave
What is a wave period?
The time it takes for two successive crests (one wavelength) to pass a specified point
What is wave length?
The distance between the crest and the trough
What is wave frequency?
How often the wave happens
What is wave steepness?
The ratio of wave height to length (H/L)
What is a swell?
A series of mechanical or surface gravity waves generated by distant weather systems that propagate thousands of miles across oceans and seas
What is wave refraction?
The change in direction of waves as they move between materials with different properties
What is swash?
Pushing materials up the beach (constructive)
What is backwash?
Pushing materials down the beach (destructive)
What is needed for waves to form?
-prevailing wind
-frictional drag
-higher layers of wind Move faster over the lower layers and fall forward, pushing down the surface of the sea
-friction with the surface of the water causes small ripples in the water, which develop into waves as the wind blows on the back of the small ripple
