Re: speed of waves in water

[Ludwik Kowalski <kowalskil@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>]

On Wednesday, December 3, 2003, at 07:12 PM, Larry Smith wrote:

> From a student: "How come sound waves travel so fast in water but water
> waves (the visual kind) move so slow?"

I would ask the student why would s/he
expect these two kinds of waves to have
the same speed?

Then I would ask about differences between
the two kinds of waves (such as longitudinal
versus transverse, kind of harmonic oscillators,
kind of restoring forces, etc. I would also say
that light in water travels even faster than sound.)

Speed of a wave depends on how one "harmonic
oscillator" interacts with neighboring oscillators.
Here is a good question to ask: Would a domino
"wave" on the moon travel faster (or slower or the
same) as on the earth? What controls the speed
of a single disturbance propagating along this
medium?
Ludwik Kowalski