Introduction to Oceanography
Lab 5: Properties of Waves
Observing Waves in Nature
LEARNING GOALS:
To enjoy being outside, hunting for waves, and learning that the concepts we study in class are
observable and realized in our environment.
Some places to observe water movement:
1. St. Mary’s College of Maryland (Riverfront and Church Point)
2. Elm’s Beach
a. 19350 Back Door Rd, Lexington Park, MD 20653 (10 minutes away)
b. This is a Chesapeake Bay location so there might be larger waves
3. Point Lookout State Park
a. 11175 Point Lookout Rd, Scotland, MD 20687 (15 minutes away)
b. This is a Chesapeake Bay location so there might be larger waves
Some properties of waves to look for
1. Wave refraction around a point or coming to shore
2. Wave reflection (might find best at Elm’s beach)
3. Orbital motion (of something floating on waves—a stick, etc)
4. Wave speed
a. Bring a couple meter sticks, stopwatch, waders
i. Wave frequency is typically easiest to measure (number of wave crests
passing a fixed location per unit of time) for deep water waves. In this
case, you might not even need a meter stick!
ii. For shallow water waves, you could measure the depth of the water, and
with two meter sticks measure the speed (distance/time). Then see if you
can derive the speed equation (aka, does S/T= 1.56?)
b. Remember, depth is the only variable to determine speed in shallow water
waves, while wavelength or period (inverse of frequency) is used for deep water
waves.
5. Wave train
6. Capillary waves
7. Changing of properties as they reach the surf zone
Take pictures on your phone or take notes to come back and talk about with the class at 3:30.
Deep water wave speed
S (meters/second) = 1.25*sqrt(L(meters))
S (meters/second) = 1.56*T(seconds)
T= period (seconds), F=frequency (1/T), d=depth (meters)
Shallow water wave speed
S (meters/second)= 3.13*sqrt(d(meters))