Wednesday 9 May 2012

Guiding Question:

How do waves interact with each other and with soild objects in their paths?
 What are the basic properties of waves, and how many different types of waves are there? 

Hypothesis:

I think that maybe the waves will just as it pass make the object go up and pass. But if they are big waves then it will cover the object.  I think there are about 7 different types of waves.

Observations:

-The Bigger the Disturbance the more amplitude, for example a big person jumping in a pool would make lots of amplitude, so more water would fly up in the air. Where are compared to a smaller person jumping in the pool then there is less amplitude.



     
 Big                                                                                Small





-If there is less amplitude and more frequency, then there is more constant and quick ripples, but the waves are small because of the less amplitude.








-If there is low frequency and a high amplitude then there is not many ripples







-If the frequency is in the middle and the amplitude is on high, then the ripples are costant and are all around the same size.






-So same as just before but instead say if we put a barrier after a few of the ripples, then after the barrier the ripples are still going but they are much smaller







-So same again but we will put the barrier even closer, then at the start there are big waves, but as it hits the barrier then there is very small ripples









here are some other pictures of observations I have made:















Data Analysis: What patterns or relationships do you see in your data table/ sketches/ images?

What I have noticed from my observations with the droplets and the cork is that ofcourse it makes ripples in a circle, but where ever you let the droplet drop then the ripples after hitting the wall will always bonce back coming to the place where they started. One of the things that I have also noticed is that when you let drops from two pipes then it seems as if the ripples are doubling, so there is more ripples. When you put a cork in no matter where the drop is or if you use two pipes then it doesnot move the cork, maybe a little, but it does not move it and also the water does not cover the cork. The third thing that I have noticed is that if you put something in the way of the ripples it will blok of some of the ways that they ripples would usually go. So for example when I put in the paper towel when the ripples get to it then they stop. lso for example when I put in one of the clays facing landscape the ripples went everywhere except for the top of the pan. And then when we had two pieces of clay facing landscape the ripples went even through the middle of them, but no ripples at the top and that was because the clay was blocking it. And it is same from the simulation observations, When the block was near the disturbance, when the ripples got to it when they were very big, after they were very small.

Conclusion: What do you conclude about the behavior of waves in the various situations you created today? Can you answer the guiding question now?

The behavior of the waves depend on some of the properties of a wave. That is frequency, amplitude, because the frequency is how many peaks/crests/waves pass a given point per second (H2). Amplitude is the height of the wave, so the size of the disturbance determines the amplitude of the wave. So when I was looking at the simulations and taking observations, I was controlling the frequency and amplitude and that is what was controlling how big the waves were  and the ripples it made. A wave is characterized by the way it moves. There are three types of waves. And the last property of a wave is the wavelength, and that is the distance between crests or troughs. So in all the size of a wave depends on the frequency and amplitude.