Physics: Principles and ProblemsChapter 14:
Vibrations and WavesProblem of the Week (1.0K) | Wave
of Destruction
On average once a year, somewhere in the world a wave of giagantic
proportions strikes a coastline. These monster waves are caused
by earthquakes that raise or lower the seafloor. A shifting
seafloor can elevate a California-sized chunk of earth 30 feet
in just a few minutes causing an enormous amount of water to
move, stretching from the seafloor all the way to the surface.
This disturbance sends ripples across the ocean that can propel
ashore 100,000 tons of water for each five feet of coastline.
| If
you are close enough to see a tsunami, you won't be able to
out run it, guaranteed. (0.0K) | Tsunami (9.0K)
Tsunami is the wave of destruction. Moving across the deep ocean
however, a tsunami is essentially invisible. It may be 20 feet
high, but its wavelength might be 200 miles; This means that
the slope of the wave averages about two inches each mile. Herein
lies the destructive nature of the tsunami. With a long wavelength
a tsunami travels thousands of miles with little loss of energy.
The wave of a tsunami may take 24 minutes to rise and fall,
thus traveling across the ocean dissipating little energy as
it goes. Tsunamis are so efficient and persistent that they
can reverberate through an ocean for days, bouncing back and
forth between continents. | (0.0K) | Using
the information given in the text, determine the speed at which
a tsunami can travel. | | (0.0K) | Before
a tsunami strikes, a drop in sea level occurs. Right before
the Nicaraguan tsunami of 1992, the boats in the harbor of San
Juan Del Sur crashed into the bottom as the water level dropped
some 10 to 20 feet. In Hawaii in 1946, the bizarre sight of
a draining harbor attracted onlookers who were then drowned
a few minutes later when a tsunami rushed in. Explain the mechanism
by which water retreats before the oncoming wave. | (0.0K) | (0.0K) | (0.0K) | (0.0K) | (0.0K) |
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