1. Making Waves By: Susanne, Justin, Aidan, and James

2. Problem: How do water waves interact with each other and with solid objects in their paths? Materials: waterplastic dropper metric rulerpaper towel modeling claycork or other small floating object ripple tank

3. What do we need to know? What is a wave? A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy from place to place; a source of energy that causes a medium to vibrate. What are the three types of waves? Transverse- moves through the medium at an angle perpendicular to the direction in which the wave is traveling. Longitudinal- moves medium parallel to the direction in which the wave is traveling. Surface- a combination of transverse and longitudinal.

4. What do we need to know? How do they interact with one another? Reflections- wave does not pass through but reflects back. Refraction- a wave bends as it passes through a medium. Diffraction- wave passes a barrier or moves through a hole in a barrier. Interference- when two waves meet, they impact each other: constructive destruction

5. What do we need to know? What are the properties of a wave? Amplitude- the distance from rest position to highest point (crest) or lowest point (trough) Frequency- the number of complete waves that pass in a given time measured in Hertz (Hz.) Wave Length- the distance the wave travels before it starts to repeat. Speed- speed= wave length x frequency

6. Analyze and Conclude: How are waves affected by the paper towel hanging in the water? The waves bounced off of the paper towel and back into the center. What happens when waves strike head on? When they strike it at an angle? When the waves strike the barrier straight on, they immediately bounced back into the center at the same time. When the waves strike at an angle, it bounced back to the center at different times. What happens when waves strike a barrier with a gap in it? With three gaps in it? When there is a gap in the barrier, the waves go through the gap and then spread out. When there are three gaps in the barrier, the waves go through all three gaps and then spread out. How does the behavior of waves in your model compare to the behavior of waves in a harbor? In a harbor, the waves are bigger which makes them have more momentum. Therefore, there is a bigger crash against a barrier.