Aerial view of wavelength

In this aerial view photo of the waves, note the yellow arrow lines ( not the yellow circles) near the bottom of the picture.

You can see the yellow line with double arrows further out at sea is much further apart tha the one near the shore cos' the water is much deeper further out at sea.

The yellow arrows show the distance between one white wave crest to the next wave crest and this distance is called the wavelength

Wavelength and depth

Hopefully this 2nd picture can help explain more clearly to my dear friend Bee Leng.

As the waves get closer to the shore ( which is shallower) the distance between successive white crests ( called wavelength) become smaller.

When the waves are further from shore as in the deeper waters, the wavelength is much bigger.

I am updating this post 12 years later with some lovely photos of Kiama Bay near Sydney, courtesy my friend Wee Lai who stays near there.( 27th August 2022)

Can you see the wavelengths changing as the waves approach the shore?

Can you see the surfers riding the crest of the waves? The distance from one crest to the next crest is the wavelength. The bigger the wavelength, the deeper the water and the higher the velocity of the waves.

Physics and life

What's the colour of nearby hills and faraway hills?

Why do they appear to have different colours even though they are all the same hills and viewed by the same observer?

Well, the red component of white light is more esaily absorbed when it travels through long distances and so farawary hills appear less red ( also less orange, yellow, green) and more blue.

Physics and life

Students often find Physics meaningless (and a tad difficult) because they can't see the connection between Physics and life. I have been teaching Physics for almost 30 years and I can see the joy in my students' faces and eyes when they see the connections and find Physics fun.

.... So if you have issues with Physics, come follow us on this blog.

Look at the distance between each white wave crest (the wavelength). If that distance is bigger, it simply indicates the water is deeper.