homework help: Why do Waves Occur? - Help.com

what type of waves, water, light, sound etc?

ahh its got to do with the moon if your not sure then google it

da moon foo, da moon

the wind moves the water, creating waves, then as they approach the coastline the bottom of the wave touches the sea floor, where it is slowed down throug friction, so the bottom is slowed down but the top still moves so it kinda rises up and then breaks…

or something like that. the moon controls tides, i don’t think it has anything to do with waves.

Yeah, the moon doesn’t have a whole lot to do with waves. It could affect the height, indirectly, by means of the tidal pulls. But the waves themselves are caused by winds or the movements of the earth’s plates, anything that transfers energy through water. Never cite Wikipedia if this is something that requires cited sources, but you can always use it to look for answers elsewhere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_su…

WOW We’ve *just* done this in geography, but it looks like Anon has kinf of answered it :)

*kind ^^

Waves generated on the surface of water result from disturbances, primarilly wind. Secondary causes of waves are seismic activity (earthquakes) that displace the sea or lake floor.

For wind generated waves, wave height is proportional to wind speed (velocity), the duration that the wind is blowing across the water, and the distance over which the wind blows. This latter aspect is called “fetch”. So waves grow larger with stronger the wind, longer duration, and the longer the fetch. Waves can only grow so high before they collapse, and this is a function of water depth.

A tsumani is an example of a wave or waves that are created by the displacement (movement) of a sea floor.