Surfing Waves

Hey everyone!

Just wondering if anyone could help me out with a minor problem...

Just started Year 12, and was all prepared to never have to any kind of science ever again (woohoo!) when they inform me that we have to do a science related general studies course! Noooooooo! it's so unfair!

Anyhow, the point is, that in three weeks I have to give a 5 minute talk about anything I want, as long as it is related to science...so I was thinking surfing because it's quite physics-y. Only problem is, I neither know or understand much about the whole science aspect of surfing, so if anyone could tell me any random scientific surfing facts about the physics side of things or the tides/waves etc...whatever - anything would be helpful!

It's either that or I do a talk about like GM crops or something yawn-makingly boring...Heeeelp!

Cheers :)

Hannah x x

the current issue of a magizine called The Surfer's Path has a whole section on the make up of beaches and what causes waves, how wind and sand and the beach/reefs and everything plays into it all. kinda interesting. i think they have a website, and they are in international mag so you should be able to pick one up somewhere.

ill help you out...

Hanging ten physics: When you walk up the board, the back off the board goes into the wave, so the water pushes down on the board, as you push down from your weight. The further up you go, the further back the board goes.

Wave development/swell production: A swell is obviously created by storms. The lager the storm the bigger the waves. Three factors effect the size of the waves; Fetch of the storm, Velocity of wind, and duration of wind. Every signle wave starts out as chop, that chop combines with another, then another, then it starts to move freely, combining with others moving at simular speeds each time picking up height. Pretty soon you have a wave. The wave then travels at 1.5 times the period of the swell (the period of the swell determines the speed). As the swell moves further on, it loses the chop on it and becomes a 'ground swell'. It loses very little hieght and power due to winds that effect it once it reaches a decent size, about 2 feet. All waves are cirular in shape, (like if you droped a pebble in a pond, the rings or waves that come out is the same for every single oceanic wave). Obviously, the direction of the wind is going to have the larger section of the wave, and the back part will be smaller. If a storm is travling towards your beach at the same speed of the swells it is making, you have 'virtual fetch'. This is really good becuase swell size increases as it comes towards you.
The power of a wave also is determined by period, a 10 foot wave with a period of 4 secs has less power then a 3 foot wave with a period of 17 secs. However you will mostly find that the larger the wave the larger the period, but not all the time.
A 10 foot wave reaches about 200 feet below the surface of the water.

swells: Swells are waves traviling at the simular speed have formed a "bond" there for adjust there speed slightly to join with the others. A wave travels about twice the speed of the swell.

Catching the wave: When you are paddling for a wave you get close to the speed of the wave, there for you catch it.

ummmm what else...

When a wave breaks, It scrapes across the bottom of the ocean floor, picking up in size of what you see. It will usually increase by about 1/3 in size. In order for something to tube, you have to have a lot of power and a long "beach" that stretches out into the ocean, so it starts to peak way out.

umm i think thats all i can remember for the moment.

do a google search on wave physics

wats the title of it gonna be?then maybe can help you

One thing...good luck!

Hang Loose

" Hi

.... i can give you a load of old bs' about bio~chemistry if you want it !!! or hydroponics , aeroponics . " Pick one ( i'd go with Namino'! ) and we'll help ya crash yer homework

Thanks guys!

That's really helpful (esp. you Namino - you're like a walking surfing-related-science dictionary!)

I'm just gonna call the whole thing The Science of Surfing (obviously I chose that title for is catchiness and originality...ha ha.) so really any info is great, but you're right, I do need do choose specific areas really coz it's such a broad topic so I was thinking wave formation, the actual surfing itself and how the whole gravity thing comes into play, turning etc. Still working on it! But yeah, if anyone wants to add anything along those lines it would be welcomed! Plus you get the satisfaction of knowing that you will be helping to educate a bunch of girls who know NOTHING about surfing! It needs to be done!!

Thanks a lot :) hannah x

Hannah - Beau Young article in new Wavelength mag by the way.

Or try to get hold of a copy of Surf Science by Tony Butt and Paul Russell.

Hey guys.
If you want to check out the "definitive" guide surf physics i.e. weather patterns (highs & lows), how wind is made from these acting on each other, how wind swell is generated by wind, how wind swell gradually converts to ground swell, wave propagation, swell 'period' and what that actually means, the whole process start-to-finish from a low 2000 miles away until it reaches your beach...check out www.stormsurf.com, then go into tutorials. Print it off & read when you get a free moment, well written, easily to follow & understand.

You'll be talking like a geek at your beach in no time :-)

" damn y'all knows a lot about the science's of surfing ....

mucho impressed !! ... next time i get stuck on some Bs' speech at a hydro' convention , i'll let you guys write it for me .... " hey its all water baby " !!!!

Malibu

A topical subject at the moment would be about building of artificial reefs.

There is one proposed in Newquay, Cornwall - Bournemouth - Borth nr Aberystwyth.

The company that makes them have reams of information about the benefits and how they provide better coastal protection than breakwaters etc.

From what I have seen on the various sites I have been to - the company are more than happy to help out anyone researching the idea.

May be worth a thought!?

Cheers

Sinista

Hey sinista'

" yeh i heard something about building a reef in Bournemouth a while ago ... so they are going to try and build one !!

I'm sure they are going to be usefull and helpfull to people and sealife ,, ..." buttttttt does this mean that some of better surfing areas will then be over-run by divers , making their way in from shore ?!?

not that , that will be a problem ...im ignorant enough to hit em outta the way on a ride in

but seriously .. it could become an issue later on , if all the poxy lil' tour operators start doing mini dives on these reefs !!

Apparently from a conservation point of view, these reefs are much better, but we're not talking about pretty coral reefs!

Essentially they get huge (c 10 tonne) bags of sand and build a big Y shape under the sea, this makes waves that peel left and right. They are planning one to go in at Boscombe pier which will make the waves break further out than the end of the pier, allowing safe bathing for summer tourists without getting in the wave.

What it will do though is improve the quality and consistency of the waves. The downside to this is that it will attract loads of surfers from London as it will be the closest good quality break. It will also focus the break so that some of the other peaks will disappear and you will basically have a choice of 1 wave left and 1 right. Divide that among 100-200 surfers and it's gonna get messy!! I suppose it may free up Bournemouth pier a bit though!

It's an interesting subject though!

Sinista

ahh i see ..so we are talking full on 'try to control the sea ' ... hmm , i suppose in principal its a good idea but as with most things ..." we'll have to see the outcome "

Really not sure i like the sound of 'Designer waves ' ...like you say its gonna be " all queue up for a wave to the left or right " ..please take a ticket and when your numbers called ..please step up

... i think i will still be wanting to make the trip down to Devon once a week regardless of what they do in bournemouth ... i'd miss the old sewage outlets

But yeah , Good subject

They have made successful artificial reefs in S Africa!

This is an article - interview with Kerry Black from Artificial Surf Reefs Ltd in New Zealand about the proposed reef in Newquay:

http://www.a1surf.com/news-kerry_interview.html

Take a look!

Sinista

Omg, that's such a good idea! I so would have never thought of that... thankyou! Yay! Will get onto that right now...it's way more interesting than a French essay about young peoples' rights!! YAWN. Honestly, they could TRY to set us vaguely interesting titles!

My talk is ony s'posed to be 5 minutes...I'm blatantly gonna end up getting majorly carried away and start telling everyone how great surfing is for like half an hour (not that I couldn't carry on for longer but I have a feeling I'll be forced to stop!)

Anyhoo, thankyou soooo much all of you, you've actually saved my life!

Oh, and Jonny: :) :) you're the best!

Oooooooh, just read that stormsurf stuff Brent - thanks! You're right, even I understand that so it must be good! :wink:

I feel very edjumacated now! I guesss I'd better crack on with that french essay now though...or I could do one of the two 2000 word English essays...or that History essay...or my art coursework...I HAVE TOO MUCH WORK!!

Ahem. On second thoughts, I think I'll just stick with the surfing talk for tonight...

Thankyou! xx Hannah

PS: D'you think I can get Beau into my talk?!! He's not exactly scientific...

Ah les droits de la jeunesse!!

I remember my A-Level French essay (in my exam) was 'Social Responsibility or Personal Freedom, which is more important!!'

Sounds like fun though!!

If you need any help though, I've been learning French since I was 2 (I'm now 29!!) so I can offer advice if you like!!

Cheers

Sinista

Mais oui!

Je n'ai pas encore fait mes devoirs - je n'aime pas le titre et je ne peux pas le fais! (ca, ce n'est pas une bonne excuse, je sais.) Hm. Je suis trop fatiguée de parler le bon Français et j'ai fait probablement beaucoup d'erreurs donc je vais au lit! Je n'aime pas du tout les droits de la jeunesse!!!

Bon nuit!

x Hannah