Which term describes pendulum-like standing waves in enclosed areas?

Which term describes pendulum-like standing waves in enclosed areas?

• A. Seiche
• B. Rogue Wave
• C. Orbital Wave
• D. Internal Wave

Answer: (A)

Standing waves that behave like a pendulum in enclosed basins occur when a disturbance sets the water into motion and the waves reflect back and forth between opposite shores. The interference of the forward and reflected waves creates a standing pattern with little horizontal movement at nodes and maximum motion at antinodes, so the surface appears to slosh up and down in a regular rhythm. This sloshing in lakes, bays, or harbors is called a seiche. The period of a seiche depends on the basin’s size and depth, governed by how fast shallow-water gravity waves travel and how long it takes them to cross the basin and return. Other terms describe different phenomena: rogue waves are massive, unpredictable open-ocean waves; orbital waves are ordinary surface waves with circular particle motion; internal waves occur within the water column at density boundaries. The term that fits pendulum-like standing waves in enclosed areas is seiche.

Standing waves that behave like a pendulum in enclosed basins occur when a disturbance sets the water into motion and the waves reflect back and forth between opposite shores. The interference of the forward and reflected waves creates a standing pattern with little horizontal movement at nodes and maximum motion at antinodes, so the surface appears to slosh up and down in a regular rhythm. This sloshing in lakes, bays, or harbors is called a seiche. The period of a seiche depends on the basin’s size and depth, governed by how fast shallow-water gravity waves travel and how long it takes them to cross the basin and return. Other terms describe different phenomena: rogue waves are massive, unpredictable open-ocean waves; orbital waves are ordinary surface waves with circular particle motion; internal waves occur within the water column at density boundaries. The term that fits pendulum-like standing waves in enclosed areas is seiche.