A fisherman notices that his boat is moving up and down periodically without any horizontal motion, owing to waves on the surfac
e of the water. It takes a time of 2.90 s for the boat to travel from its highest point to its lowest, a total distance of 0.700 m . The fisherman sees that the wave crests are spaced a horizontal distance of 5.50 m apart. How fast are the waves traveling?
The time period 't' is the time b/w two successive waves. Therefore, the time it takes from the boat to travel from its highest point to its lowest is a half period.
So, T = 2 x 2.9 => 5.8 s
As we know that frequency is the reciprocal of time period, we have
f= 1/T = 1/5.8 =>0.2 Hz
In order to find how fast are the waves traveling, the velocity is given by
Velocity = f λ
V= 0.2 x 5.5 =>1.1m/s
The distance between the boat's highest point to its lowest point is double the amplitude.
