Wave Propagation in Fluid

Introduction to wave propagation in fluid:
Waves are the disturbance, which travels through the medium. There are several kinds of waves. Such as mechanical waves, non-mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves, radio waves etc. The wave can propagate in two manners. The wave propagation is as follows: Transverse wave propagation and the longitudinal wave propagation. The waves, which travels or propagates in the fluid, may be transverse wave motion or longitudinal wave motion. Here we discuss the wave propagation in fluids. Having problem with Longitudinal Waves Definition keep reading my upcoming posts, i will try to help you.

Propagation of Wave in Fluid

Wave motion in a fluid is the form of disturbance, which travels through the fluid due to the repeated periodic motion of the particles of the medium about their mean position, the motion being transferred from one particle to another. To understand the mechanism of the propagation of the wave on the fluid, we can explain it on the basis of the elasticity and inertia of the medium. Suppose that the stone hits the water surface at point O, which represents its mean position. As it moves downwards with the stone, due to the property of elasticity of the medium, restoring force starts acting on it. As it moves against the restoring force, its speed goes on decreasing and ultimately it comes to rest on reaching, say at point A. At this position, the energy possessed by the molecule is in the form of its potential energy. At the point A, the restoring force on the molecules is maximum and hence it starts returning to its mean position. As it does so, its potential energy converts into kinetic energy. However, on reaching the mean position O, the molecule over shoots, which is due to inertia and moves up to the point B, until the velocity attained by it at the point O, becomes zero. In this manner, molecule of the water executes periodic motion about its mean position due to the properties of inertia and elasticity. The disturbance is communicated to the neighboring molecules of the water, which also begin to execute periodic motion about their mean positions. I have recently faced lot of problem while learning Work Equation Physics, But thank to online resources of math which helped me to learn myself easily on net.

Conclusion of Wave Propagation in Fluid
We concluded that in the wave propagation of fluid, the particles of the medium oscillate only at their mean position. The particles of the medium do not travel from one point to another. Only the energy is transferred from one point to another.