Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

i have been working on coming up with an idea for my first science fair for awhile now, and i believe i have found an area i am interested in. The question: Will the depth of an ocean botttom affect the height of a breaking wave? Truthfully, is this a good idea.?!?! please let me know. I'm very confused.! thanks you in advance. (also, i am going into the ninth grade and would like a level appropriote project.!)

Hi Needsalittlehelp,
I'm not an expert but I do know my way around Science fairs, and your idea sounds like a good one if you can figure out how to test it. It seems like it would be hard to test.

Jacobshhs

thanks(: and what do you mean test it...? would it be possible for me to make to "models" and compare them with diagrams, etc. I'm just brainstorming...

I could think of a couple of ways you could go with this project. You could certainly make some models and use those to test your hypothesis; you could also go out to real beaches and measure wave height and ocean depth. My suggestion is that you do some more background reading on waves in the ocean and wave height before you start the project, though.

thankyou for all of your advice! It has really helped me, and would it make sense if i were to display to models:one with a short depth and one with large...or something like that?

It depends on the requirements of your science fair project. Most science fairs require students to perform an investigation, so in that case you would have a model where you could vary ocean depth and record the height of the waves. If a 'demonstration' is okay, however, then yes, you could have two models that showed different wave heights. I suggest you speak to your teacher about this.

well i was just given a sheet of directions for over the summer and i have to have a topic and pre lab(material &procedure) in by august 6. i already have my topic, i am just really struggling with the procedure part...

also, if i did this experiment at the actual beach...any suggestions as to what i should conduct there? because it would be better i am thinking to go to an actual beach, by]ut then what would my procedure be?

Unfortunately, I can't read your teacher's mind--you will need to contact them for more information about what you should include in the materials you need to turn in.

If you use a model, your procedure would boil down to something like this: (You should include many more steps; I've just grouped them together):
1. Build model.
2. Vary depth of ocean.
3. Create waves.
4. Measure height of waves.

Going to the ocean might be more fun, but you would need to get information beforehand on ocean depth. You would then need to go to several locations with different ocean depths in similar weather conditions (since wind, for example, could affect wave height) and at similar tide 'heights' to measure wave height. I am not sure what the best method of measuring wave heights would be, on a calm day you could probably do it yourself with a measuring tape, but if the swells are large where you are, you may have trouble and/or need a boat.

I found a website that explains how wave height is measured by surfers, and also has some great information about waves in general: http://www.stormsurf.com/page2/tutorial ... sics.shtml .
Here's another, with a few more details about height: http://www.yosurfer.com/content/meteoro ... e_size.htm .

It looks like a more accurate method is to attach accelerometers to buoys: http://cdip.ucsd.edu/?nav=documents&sub ... item=waves . I don't know what the regulations are for doing something like this, but you might be able to ask, for example, the Coast Guard if they collect data like this and if they would be willing to let you use it.

thankyou! my only concern about making models is how would i create the waves?

I'm not an engineer--but the best way is probably to have some sort of block or other object that moves up and down in the 'deep ocean' part of the model. I would probably attach it to some sort of motor so you could make certain that it was moved up and down in exactly the same way during every test.

thankyou for your help.