LESSON 4

WAVES
Lesson 4.1

Learning outcomes 

In this lesson, you are expected to have:

a. learned the parts of a basic wave and the terminology used to describe the
motion of a wave (i.e. period, frequency, speed etc.)
b. understand the difference between deep water waves and shallow water waves
c. learned what factors influence wave speed in deep and shallow waves 
d. understand the difference between seas and swell and why waves break as they
approach shore 
e. learned the differences in the different types of breakers, and how the bottom
topography impacts breaker type
f. understand what causes tsunamis, how they behave in the ocean 
g. understand why most places on Earth experience two tides per day,
h. understand how the Earth, sun and moon interact to create spring and neap tides
i. understand why the gravitational pull of the sun on tides is less than the pull of
the moon
j. understand why tides do not occur at the same time every day and know the
difference between diurnal, semi-diurnal, and mixed tides
k. learned the phases of a tidal current and what causes a tidal bore.

Time Frame: 3 hours

Let’s begin
Our modern understanding of tide formation stems from Isaac Newton’s Law of
Universal Gravitation, which states that any two objects have a gravitational attraction to each
other.

Pre-test

Let’s discuss
Tidal Forces
 The magnitude of the force is proportional to the masses of the objects, and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between the objects, according to the equation in
Figure 4.14.

Such a gravitational force exists between the Earth and moon, attempting to pull them
towards each other. Since the water covering Earth is fluid (unlike the solid land that is more
resistant to tidal forces), this gravitational force pulls water towards the moon, creating a “bulge”
of water on the side of the Earth facing the moon (Figure 4.14). This bulge always faces the
moon, while the Earth rotates through it; the regions of Earth moving through the bulge
experience a high tide, while those parts of the Earth away from the bulge experience a low tide.

Figure 4.14 Gravitational forces between the Earth and moon cause a bulge of water to appear
on the side of the Earth facing the moon.

Some of the additional complexity is because in addition to the moon, the sun also
exerts tide-affecting forces on Earth. The solar gravitational and inertial forces arise for the
same reasons described above for the moon, but the magnitudes of the forces are different. The
sun is 27 million times more massive than the moon, but it is 387 times farther away from the
Earth. Despite its larger mass, because the sun is so much farther away than the moon, the
sun’s gravitational forces are only about half as strong as the moon’s (remember that distance is
cubed in the gravity equation). The sun thus creates its own, smaller water bulges, independent
of the moon’s, that contribute to the creation of tides. When the sun, Earth and moon are
aligned, as occurs during new and full moons, the solar and lunar bulges are also aligned, and
add to each other creating an especially high tidal range; high high tides and low low tides
(Figure 4.15). This period of maximum tidal range is called a spring tide, and they occur every
two weeks.

Figure 4.15 Spring tides with high tidal ranges occur when the solar and lunar tides are added
together during full and new moons when the Earth, sun and moon are aligned.

When the sun, Earth and moon are at 90⁰ to each other, the solar and lunar bulges are
out of phase, and cancel each other out (destructive interference). Now the tidal range is small,
with low high tides and high low tides (Figure 4.16). These are neap tides, and occur every two
weeks, when the moon is in its 1/4 and 3/4 phases (Figure 4.17).
 Figure 4.16 Neap tides are created during 1/4 and 3/4 moons when the Earth, sun and moon
are perpendicular to each other. The solar and lunar tides cancel each other out, resulting in a
small tidal range

Figure 4.17 30 days of tidal data from Bridgeport, CT, USA, showing spring and neap tidal
ranges (Modified from Cody Logan (clpo13).

Dynamic Theory of Tides 

The Equilibrium Theory of tides predicts that each day there will be two high and two low
tides, each one occurring at the same time day after day, with each pair producing tides of
similar heights. While this view provides a basic explanation for the primary forces that generate
the tides, it does not take into account such variables as the effects of the continents, the depth
of the water, and many other factors. In all, there are almost 400 variables that must be
incorporated into predicting the tides! The Dynamic Theory of tides takes these other factors
into account, and shows that the tides are much more complicated and variable from place to
place than the Equilibrium Theory would suggest. For example, some areas receive only one
high and one low tide per da). Furthermore, the tidal range varies greatly across the globe; in
the Mediterranean Sea, there can be a difference of only 10 cm between high and low tides,
while the Bay of Fundy in Canada experiences a tidal range of up to 17m (56 ft) every day
(Figure 4.18).

Figure 4.18 Tidal range in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Both photographs were taken on the
same day in July 2003 (By Dylan Kereluk from White Rock, Canada (Flickr).

Examination of any tide chart will show that the tides don’t occur at same time each day;
in fact, each tidal peak occurs about 50 minutes later than it did in the previous day. This is due
to the orbit of the moon around the Earth. Imagine a high tide that occurs at a particular location
(X) at 1:00 pm (Figure 4.19). The high tide occurs as location X moves through the bulge of
water facing the moon. It will take the Earth 24 hours to complete one revolution, to bring
location X back to site of the water bulge that caused that high tide. However, during those 24
hours, the moon has also moved as it orbits the Earth, so the high tide bulge has moved beyond
its original location. The Earth thus has to rotate an additional distance for location X to reach
the bulge and experience that same high tide. Because it takes the moon about 28 days to orbit
the Earth, the moon gets “ahead” of the Earth’s rotation by about 50 minutes per day. Therefore,
it takes location X 24 hours and 50 minutes to rotate through the same tidal bulge, and as a
result, the tidal peaks occur about 50 minutes later each day. In our example, an afternoon high
tide at 1:00 pm on one day would be followed by a high tide at about 1:50 pm the following day.
This 24 hour and 50 minute cycle is referred to as a tidal day.

Figure 4.19 In A) a high tide is occurring at point X on Earth’s surface. 24 hours later, X has
made a complete rotation and is back in its original position. However, the moon has moved
during that time (B), so X must travel an additional distance (white arrow) to once again become
 aligned with the moon and experience a high tide. For this reason, corresponding tides occur
approximately 60 minutes later each day

Figure 4.19 illustrates a case where the moon is at its maximum declination 28.5 ⁰ north
of the equator, creating its corresponding tidal maxima. A point on the Earth at the latitude
indicated by the red line would experience two high tides as it rotated through 24 hours, at
points A and B. But the two high tides would not be of equal heights; the high tide at A would be
higher than the high tide at B. This helps create a mixed semi-diurnal tide; two high tides of
different heights per day.

Finally, the continents and the bottom topography of the oceans have an impact on the
tides that are experienced in an area. Because the tides are essentially waves with extremely
long wavelengths extending halfway across the Earth, they behave as shallow water waves,
and they are influenced and refracted by the bottom contours, leading to regional tidal
variations. When the tidal crests encounter land, they are are reflected, and the wave moves
back out to sea, theoretically until it encounters another continent on the opposite side of the
ocean basin. The crest is once again reflected, and the water oscillates back and forth as a
standing wave across the ocean basin. However, because of the scale over which these tidal
waves move, we must take into account the influence of the Coriolis Effect. As the tidal crest is
reflected back across the ocean basin, its path is deflected by the Coriolis force; to the right in
the Northern Hemisphere, and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Tide Classification 
With so many variables playing a role in the production of tides, it is understandable that
not every place on Earth will experience exactly the same tidal conditions. There are three
primary classifications for tides, depending on the number and relative heights of tidal cycles per
day. A diurnal tide consists of only one high tide and one low tide per day (Figure 4.20).
“Diurnal” refers to a daily occurrence, so a situation where there is only one complete tidal cycle
per day is considered a diurnal tide. Diurnal tides are common in the Gulf of Mexico, along the
west coast of Alaska, and in parts of Southeast Asia.
 Figure 4.20 A diurnal tide, with one high and one low tide per day (By NOAA).

A semidiurnal tide exhibits two high and two low tides each day, with both highs and
both lows of toughly equal height (Figure 4.21). “Semidiurnal” means “half of a day”; one tidal
cycle takes half of a day, therefore there are two complete cycles per day. Semidiurnal tides are
common along the east coasts of North America and Australia, the west coast of Africa, and
most of Europe.

Figure 4.21 A semi-diurnal tide, with two high and two low tides per day, each of roughly equal
heights (By NOAA)

Mixed semidiurnal tides (or mixed tides), have two high tides and two low tides per
day, but the heights of each tide differs; the two high tides are of different heights, as are the
two low tides (Figure 4.22). Mixed semidiurnal tides are found along the Pacific coast of North

America

Figure 4.22 A mixed semi-diurnal tide, with two high and two low tides per day, each with a
different height (By NOAA).

Tidal Currents 
The movement of water with the rising and falling tide creates tidal currents. As the tide
rises, water flows into an area, creating a flood current. As the tide falls and water flows out an
ebb current is created. Slack water, or slack tides occur during the transition between incoming
high and outgoing low tides, when there is no net water movement. The strength of a tidal
current depends on the volume of water that enters and exits with each tidal cycle (the tidal
volume or tidal prism), and the area through which the water flows. A large tidal volume moving
through a large area may create only a weak tidal current, as the volume is spread over a wide
area. On the other hand, a narrow area may produce a strong tidal current even if the tidal
volume is small, as all of the water is forced through a small area. It follows that the strongest
tidal currents will result from a large tidal range moving through a narrow area. Tidal bores occur
where rivers meet the ocean. If the incoming tidal current is stronger than the river outflow, the
tidal bore appears as a wave, or moving wall of water that moves up the river as the tide comes

in (Figure 4.23).

Figure 4.23 A tidal bore near Silverdale in the United Kingdom (Arnold Price).

Untwist the loop

Short Answer Essay. (Answer in a long bond paper. Submit it via Google classroom or
by dropping it in school.)

1. Why most places on Earth experience two tides per day?

2. Why the gravitational pull of the sun on tides is less than the pull of the moon?
3. What is the difference between diurnal, semi-diurnal, and mixed tides?

Speak your mind

Extend your horizon

Further Readings