What causes Ocean Waves?

Hey, Smarty Pence, guess who’s on vacation? Nope, not me. I never take a break from Smarty. But I see some folks who are definitely on vacation. That’s because where I am is a great place to relax, cool off, and have fun.

In fact, see if you can guess where I am. Ready? Go. Did you say the beach? Well done. What gave it away? Was it the seagulls? The kids playing? Or… Yep, there is no mistaking the majestic sound of an ocean wave crashing against the shore.

And speaking of ocean waves, I’ve got my boogie board greased and ready to go and I’m about to jump into the surf. If there’s just one problem, something doesn’t seem right. Huh? For starters, there’s hardly anyone in the water, and there’s a yellow flag posted at the top of the lifeguard’s chair.

Usually it’s a green flag. What do you think it means, Smarty Pence? Maybe I’ll ask the lifeguard what’s up. Excuse me, sorry to bother you while you’re on duty, I was just wondering if you could… Sir, if you’re going into the water.

Please hold on to your child’s hand, and only go in up to his knees. Sorry, you were saying something? Yes, I was just wondering. Miss, there’s a yellow flag. You can’t go out that far. You were saying?

Um, yes. The Smarty Pence and I were wondering about the significance of the yellow flag. You and the Smarty Pence? Hey, wait a second. Is this who smarted? Are you the trusty narrator? This is. And I am.

Oh wow. Are you on vacation? I don’t get to take vacation. Bummer. So you want to know about the yellow flag, huh? Yeah, does it mean something’s wrong? There’s hardly anyone in the water, and you’ve already told two people.

Yellow flag, come closer. Three people. Not to go out too far. What does it mean? I’m glad you asked. A yellow flag means swimmers should use extra caution due to the conditions of the water today. Ah, I will say the waves do seem a little larger and choppier this afternoon.

Yep, the wind’s picked up a lot. It’s getting kind of rough out there. I didn’t realize the wind had something to do with creating the ocean’s waves. Something? Try everything to do with creating the ocean’s waves.

No wind. No waves. Hey, not so far. Interesting. Hey, smarty pants, have you ever wondered why on one beach day everything seems calm, almost lake-like? And on other days there are huge waves that sound like a roaring lion.

So, what causes waves? How do celestial bodies like the sun and moon affect the ocean? And where on Earth can you find the biggest waves? It’s time to dive into another whiff of science and history on…

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So search for Money for Couples wherever you’re listening to Who Smarted and start building your rich life today. despite the illusion of water moving along and being carried by waves. It’s actually just energy that is being transmitted and not the water itself.

Whoa. I know, I know. I couldn’t believe it either. So I asked my friend Becky if we could join her on a trip out to the ocean on her research boat. Becky is what’s known as a physical oceanographer.

Ooh. Much of her time is spent studying the physical conditions of the ocean, like its effects on the coastline, erosion issues, tides, and most definitely, waves. Oh, nice, ain’t it, dude? What do you say, smarty pants?

You ready to hop aboard the princess in the sea and learn more about waves? Excellent. Oh, and if any of you listening are prone to getting seasick on the high seas, don’t worry. There have been zero reported incidents of getting seasick while listening to a podcast.

Oh, but if you want to have more fun, you can feel free to rock back and forth a little while you listen, to make it seem like you’re in the ocean. Right, but don’t do that if you get seasick. Anyway, come on.

I see her loading gear onto her boat. Hey, Becky. Hello, trusty narrator. I’ve been waiting for you. Welcome aboard, the princess in the sea. Wow, that is a nice big boat. Which is good, because I brought along a lot of smarty pants who want to learn about ocean waves.

Great. Welcome aboard, smarty pants. If one of you could just hand me that last box of instruments, we’ll be on our way. I got it. That’s heavier than it looks. Here you go. Thanks. All right, we’re all loaded up.

Let’s head out to the sea. Trusty narrator, do I have to worry about you getting seasick? Me? Nah, never. Never. Well, maybe, maybe once. You know, I’m actually going to take a dramamine just in case.

Okay, let’s ride the waves. Bye, harbor. Bye, land. Bye, lunch. Oh, boy. You okay, trusty narrator? Oh, yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine. It just takes me a minute to get used to the… How are you doing, smarty pants?

Everyone’s still feeling okay? Good. Are you rocking back and forth like you’re on the ocean? Nice. So Becky, why do people become seasick? Seasickness actually starts in your inner ear, where your balance mechanism lives.

The erratic or uneven movements of the boat, thanks to the waves, cause your body to bob up and down or move side to side. But because the boat is moving with you, to your eyes, things seem stable. This causes a brain-body conflict, and your brain sends out stress hormones to try and deal with it, which leads to nausea, sleepiness, or.

Okay, I’m good now. Wow, it sure is windy out here. The lifeguard at the beach told us the wind has a lot to do with how ocean waves are created. Well, the lifeguard’s right. The wind does have a lot to do with the formation of waves.

Take a look. The waves you see around us are known as surface waves, and they’re caused by the friction between wind and the surface of the water. As the wind blows along the surface of the water, it pushes the water up until it reaches its highest point, known as.

Ooh, smarty pants, what do you call the top of a wave? Is it the A, crest, B, aim, or C, Colgate? Did you say crest? Great job. After a wave crests, it goes back down and a new wave appears. The little valley between two crests is known as a trough.

Oh, and to prove that waves don’t actually carry water and simply move up and down? I’ve got a fun experiment we can do. Sweet, the smarty pants love experiments, right? Great. We’ll use this circular life preserver for our test.

You’ll notice it has a long rope attached to it, and I’ve tied the other end to the top. railing of the boat. Trusty narrator, why don’t you toss it overboard as far as you can. Just give it a nice toss.

Okay, here we go. Now what? Let’s see if the smarty pants can guess what will happen next. Will the life preserver A be carried away from the or C sink down to the bottom? If you set B, stay right where it is, you’re right.

Yep, that’s exactly what’s happening. It’s just bobbing up and down, even when a wave comes by. The wave picks it up and then sets it down without it really moving. Exactly. But wait, if waves don’t move water.

How come at the beach the waves push water and me on my boogie board towards the shore? Aren’t they carrying tons of water? It seems that way, but nope. It only appears that way because at the water’s edge, the contour, or shape, of the seafloor slopes towards the beach, and the waves that would normally just rise and fall have run out of room.

Ah! Remember when I mentioned earlier about the trough or valley between waves? Sure. Well, the trough collides with the sloping sand near the beach. It basically stops the bottom of the wave from moving forward, while the top of the wave, known as its crest, keeps moving forward.

This causes the wave to lift up and pitch forward in a curling motion of energy, eventually crashing down. I see. So that’s why once I swim out past the breakers with my boogie board, I pretty much just stay in one place until I decide to ride one in.

That’s exactly right. What about tides? I always thought they had something to do with creating waves. Oh, and where can you find the biggest waves in the world? Ooh, great questions. Thanks, but just hold on to the answers until after this quick break.

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So if your family loves learning interesting stuff on Who Smarted, you’ll definitely want to check out But Why. You can find But Why wherever you get your podcasts. Now back to Who Smarted. Okay, Becky, if the wind causes waves to bob up and down, how do the tides figure in pulling water towards and away from the shore?

Okay, so unlike the surface waves we talked about, which occur as short-term events, tides are much more of a long-period phenomena caused by the gravitational pull from both the moon and the sun. Because the moon is closest to Earth, it has the greatest impact, literally pulling on the bodies of water that are facing it.

Oh, what we consider high tide. Exactly. While the waters furthest from the moon experience the opposite effect, known as low tide. Over the course of 24 hours, most coastal locations will observe two tidal peaks as well as two tidal troughs.

The peak, of course, being the highest point of the sea level and the trough being the lowest point. Exactly. And while the waves themselves don’t carry water, the water in the ocean is constantly moving thanks to channels and tides.

In fact, if there’s nothing to stop it like land, the water can cross entire ocean basins. This means the water you swim in at the beach could have come from across the world. Whoa. And you know what else?

What? Here comes a huge wave. I’m all right, I’m all right. Wow, that was a big wave. So how big do the biggest waves get? And where can you find them? Smarty Pants, do you think you know? Here’s the hint.

Did you say Hawaii? Some of the biggest, most consistent waves on the planet can be found around the islands of Hawaii. That’s why it’s one of the premier surfing spots on the planet. That’s not the only place you’ll find big waves.

Australia, Tahiti, and most notably, Nazare, Portugal are known to have produced many of the biggest waves ever recorded, with height estimates of 80 to 100 feet in some instances. A 100 foot wave? Just thinking about that makes me…

A big shout out to super smarty fan Connor in Santa Clara, California. I hear you and your family love all the fun facts and the trusty narrator. Hey, thanks buddy. Keep listening and learning to me and all your friends on Who Smarted.

This episode Ocean Waves was written by Dave Davis and voiced by Jenna Hoban, Gia Davis, Brylynn Olaya, and Jerry Kolber, technical direction and sound design by Josh Heng-Tan Hahn. Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.

Our associate producer is Max Wipeout Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Surfs Up Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Kolber.

This has been an Atomic Entertainment Production.

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