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Answer by Emilio Pisanty for Why is the speed of oceanic waves not a constant like sound?

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The dynamical origins of the two are extremely different.

  • Surface waves in water are gravity waves, which means that the restoring force trying to bring peaks and troughs back to the mean height is gravity. Peaks are higher than the surrounding water and tend to fall, while troughs are lower and tend to fill up with the water from the peaks on either side. (And, as with all oscillatory phenomena, the wave comes from an interplay between this restoring force and the inertia of the medium.)
  • Sound waves are pressure waves, which means that the restoring force is provided by the pressure in the medium. High-pressure pockets expand into their neighbours, while low-pressure pockets contract.

Since the dynamical origin is different, there is no reason to expect the speed of the two waves to have similar behaviour.


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