Final answer:
Waves are disturbances in water that move energy outward from their origin, characterized by up-and-down movement and simple harmonic motion. These waves have attributes like period, frequency, and wavelength, and their propagation causes objects on the water's surface, like boats or seagulls, to move vertically.
Step-by-step explanation:
Waves are disturbances that propagate, or move from their place of origin. Energy is transferred to water in various ways—through wind, dropping a stone, or disturbances from boats, causing waves to form. As waves travel through water, they exhibit an up-and-down movement of the water's surface that is characterized by simple harmonic motion, with crests (high points) and troughs (low points).
Imagine a toy boat in a wave pool; as a water wave travels horizontally underneath it, the boat will move up and down vertically but not in the horizontal direction of the wave. This repeated and regular vertical motion is characteristic of the wave's influence, whereas the horizontal motion is the disturbance moving through the water, causing the wave effect we see.
The physical attributes of a wave, such as its crest and troughs, constitute a cycle. The wave's period is the time for one complete cycle, and its frequency is determined by the inverse of the period. The distance covered by one full cycle horizontally is known as the wave's wavelength. Waves not only move energy through the water but also define themselves by these cycles, making an analogy with the repetitive motion observed in waves of all kinds, including light and sound.