Final answer:
Waves bend towards the shore by refraction as they transition from deeper to shallower water, a process influenced by the differences in medium density and accompanied by the shoaling effect. Diffraction also allows waves to spread and bend through openings or around barriers.
Step-by-step explanation:
Waves are bent towards the shore due to a process known as refraction. As ocean waves move from deeper water into shallower water near the coast, their speed decreases, causing them to bend or refract towards the shore. This change in speed occurs because the waves are traveling from one medium to another with different densities (deep water to shallow water), which affects the propagation of the waves. This refractive bending allows waves to maintain their energy as they approach the shore, often resulting in higher and stronger waves due to the phenomenon of shoaling, which compresses the wave energy into a smaller volume of water.
Additionally, the principle of diffraction also plays a role in the bending of waves as they travel through openings such as gaps in breakwaters, allowing them to spread out and reach different areas of the bay or coastline. The bending of waves due to diffraction becomes more pronounced when they interact with openings or barriers that are about the same size as the wave's wavelength.