Question

After Johnny's ship sank, he and all of his shipmates were on a lifeboat. They were discussing the best option to get back to land that they knew was 3 miles due east. Johnny said, "No need to worry guys, we have lots of waves coming towards us. It appears that we are traveling due east with the direction of the land. If we just stay in the boat, the waves will carry us to shore." Using claims, evidence and reasoning (the evidence should relate to your reading and the interactive simulation) write a complete explanation of what is wrong with Johnny's logic. Be sure to discuss the motion of the wave in the water compared to the motion of the particles of water.

Answer 1

They would be at where they are for hours after.

Step-by-step explanation:

Although the motion of the water is appearing to be traveling East, making Johnny think that the wave is actually pushing on the boat East bound, what is really happening here is that the motion of the particles of water is actually moving up and down that propagate to the East. Therefore, the wave would only be pushing the boat up and down, not toward land.