Question

1

Betty is sitting on of her surfboard out in the ocean. She is waiting for the
perfect wave to come along so she can ride it in to shore. As she waits, she
notices that the waves roll by in patterns, or sets. As the top of each wave
passes by Betty, it pushes her up. Which part of the wave does this? *

Answer 1

The crest of the wave is the part that pushes surfers up as it passes by. The water itself doesn't move much horizontally, but the energy of the wave travels, causing the up and down motion that surfers experience on their boards.

Step-by-step explanation:

The part of the wave that pushes Betty up as it passes by is called the crest. This is the uppermost point of the wave and represents the peak of the wave's height above the average water level. When ocean waves move, it's important to understand that it's the energy of the wave that travels, not the water itself. Water particles at the surface move in a circular motion between the crest and the trough, which is the lowest part of the wave, but they generally stay in the same area overall. As surfers such as Betty wait on their boards, they experience the up and down motion dictated by the waves' energy passing through, which raises them to the crest and then lowers them to the trough, providing an opportunity to catch the wave and surf towards the shore.