what creates waves in nature?

[trevorjohnson83]

very late and I'm bored so I thought I would throw this out there as a basic science question that needs theoretical minds

why does the expansion of a density in a medium come in waves? water, sound, heat, light. Does the source oscillate? does the medium have some thing to do with it?

 

[scruffy]

"What creates waves in nature?"

Why, the wave equation of course!

Wave equation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Any solution to this equation is an allowable wave. But the waves have different energies, and nature tends to prefer the one(s) with the lowest energy.

Nevertheless most natural settings support more than one simultaneous solution, called "modes". The modes will show up in some ratio, and usually they're harmonically related.

The medium most often enters into the model through the speed of the wave, and that concept includes things like friction. Because of things like friction, the energy in a wave will diffuse over time, the wave will spread out and become "decoherent".

 

[luiza]

what creates waves​

Mainly caused by the Human species propelling their arms up and down and from side to side in an odd way .

 

[scruffy]

what creates waves​

Mainly caused by the Human species propelling their arms up and down and from side to side in an odd way .

Really? I thought it was the flatulation.

 

[San Souci]

very late and I'm bored so I thought I would throw this out there as a basic science question that needs theoretical minds

why does the expansion of a density in a medium come in waves? water, sound, heat, light. Does the source oscillate? does the medium have some thing to do with it?

See Wave Mechanics Theory.

 

[scruffy]

You make waves with one of these.

You put the little thingie in your aquarium, flip the switch, and presto - instant waves.