Abstract
A physical explanation is given for the observations that ocean surface gravity waves can travel up to half way around the world from generation in a wind storm to dissipation on shore. Inherent in these waves is an orbital fluid particle motion, known from laboratory experiments, that has no friction according to the Navier-Stokes equations. The prediction is based on application of Bernoulli’s law to all the closed orbital paths of the fluid particles and the cross-stream force balance on the particles between a pressure gradient and the centrifugal force in each orbital loop.
Highlights
In the title is an idea that was given one sentence earlier [1], a more detailed explanation is presented here
The theory of the surface gravity wave cannot explain the absence of friction because of the foundational mathematical assumption: irrotational motion with zero friction built into it
This restricts the waves to having no friction from the start, regardless of what theoretical constructions come
Summary
In the title is an idea that was given one sentence earlier [1], a more detailed explanation is presented here. The theory of the surface gravity wave cannot explain the absence of friction because of the foundational mathematical assumption: irrotational motion with zero friction built into it. This restricts the waves to having no friction from the start, regardless of what theoretical constructions come next. Ocean recordings of surface gravity waves have long amazed scientists and engineers by the great distances they can travel from the storms that created them. In a few striking cases an instrument near Yakutat, Alaska, together with several other instruments (6 in total) spaced out along a great circle route in the open water of the North Pacific, obtained signals whose inferred source was a storm in the Indian Ocean, halfway around the world from Yakutat [2]! Why don’t these waves just grind to a halt after only traveling a couple of wavelengths, with friction providing the grinding?
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