38 - On Waves

Summary

The theory of waves in a uniform canal of rectangular section, in the case when the length of the wave is great in comparison with the depth of the canal and when the maximum height of the wave is small in comparison with the same quantity, was given long ago by Lagrange, and is now well known. A wave of any form, subject to the above conditions, is propagated unchanged, and with the velocity which would be acquired by a heavy body in falling through half the depth of the canal. The velocity of propagation here referred to is of course relative to the undisturbed water. If we attribute to the water in the canal a velocity equal and opposite to that of the wave, the wave-form, having the same relative velocity as before, is now fixed in space, and the problem becomes one of steady motion. It is under this aspect that I propose at present to consider the question; and we will therefore suppose that water is flowing along a tube, whose section undergoes a temporary and gradual alteration in consequence of a change in the vertical dimension of the tube. The principal question will be how far the pressure at the upper surface can be made constant by a suitable adjustment of the velocity of flow to the force of gravity.

That the two causes which tend to produce variation of pressure at the upper surface act in opposition to each other is at once evident. If there were no gravity, the pressure would vary on account of the alteration in the velocity of the fluid.