A point source is generating circular water waves.
(a) What does the amplitude of the wave near the source depend on?
(b) What happens to the amplitude of the wave as it spreads outward?
(c) Why the amplitude of a wave changes as it spreads outwards?
(a) it depends upon how much the water is pushed up or down at that location
(b) it decreases
(c) the energy of the wave gets distrusted over a larger area as the circular wave expands. Kinetic energy and amplitude must decrease to conserve energy.