As a water wave approaches the shore, and the water becomes more shallow, the speed of the wave increases/decreases? and the wavelength increases/decreases?
The speed of the wave decreases and the wavelength decreases as the water becomes more shallow and the wave approaches the shore.
As a water wave approaches the shore and the water becomes more shallow, the speed of the wave decreases and the wavelength decreases as well.
When a water wave encounters shallow water, the bottom of the wave starts to touch the sea floor. This causes the wave to slow down because the particles at the bottom of the wave experience friction with the sea floor.
As the wave slows down, the distance between consecutive wave crests (wavelength) also decreases. This occurs because the wave is still trying to maintain the same number of wave crests per unit of time, but since it is slowing down, the distance between each crest gets smaller.
However, it is important to note that the frequency of the wave remains constant. The frequency represents the number of wave crests passing a given point in a specific time period. So, although the wavelength decreases, the frequency remains unchanged.