PoTD 417 (22nd February, 2021)

TaesPadhihary#8557

Contents

1 Problem Statement 1

2 Solution 2
2.1 Step 1: Determining the wavelength and hence, k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Step 2: From Approximations to Final Answer! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1 Problem Statement
Consider waves on the surface of water (also known as surface gravity waves). Assume that the deformations
of the surface are influenced by gravity g (on Earth) and the surface tension σ of the water (expressed in
units of Newton per meter). If the density of water is ρ and the undisturbed depth of the water is h, one
can show that the phase velocity of the surface waves is given by
 
g σk
vp2 (k) = + tanh(kh)
k ρ
where k = 2π/λ is the wave-number, tanh(kh) is the hyperbolic tangent, and viscosity is neglected. For
water, ρ = 1 gcm−3 .
Therefore, all wave speeds are possible, including those which travel in “resonance” with the boat: the
boat will always remain at the same trough or at the same crest of the wave, and will propel water resonantly,
i.e. always at the same value of the phase of the wave. If there are waves which can move in a resonance with
a moving object, the moving object will generate these waves — this phenomenon is known as Cherenkov
radiation. Generated waves carry away energy and this results in a wave drag acting on the object. The
wave drag grows rapidly with speed (proportional to the cube of the speed) and is the main limiting factor
for the speed of the boats. Determine the speed of the boat shown.

1
PoTD 417 (22nd February, 2021) Taes Padhihary

2 Solution
§2.1 Step 1: Determining the wavelength and hence, k
From the photo, we will measure the wavelength of the waves. We should count as many peaks as possible.
A motivation for this step is that, the wavelength will be slightly different each case due to the wave drag
as mentioned in the paragraph that is not-so-relevant-to-the-question 1 .

Fig. 1. Screenshot of my measurement. Won’t be the same on your device due to the weird scales!

We should count the peaks along the line of motion of the boat so that we don’t have to multiply any
other factor that would arise out of the angles of the peaks.
From Fig. 1, we measure 26 peaks along the path that span for approx. 2907.69 m. This gives
2907.69 m
λ= = 111.834 m.
26
Therefore, k = 2π/λ = 0.0561 m−1 .

§2.2 Step 2: From Approximations to Final Answer!

Since the depth h is very large (as clarified by Lol man), we can assume for sake of convenience that h → ∞,
and thus, tanh(kh) ≈ 1. Now, observe that surface tension of water, σ is of the order of 10− 2 N/m, k = .0561
and ρ = 103 kgm−3 , we obtain σk ρ ≈ 5.61 × 10
−7
which is small enough to be neglected.
Compiling all approximations, the velocity, v of the boat is given by
r
g
v= = 13.21 ms−1 ,
k

which approximately equals 48 km/h.

The average speed of an average motorboat lies between 20 − 30 knots (courtesy: Google), which equals
approx. 37.04 − 55.56 km/h, and so the answer we found out, may be correct. 

1 but, is in-arguably nice!