The Math Associated With Oceans.

The other day, I stared at the frozen river, wondering when it would thaw when I realized there is math involved in the oceans.  You might think that its quite a jump from river to ocean but it's really not because the river flows into the ocean a bit further down.  Once the river is thawed, traffic will begin again as locals head off to other villages, go fish, or wait for the barge to bring gas after a long winter.

1.  Although surfers do not use math, people who design artificial waves do.  They have to look at the math of waves such as the formula using wind speed, duration, and distance, applying the same mathematical period and amplitude found in trig, and other formulas that can be used to determine how the ocean might effect marinas, light houses, oil rigs, water parks, tourist resorts, and such.

2.  Another application of wave mathematics is when people decide to produce power using the energy of the waves.  It looks at harmonic motion, parabolic shapes to capture and focus water, the geometry of turbine engines, etc.

3.  Then there is the math associated with Tsunamis.  First there is the speed of a tsunami so people can predict the approximate time of its arrival, the predicted height of the wave, and the power of the tsunami wave.

4.  We can also apply mathematics to the hunting patterns of sharks, modeling of the ancient shark that has disappeared or  the force of a sharks jaw as it bites someone.

5.  Math can also be applied to ships at sea.  There is the math involved in how they stay afloat at sea,  the mathematics of the height of a ship above the water, ship stabilizers, sea sickness, stabilizing pool tables and swimming pools, and the geometry of ship hulls.

6. Finally the mathematics of surfboards.  I remember growing up in Hawaii, we knew when spring arrived because quite a few people disappeared to surf during the afternoons.  We see math in the different types of boards, the board to weight ratio, the geometry applied to the different parts of the surf board, the measurements of the various fins, the tools used to make surfboards, and so much more.


This site is great because it has detailed lessons on each of these topics. There are explanations, videos, illustrations, everything but the actual lesson with the objective etc but any teacher can put that together.  I know I will be using the wave material from this site for when I teach sin and cos waves in trig in a couple of weeks.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.