Subject: Re: sound waves in water From: "Richard F. Lyon" <DickLyon@xxxxxxxx> Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:09:36 -0800 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>I believe Tony is correct, but there are also sound waves "on" water, which have a transverse component, as in the water waves you mentioned. This is more like the kind of wave you find at the interface between fluid and membrane in the cochlea. I think that any kind of vibration that propagates can be called sound; for a transverse component to propagate, you need something to provide a transverse restoring force. For waves on water, gravity provides that; on the BM in the cochlea, the BM stiffness provides it. In free water with no boundaries nearby, probably you just get compression waves. Dick At 6:22 PM -0500 1/13/11, Antonio Miller wrote: >Sound waves in water are longitudinal (compression) waves. The >underlying physics is the same for air and water, just the material >properties (and hence the speed of sound) of the two fluids are >different. > >-Tony > >On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 5:46 PM, Sarah Hargus Ferguson ><sarah.ferguson@xxxxxxxx> wrote: >> A student asked me a question the other day thatıs got me stumped: >> >> Sound waves in air are longitudinal, and water waves have both transverse >> and longitudinal elements. But what about sound waves in water?