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Why do ocean waves leave sinusoidal patterns on the beach?

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Waves are never directly 90 degrees from the shore. There are longshore currents, the angle of the shoreline to the waves, the angle of the wind to the shoreline. So there's very little chance that a wave will break squarely to the shore. read more

It is a sine wave. Electricity coming out of your wall is AC or alternating current. In The Americas it is 115 or 120 volts. This is the RMS value (root mean square) or average. The peak voltage is actually 141 volts 60 times a second. It is also -141 volts 60 times a second. On an oscilloscope you can see that it is a sine wave. read more

To understand why waves don't neatly adhere to received wisdom, you have to follow them to their source. Contrary to another widespread fallacy, the formation of waves has nothing to do with the moon (unlike the rise and fall of the tide). The ocean surface waves that we see rolling onto the beach are caused by one thing: wind. read more

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