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Friction with the sea bed/shore
Waves crash on the shore when they approach shallow water, causing the wave height to increase and eventually break. This is due to the friction between the rising wave and the ocean floor, which slows down the bottom of the wave and causes the top to topple forward, forming a breaking wave.
A wave that curves over and breaks is called a "curling" or "cresting" wave. This process occurs when the wave's energy is concentrated at the crest, causing it to collapse and break.
When a wave slows down, the frequency of the wave remains constant, but the wavelength decreases. This is known as the phenomenon of wave refraction, which happens when a wave encounters a change in the medium through which it is traveling, causing it to slow down.
waves get slower and higher then they break
When a wave reaches an irregular shoreline, the wave front will refract, causing it to bend around the contours of the shoreline. This refraction occurs because the shallow water near the shore slows down the part of the wave closer to the shore, causing the wave front to bend.
Waves out in the ocean don't break because they are in deep water, waves break when they reach shallower water and so the bottom of the wave catches on the bottom and causes a bit of friction which slows the wave down and cause it to fall over itself, which is breaking
The wavelength of the wave decreases as it enters Perspex due to the change in the speed of the wave, according to Snell's Law. The wave slows down in Perspex, causing the wavelength to shorten.
This is called refraction. Refraction occurs when a wave enters a different medium where its speed changes, causing it to bend.
As the momentum of the wave moves towards the shallow shore, the bottom slows due to friction with the seabed, while the top keeps moving. Eventually, the top of the wave curls over in a crest, that breaks on to the beach.
A wave that topples over is known as a "crashing" or "breaking" wave. This occurs when the wave reaches a point where its crest becomes too steep relative to its height, causing it to collapse forward as it breaks against a shoreline or obstacle.
A wave breaks when the bottom of the wave's crest reaches shallow water, causing the wave to slow down. This difference in speed between the top and bottom of the wave causes the wave to eventually crest and break. The shape of the shoreline, ocean floor, and wave size all play a role in how a wave breaks.