11 



Equation 2 for the velocity of a wave may be written then: 



C- 



'-\a 



2v 



(8a) 



The fact that the wave velocity depends, in general, upon the wave 

 length eliminates the possibility of building up the characteristics of 



N|-o 



a wave of any form as the summation of the characteristics of waves 

 of different length and amplitude. Each wave length has a charac- 

 teristic velocity, and superposition of different lengths would give a 

 constantly changing wave form whereas waves observed in nature 

 appear to preserve their identity, at least for distances which are 

 large in comparison to one wave length. 



The horizontal and vertical components of the velocity of water 



779640 0-48-3 



