Handy Ripples
by Omaste Witkowski
Title
Handy Ripples
Artist
Omaste Witkowski
Medium
Painting - Digital Photograph
Description
The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea. ~Vladimir Nabokov
My son threw a rock into the lake as I was taking this photograph of a reflected surface.
From Wikipedia "A capillary wave is a wave traveling along the phase boundary of a fluid, whose dynamics are dominated by the effects of surface tension.
Capillary waves are common in nature and the home, and are often referred to as ripples. The wavelength of capillary waves in water is typically less than a few centimeters.
When generated by light wind in open water, a nautical name for them is "cat's paw" waves, since they may resemble paw prints. Light breezes which stir up such small ripples are also sometimes referred to as cat's paws. On the open ocean, much larger ocean surface waves (seas and swells) may result from coalescence of smaller wind-caused ripple-waves.
A gravity�capillary wave on a fluid interface is influenced by both the effects of surface tension and gravity, as well as by fluid inertia."
Uploaded
April 14th, 2013
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