Particles in a surface wave: a combination of longitudinal and transverse wave motion.
In this surface wave animation, we watch particles in a surface wave, like waves travel on the surface of water. Individual particles in a surface wave traveling to the right follow a circular path in the clockwise direction. This means the motion of a particle in a surface wave is a combination of longitudinal and transverse wave motion, which we visualize by using vector components of the position of the particle in the wave motion animation. Finally, the diameter of the circular paths of the particles decreases as we move deeper in the fluid, and we give a nice two dimensional visualization of the mathematics of the water wave at depth.
