What Are The Types Of Waves?

Waves are disturbances in space; most waves require a material medium to pass through while some can pass through vacuum. The waves that require a material medium to pass are known as mechanical waves like for example sound waves while waves that do not require a medium and can pass through vacuum are known as electromagnetic waves like light or radio waves. Another kind of waves are matter or particle waves like for example alpha rays emitted by radioactive substances which are comprised of streams of alpha particles.

Mechanical waves can further be classified into three types depending on the nature of displacement of the particles of the medium. The waves which cause the particles of the medium to be displaced in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the propagation of the waves are known as transverse waves while the waves which cause the particles to be displaced in a direction parallel to the direction of propagation are known as longitudinal waves. In some cases like for example ocean waves both transverse as well as longitudinal waves are observed and are known as surface waves in physics

Waves refer to the up and down motion seen in ocean water. Most waves are caused by wind when it ruffles the surface of the ocean water and creates ripples.
There are two types of the waves destructive waves and constructive waves that are explained below:

1 Destructive waves: these are high-energy waves with a very high frequency of wave breaks. They thus do great destruction to the coastline. Their backwash is more powerful than there swash, and they therefore remove more materials than they deposit on the coast. They consist of high, steep, plunging waves that are destructive in nature. They carve out many erosive marine landforms such as capes, bays, coves and arches. They are associated with seep slopping coasts, backed by cliffs.

2 Constructive waves:
These are low energy waves with allow frequency of wave breaks. Their swash is more powerful than their backwash, and they therefore tend to deposit materials like sand and pebbles rather than erode the coast. They approach the coast with gentle spilling or surging waves of little erosive power. The beach carries much sand and deposits there to form depositional features like dunes, spits, bars and beaches. They are associated with gently sloping coasts.