How does light and sound travel in water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

How does light and sound travel in water - Essay Example Usually, temperature varies from about 28Â °F around either North and South poles, or 90Â °F or above near the Equator or around the Tropics. Salinity or saltiness of the sea water, differs roughly from 32 to 38 ppt. Its impact on sound waves or sound speed is often minor, but salinity rates by the virtue of its location—for instance, near the land or masses of sea ice—can have remarkable impact. In constant coefficients, change in speed of sound through temperature changes increases by +3 meters per second; while there is approximately +.5 meters per second per change in 30 meters in sea depth; and by change of per ppt. salinity, about +1.2 meters per second; The SSP, or sound speed profile, is used to measure the combined effects of temperature, salinity and depth in relation to sound speeds. It is a vertical column of water consisting of an iso-speed layer (also called the mixed surface layer). Under it, there is a seasonal thermocline which measures down to 250 meters; and below, the larger main thermocline. Due to the changes of the water’s temperature, there exist variations in the SSP. Under the main thermocline, the temperature is usually constant. Also, because of depth, changes in pressure slowly increase and therefore give the dominant impact on the SSP. Absorption occurs when the energy in the sound waves is absorbed by the water itself, as sound moves through a body of water. It is followed by the shrinking of the original sound waves’ magnitude (amplitude). Light also travels in water, as sounds do, since it goes in waves. Water absorbs light and its different wavelengths at different values depending on the depth of the body of water, or the clarity or turbidity of the water. The speed of light depends on the optical density of the water—and light travels more slowly in water than it does in air. As water absorbs light, it reduces the light’s quantity and