![]() ![]() However, if the tide is high, the wave is large, and the beach slopes sharply downhill toward the water, the undertow could be strong enough to knock you down, but it won’t carry you far-maybe just far enough to get smacked by the next big wave coming in. Unless the beach has a steep incline, the undertow will probably not be very powerful. An undertow can occur when water sinks back downhill into the sea after a wave has carried it uphill onto the beach. Rip currents are much more dangerous, because they flow on the surface of the water, can be very strong, and can extend some distance from the shore. undertowĭon’t confuse a rip current with an undertow. The ocean floor may suddenly have an ideal shape for creating unpredictable rip currents where there were none before. The shape of the ocean bottom sometimes changes during storms or when waves are particularly big. Perhaps surprisingly, rip currents are strongest at low tide. Rip current speed is influenced by the size of the waves, but sometimes waves only two feet high can produce hazardous rips. However, they have been known to flow as fast as 8 feet per second (about 5 miles per hour)-faster than an Olympic swimmer can sprint! They can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea. Rip currents typically flow at 1 to 2 feet per second. Limited as they are in size, you don’t want to get caught in a rip current while swimming. (A 4-lane highway is about 50 feet wide.) They may also form around human-made structures such as jetties and piers. ![]() Rip currents may form around low spots in the ocean floor near the shoreline or in breaks between sandbars. Image credit: NOAA Ocean Today (modified) The performance of these materials under extreme stress is well understood.Rip currents are often difficult to see, but you can spot them in areas where waves aren’t breaking, or where there’s foam, seaweed, or discolored water being pulled offshore (area marked by red arrows). Much of the existing technology is based on steel, titanium and aluminum. The key is the design of the hull that protects the vessel against the large external water pressure that is trying to crush the hull. Can you briefly explain, if you can, the engineering behind how submarines are able to navigate such crushing depths in the first place-and why Titan was presumably unable to? The occupants would not have experienced pain or realized what hit them. As the hull breaks apart under the huge external pressure, a large amount of energy is released, and the five occupants would have died instantly. ![]() Implosions like explosions are very violent. Officials overseeing the search for the submarine said the discovery of debris from the water craft is consistent with a ‘catastrophic implosion.’ What would such an event have meant for the five occupants? When this force becomes larger than the force hull can withstand, the vessel implodes violently. When a submersible is deep in the ocean it experiences the force on its surface due to water pressure. In an explosion, the force acts outwards, but in an implosion the force acts inwards. Quite simply, an implosion is the opposite of an explosion. Physicist weighs in on the Titan submersible’s carbon-fiber structure as debris is uncovered What does it mean for a submarine to have ‘imploded?’ What causes a water submersible to implode? How is it different from an explosion? ![]()
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