Seiches & Sloshing

Lakes and harbours that resonate

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• A closed basin sloshes with period $T = 2L/\sqrt{gh}$; a basin open at one end, $4L/\sqrt{gh}$.
• Seiches are standing waves set off by wind, pressure changes or earthquakes.
• Resonance with incoming waves or tides can amplify them enormously.

Steps

1. Water in a bathtub
2. Bath time
3. A dangerous harbour
4. Lake Erie
5. What sets them off?
6. The Bay of Fundy