Surface tension

226 Views Asked by At

Consider deep water gravity waves but assume now that there are two fluids separated by the interface at $y=\eta(x,t)$ and suppose that the upper fluid extends to $y\to\infty$. Let the fluid in the lower layer have density $\rho_1$ and let the density of the upper fluid be $\rho_2\lt\rho_1$. Show that the phase speed $c$ of waves on the interface with wave number $k$ will be given by $$c^2=\frac{g}{|k|}\left[\frac{\rho_1-\rho_2}{\rho_1+\rho_2}\right].$$

Am I able to tell from this question that there is no surface tension? It's just the solution assumes this but it is not stated explicitly in the question.

1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On BEST ANSWER

That result applies to gravity waves only. In the presence of capillary effects the dispersion relation has an additional term that is proportional to $\sigma/(\rho_1 + \rho_2).$