seismic wave

1. Making Waves: Classroom Demos and
Activities for Teaching About Seismic Waves 1
Larry Braile, Purdue University
braile@purdue.edu,
web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile
Sheryl Braile, Happy Hollow School
West Lafayette, IN
NSTA Conference, March 2006
Anaheim, CA
Last modified March 13, 2006
1
This PowerPoint file: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/new/SeismicWaves.ppt
Partial funding for this development provided by the National Science Foundation.
© Copyright 2005. L. Braile. Permission granted for reproduction for non-commercial uses.
This abbreviated ppt file of wave animations is modified from:

2. Wave animations
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell, Kettering University
http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/demos.html
Seismic Wave
animations
(Developed by L. Braile)
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.htm

3. Dan Russell animations – The
people wave
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell,
Kettering University
http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/demos.html

4. Dan Russell animations – A wave
pulse
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell,
Kettering University
http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/demos.html

5. Dan Russell animations –
Transverse wave
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell,
Kettering University
http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/demos.html

6. Dan Russell animations – Rayleigh
wave
Animation courtesy of Dr. Dan Russell,
Kettering University
http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/demos.html

7. Compressional Wave (P-Wave) Animation
Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating
compression and dilation. Particle motion is parallel to the
direction of propagation (longitudinal). Material returns to its
original shape after wave passes.

8. Shear Wave (S-Wave) Animation
Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating
transverse motion. Particle motion is perpendicular to the direction of
propagation (transverse). Transverse particle motion shown here is
vertical but can be in any direction. However, Earth’s layers tend to
cause mostly vertical (SV; in the vertical plane) or horizontal (SH) shear
motions. Material returns to its original shape after wave passes.

9. Rayleigh Wave (R-Wave) Animation
Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of elliptical motions
(generally retrograde elliptical) in the vertical plane and parallel to the
direction of propagation. Amplitude decreases with depth. Material
returns to its original shape after wave passes.

10. Love Wave (L-Wave) Animation
Deformation propagates. Particle motion consists of alternating
transverse motions. Particle motion is horizontal and perpendicular to
the direction of propagation (transverse). To aid in seeing that the
particle motion is purely horizontal, focus on the Y axis (red line) as the
wave propagates through it. Amplitude decreases with depth. Material
returns to its original shape after wave passes.

11. Schematic diagram illustrating students performing wave simulations.
Student holds a poster board or cardboard circle in front of his or her body
and walks forward (like the seismic waves propagating in the Earth). While
walking, the student moves their circle forward and backward (“push and
pull”, for the P wave), or up and down (transverse motion for the shear
wave), or in a retrograde ellipse (for the Rayleigh wave), or side to side
horizontally (for the Love wave), as shown above.

12. You can download the animations separately to run more
efficiently
(http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.htm).
A complete PowerPoint presentation on the Seismic wave
animations is also available at:
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.ppt

13. 1. What seismic wave type is shown here?

14. 2. What seismic wave type is shown here?

15. 3. What seismic wave type is shown here?

16. 4. What seismic wave type is shown here?

17. For further information, see the web page:
www.eas.purdue.edu/~braile/edumod/waves/WaveDemo.htm