Velocity+of+medium

By Nicole Poole


 * Velocity of Medium**

As a wave propagates through a medium, the medium experiences zero average velocity. Individual particles that comprise the medium may have instantaneous velocities, but their average velocity will always be zero. In the case of ocean waves, for every particle that is moving upward, there will be another particle moving downward.

Each particle that is moving upward at a given instant, will also be moving downward at some other instant. In ocean waves, every water molecule that rises on a crest will also fall in a trough.