[sci.physics] rock in a pond

robert@hpfclp.HP.COM (Robert Heckendorn) (11/10/86)

I am not a physicist.  I was pondering this question and don't know the answer.
If one lets a ball drop it bounces.  Its frequency slowly increasing as the
ball looses energy.  If one tosses a rock into a pond, at the point of
impact the water oscillates up and down.  I assume also at increasing frequency
and decreasing amplitude, yes?  And now for the real question.  If this is so
then I assume that the waves spreading out from the point of impact are at
decreasing distance.  Is this so?  Also, what determines the speed of the waves?
I am real tempted to get a rock, toss it in to a pond, take a picture 
and measure the results.

			-Robert Heckendorn
			hplabs!hpfcla!robert