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May 18, 2013
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P&S WAVES!!!!!
We spent quite a while learning about earthquakes. There is a lot more about earthquakes then just the ground shaking. There are actually 2 types of earthquake waves, and they each have their own characteristics. First, there are the fastest: Primary waves (P waves). These waves of energy compact and expand the earth. They can also move through water. Have you ever squished a slinky and pulled it apart again? Those are the P waves. Then there are the slower waves: Secondary waves (S waves). These shake the earth back and forth. However, these waves won't go through water. They just disappear! They need those solid links to transfer their energy. So to tie that into Earth Science, we learned that the S waves won't go through the liquid outer core, but the P waves will (they go slower through liquid than they do in solids). That's how scientists know about the core (the outside is liquid and the inside is solid).
Article posted June 9, 2009 at 08:55 PM •
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