The next day, the Yamato was engaged with the U.S. Naval Fleet and its extensive carrier support. Within two hours, the Yamato foundered and began to sink. The underlying principle of the instruments used in the search and recovery expeditions is ultrasound, sound waves sent out to the ocean floor and then received after they bounce back off the floor. Learn about the basics of ultrasound as used for visualizing the ocean floor and for examining in-utero fetuses in the Physics Explorer activity Ultrasound . Once the ultrasound transmitter has received a return sound wave, it must be translated into an image, much like the eye translates light waves into images.
Ultrasound waves have a wavelength of several millimeters.
The projects section of this site is still under development, but the Still Photography sections of the different expeditions have some interesting photos, including actual sonograms of the ocean floor. One of the most common uses of ultrasound is in medicine. Some students may have personal experience with ultrasound exams. Below are some discussions of both medical and non-medical applications of ultrasound. Students who would like to explore other types of medical imagery can find a list of kinds of exams.