Tides Tide Activity Waves E veryone has seen waves on a lake or oceans. Waves are actually energy. Energy, not water, moves across the ocean's surface.
Water particiles only travel in a small circle as a wave passes.
The best way to understand waves as energy is to think of a long rope laid on the ground. That means that energy is applied at one end and it moves to the other end. The energy is released at the other end of the rope, just as the energy of waves is releases on shores. In the case of ocean waves, wind provides the energy. Wind causes waves that travel in the ocean.