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I have been given a energy head (pressure) in meters for a given tsunami on land. If the tsunami hits a wall 1 meter by 1 meter, is it possible to calculate the height it will reach. I am thinking it is due to the fact that a liquid is incompressible and therefore a given pressure will make the tsunami height rise when it hits the wall to a certain height.

DanielSank
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user50180
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1 Answers1

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a liquid is not perfectly incompressible - see cavitation in fluids. still, i think we can assume that here . we can calculate the maximum possible height reachable. If i assume that the wall is perfectly rigid and it cannot move when the wave hits it, and if i also assume that the wave system is perfectly conservative , i.e: no energy is lost as heat or sound , then there should be no loss in total mechanical energy of the wave K + U . now as tpb261 said, the height reached will be maximum when the potential energy in maximum. so , if we know hte approximate velocity of the waves and by choosing a suitable reference frame , we can calculate the maximum height reachable.

Lelouch
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