Imagine you are in a rowboat. Waves are splashing at the sides of the boat. If two identical waves hit the boat at the same time from opposite sides, explain what will happen to the boat and why.

Question

btaylor · Answer

It will get wet, and you will too. Why? Because it is water, and water makes you wet.

Seriously:
The forces will probably force the boat up, because of the curved hull. Unless the waves are going really fast, and then the boat might collapse.

PS this probably belongs in the Physics group

anonymous · Answer

That is not possible.  Waves do not appear in isolation, like particles, but only as part of a long train.  For something as small as a rowboat, the two waves that hit the front and the back would have to be part of the same wave train, and hence traveling in the same direction.