Unpublished paper, 'On waves in liquids' by W J [William John] Macquorn Rankine

Description

Rankine states that 'it has long been known that in an uniform canal filled with liquid, the speed of advance of a wave in which the horizontal component of the disturbance is uniform from surface to bottom is equal to the velocity acquired by a heavy body in falling through half the depth of the canal. But, so far as I know, it has not hitherto been pointed out that a similar law exists for waves transmitting a disturbance of any possible kind in a liquid of limited or unlimited depth, provided only that the upper surface of the liquid is a surface of uniform pressure. The object of this paper is to demonstrate that law, and to show some of its applications.'

Annotations in ink throughout. Marked on front as 'Archives July 2/68'.

Subject: Physics / Mathematics

Received 16 April 1868. Read 7 May 1868.

Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 16 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'On waves in liquids'.

Reference number

AP/50/13

Earliest possible date

1868

Physical description

Ink on paper

Page extent

20 pages

Format

Manuscript