Ripple (physics)

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Ripples on water
Ripples on water

In physics, ripples (also known as capillary waves) are surface waves on a liquid with wavelengths so short that the liquid's motion is governed almost entirely by surface tension forces. The wavelength of a ripple must be less than

\lambda_c = 2 \pi \sqrt{ \frac{\gamma}{\rho g}}

where γ is surface tension and ρ is liquid density. For water, λc = 1.7cm.

In electricity, ripple is the alternating current component from a direct current power supply arising from sources within the power supply. Unless otherwise specified, percent ripple is the ratio of the root mean square value of the ripple voltage to the absolute value of the total voltage.

The ripple voltage can be calculated from the following equations:

Full-wave rectification:

V_\mathrm{r} = \frac{I}{2fC}

Half-wave rectification:

V_\mathrm{r} = \frac{I}{fC}

Where Vr is the ripple voltage, I is the current in the circuit, f is the frequency of the AC-power and C is the capacitance.


[edit] References

N. B. Tufillaro, R. Ramshankar, and J. P. Gollub, Order-disorder transition in capillary ripples, Physical Review Letters 62 (4), 422 (1989).

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