A question that I get asked a lot from people that are in the boat design and building business is; “Why Sound Waves Are Used in Sonar?”. In order to understand this question, you must first understand what sound waves are. Sound waves are vibrations of any sort and are produced when a medium such as water or air comes under a rigid force. The force varies depending on the substance that is resisting the force and the speed at which it is traveling.
Waves Are Used in Sonar
The reason why sound waves are used in sonar is so that the instruments we use to detect water and air beneath the boat can precisely pinpoint the location of a vessel with great accuracy Sound Wave Imaging. This allows a boater to quickly locate where a set of twinship sheets, a rudder, or anything else on a boat is located in relation to the hull. Think of it like looking for gold just off the coast of a large city just before dark. If you had the right tools and a detailed map to go by you would probably find it much faster than if you just relied on your instincts.
Final Words
Now the reason that sound waves are used in sonar is so that we can find the objects that they hide behind. Think of an orange tree on top of the ocean and a boat driving through the surf. We have all heard stories about treasure hunters that go looking for shipwrecks only to never find them because they were too far under the water. Sonar is a tool that lets the craftsmen and boaters know exactly where they are located within the body of water. Without this form of sonar, the craftsmen would have no way of knowing where they were going.