For me, the best example of art and science coming together is the ripple effect water creates when a rock is thrown into it. This thought came to me after playing rock skipping with my friends last weekend. I grew up doing the same with my cousins, and I remember being mesmerized by how the water looked as each stone skipped across the surface. Watching the ripples spread outward—each one fading as the stone moved farther—was both beautiful and calming.
Back then, I only appreciated it for its aesthetics, but now I’ve started thinking more about the science behind it. I learned that ripples form because of energy transfer through the fluid: a disturbance at one point sends waves propagating outward. This happens as the fluid’s molecules oscillate up and down, pulling neighboring molecules along in a chain reaction. Knowing this makes the phenomenon even more fascinating to me, because it reveals how something so simple and serene is also a complex interplay of physics.
For me, skipping rocks has always felt calming and satisfying, and I realize now that the ripples play a big role in that—bridging the beauty of art with the elegance of science.
Photo by: Andrew Lloyd
Links:
Photo/Site : https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-men-simply-love-throwing-rocks-into-water/
