When you FIRST get on a surfboard, you lie flat with your stomach to the board and BALANCE. (1)
Gravity pushes down on your body and the board. You and your board would sink to the bottom of the ocean if it wasn't for buoyancy, which pushes up on the surfboard. A mixture of these two forces pushing equally on the board causes the board to float with a net force of zero.(1) Water molecules are attracted to each other and form surface tension at the surface, which holds a waves shape and keeps your board afloat.(6)
| NEXT you see a wave, and begin to paddle toward it. You do this by, still lying flat on the surfboard, scooping the water and pushing it backwards, which, because of Newtons Law of Action and Reaction, then propels you forwards. (1) Newtons Law of Action and Reaction states that "for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force". (9) |