Question

What happens when a mechanical wave travels through a medium?Analyzing Mechanical Waves and Energy. As a mechanical wave travels through a medium, its amplitude can decrease due to the wave being spread across more matter and energy being transformed into other forms. Select all statements that describe why a wave's amplitude might decrease as it moves through a medium.

Answer 1

The amplitude of a wave can be decreased because of the second law of thermodynamics and/or the differences of the propagation medium.

Step-by-step explanation:

The wave is formed by a transference of kinetic energy between particles in a fluid state. Different medium has different inertia. When a shock wave travels through the water it has a different velocity when the same energy is dissipated as a wave in the air. The lower the inertia of the medium the bigger is the amplitude and vice-versa.

Another way that wave's amplitude might decrease as it moves through a medium is because of energy losses accordingly to the second law of thermodynamics. That means, when a part of a closed system interacts with another part, the energy tends to divide evenly, until the system reaches a thermodynamic balance.