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The question asks for the source and may mean the energy source that generates the waves. Alternatively, the question may be asking how waves can be a source of energy. In the first case, energy goes into the wave and in the second case energy comes out of the wave.

Briefly, waves are the regular repetition of an action, which may be vertical rise and fall of water as in water waves or compression and rarefaction of air as in sound waves or regular variations in electromagnetic fields as in light or radio waves. In all these cases, waves also move which is another characteristic. (To get technical, there are also standing waves but such waves may be taken to be two counter moving waves.)

Physical waves are generated when the medium in which they exist is caused to move by some source of energy. A vibrating drum head makes a sound wave. The wind makes water waves. In the case of electromagnetic waves, the source of the fields, i.e. charges and currents, move in a regular way to generate the waves. The "source" of energy is the the energy that goes into moving the medium, e.g. the wind or mechanical motion of the drum membrane or the causative forces that move charges and currents in electromagnetic waves. In these cases, energy comes from the "source" to create the wave.

To have a wave act as an energy "source", or to get energy out of a wave, you have to have the waving or oscillating material exerting a force on something else. Clearly, water waves may exert a buoyant force on a floating object, for instance, and that floating object as it moves up and down may exert a force and thereby do work and so act as an energy source. The same applies to sound, but the pressure waves are typically going to create movement over very small, perhaps micron scales, so mechanical work is less obvious. Perhaps more obvious would be sound causing an object to vibrate and that vibration being converted into heat energy. In the case of electromagnetic waves, the microwave oven actually heats objects by having the electromagnetic waves act on charges in atoms and molecules which then physically move and vibrate and that motion is heat.

In summary, there are many kinds of waves and to create a wave there must be an energy source. The waves then contain that energy and the energy can be extracted from the wave thereby diminishing the wave.

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What give waves it energy?

Waves get their energy from a source that causes disturbances or vibrations. This source could be wind, seismic activity, or the movement of objects in water. The energy is transferred through the medium in which the waves are traveling, leading to the propagation of waves.


How can waves be used as a energy source?

Waves can be used as an energy source by capturing the kinetic energy in the motion of the waves and converting it into electricity through wave energy converters. These devices typically use the up and down motion of the waves to drive a turbine or generator, which then produces electricity. Wave energy is a renewable and sustainable source of energy with the potential to provide clean power to coastal regions.


What is the immediate energy source for most waves on the ocean surface What type of energy is transferred from this source to the surface waters?

The immediate energy source for most waves on the ocean surface is wind. Wind transfers its kinetic energy to the ocean surface waters, causing them to generate waves through frictional interaction.


What forms when a source of energy causes a medium to vibrate?

When a source of energy causes a medium to vibrate, it creates sound waves. Sound waves are mechanical waves that travel through a medium by causing the particles of the medium to vibrate and transfer energy in the form of sound.


What type of waves mkove energy forward but the source moves up and down?

Transverse waves move energy forward while the source moves up and down. This type of wave consists of oscillations perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer. Examples of transverse waves include electromagnetic waves and light waves.

Related Questions

Are waves a source of energy?

waves is not a source of energy


What is the source of energy for a sound wave?

The source of energy for sound waves are vibrations.


What is a source of energy for a sound wave?

The source of energy for sound waves are vibrations.


What is required as a source of waves?

energy


What give waves it energy?

Waves get their energy from a source that causes disturbances or vibrations. This source could be wind, seismic activity, or the movement of objects in water. The energy is transferred through the medium in which the waves are traveling, leading to the propagation of waves.


What is the energy source in ocean waves?

wind


How can waves be used as a energy source?

Waves can be used as an energy source by capturing the kinetic energy in the motion of the waves and converting it into electricity through wave energy converters. These devices typically use the up and down motion of the waves to drive a turbine or generator, which then produces electricity. Wave energy is a renewable and sustainable source of energy with the potential to provide clean power to coastal regions.


What is the energy source for sound waves?

That varies, depending on what causes the sound waves.


What is the immediate energy source for most waves on the ocean surface What type of energy is transferred from this source to the surface waters?

The immediate energy source for most waves on the ocean surface is wind. Wind transfers its kinetic energy to the ocean surface waters, causing them to generate waves through frictional interaction.


What forms when a source of energy causes a medium to vibrate?

When a source of energy causes a medium to vibrate, it creates sound waves. Sound waves are mechanical waves that travel through a medium by causing the particles of the medium to vibrate and transfer energy in the form of sound.


What type of waves mkove energy forward but the source moves up and down?

Transverse waves move energy forward while the source moves up and down. This type of wave consists of oscillations perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer. Examples of transverse waves include electromagnetic waves and light waves.


What happens to the energy in waves as they get further from the source?

The energy in waves decreases as they travel further from the source due to spreading out over a larger area. This process is known as wave attenuation or wave dissipation. As a result, the intensity and amplitude of the waves decrease with distance from the source.