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where does the energy of a wave go when it splashes on the beach?
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2025
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Into the sand, which it pushes around, causing erosion.
Yes but after? I get that it makes sound, pushes the sand and sends energy back to the open sea, by the energy that goes into the sand, where does it go afterward?
The remaining energy is converted into heat.
Who says it has to go anywhere else? Why can't the energy just exist in the form of eroded sand and heat? If you use a huge amount of force to bend an iron girder (with apologies to Bender) where does that energy go? The iron girder doesn't inevitably spring back and give the energy back. It's just bent. But it also gets hot. That's where the energy goes.
Turning large grains of sand into smaller grains of sand uses energy, which becomes heat in the process. If you put the heat back in, you can eventually melt the sand back together, but this is not a lossless, perfectly reversible process, see: "entropy".
It dissipates into the environment through friction and other resistance forces. Each grain of sand is pressed against the others, the water, rock, or even the air. Those resistances are converted to heat and other forms of energy, which spread out from each particle.
Yeah. But also the opposite...
The entire reason that sand got there in the first place is waves, that's why calm waters don't make a beach.
If there's strong waves it either makes a beach or exposes rocks.
Then waves may eventually pull some back, but it's also still replenishing it.
That's the entire reason just dumping dump truck loads of sand is a band aid.
Also sound, you hear the splash.
Also some of it bounces back, this is the riptide that will carry you out to sea.