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What may be lost when waves travel through matter, but not when they travel through space?

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energy

As you can see in the Figure above , the electric and magnetic fields that make up an electromagnetic wave are perpendicular  at right angles  to each other. Both fields are also perpendicular to the direction that the wave travels. Therefore, an electromagnetic wave is a transverse wave. However, unlike a mechanical transverse wave, which can only travel through matter, an electromagnetic transverse wave can travel through empty space. When waves travel through matter, they lose some energy to the matter as they pass through it. But when waves travel through space, no energy is lost. Therefore, electromagnetic waves dont get weaker as they travel. However, the energy is diluted as it travels farther from its source because it spreads out over an ever-larger area.

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