Answer to Question #154575 in Physics for The Skinniest Jackson

Question

A sound wave will not travel forever. What happens to the amplitude and wavelength if no energy is supplied to it?

What form of energy is the energy transferred into?

Answer 1

From the Stokes's law of sound attenuation the amplitude of a plane wave decreases exponentially with distance traveled.

When sound propagates in such media, there is always thermal consumption of energy caused by viscosity.