Where Does Electromagnetic Energy Go?

mak_phy · Mar 5, 2011

Hi all physics lovers,
please bear with my question as its like a kid wondering about something :)
Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. So when I switch off an electric bulb, there is darkness. So where does the electromagnetic energy go?

Thank you.

beelzebot · Mar 5, 2011

It gets absorbed by objects in the room. The energy goes from electromagnetic waves to being stored in the jiggling of atoms.

Where Does Electromagnetic Energy Go?

Discussion

Undergrad Measured Spectrum of Stopped Wood Organ Pipe Shows ALL Overtones

Graduate Does a moving particle count as a wave?

Undergrad Is Water's Volume Expansion Upon Freezing an Intrinsic Property?

High School Is it safe to fly in a spinning hollow asteroid?

High School The world is not enough

Graduate ZBLAN fiber simulation Matlab

Insights Revisiting the Velocity-Time Function

Insights Remote Operated Gate Control System

Insights AI Enriched Problem Solving

Insights Thinking Outside The Box Versus Knowing What’s In The Box

Insights Why Entangled Photon-Polarization Qubits Violate Bell’s Inequality

Insights Quantum Entanglement is a Kinematic Fact, not a Dynamical Effect

Where Does Electromagnetic Energy Go?

Discussion

Similar threads

How Does Electromagnetic Radiation from Technology Affect Human Health?

Why does electromagnetic induction occur

Graduate Does electromagnetic radiation actually carry kinetic energy?

How Does Electromagnetic Torque Develop in Rotating Electrical Machines?

High School Does Electromagnetic wave qualifies to become a particle?

Undergrad Why does electromagnetic radiation (energy) excite electrons?

High School Does Electromagnetic Radiation Contain Photons?

Undergrad Why does electromagnetic energy only pass through certain hole sizes?

Undergrad How does electromagnetic interference work?

Undergrad Does Electromagnetic radiation travel faster than the speed of light?