Why does all energy travel in waves?

[DARKSYDE]

i understand what a sine wave is, as well as the hertz. but I am curious as to why all energy travels in a wave and not a straight line.

 

[pallidin]

All energy?
A bullet fired has increased energy. Right?
The bullet does not travel in a sine wave pattern.

Still, I assume you are talking more about things such as photons which, though, most certainly traveling in a straight line(generalized), do indeed have sine-wave components.
An interesting question.

 

[mikelepore]

Generally speaking, waves occur when something has been moved away from an equilibrium position, then some kind of restoring force makes it returns to the equilibrium position, but its inertia makes it overshoot the center and it swings too far in the opposite direction, then it returns toward the center, but overshoots the center again, etc., etc. If this pattern moves along a line and travels, we get a wave.

 

[cragar]

are you talking about the de broglie hypothesis.

 

[dE_logics]

The current in the graph that you see (sine wave) is just a graph of t v/s current or potential...in reality it's just electrons moving in the conductor...that graph does not show any flow...it's just aaa...a graph...you know.

Mechanical waves, for e.g. do not travel in "waves"...I mean unlike the case with light, it moves with compression and rarefactions.