Ask AI: Give an example of what is meant by the statement Waves transit energy but not matter

Waves transfer energy without moving the matter of the medium through which they travel. An example of this is a water wave in a still pond. If you throw a stone into the pond, you'll observe circular ripples moving outward from the point where the rock landed. In this case, the water waves are transferring energy from the impact of the stone to the other parts of the pond. As the ripples move outward, the individual water molecules that make up the wave are not actually moving along with the wave. Instead, they simply move up and down or back and forth in place, transferring the energy from one molecule to another. Thus, the statement "Waves transit energy but not matter" means that while the energy of the impact is propagated in the form of waves through the water, the water molecules themselves stay essentially in the same location, and no significant movement of matter occurs.