Eli5 Wasted Energy

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The term wasted energy like the sound energy from the hair dryer is wasted energy and thermal energy from using the phone for too long
So if we aren’t benefiting from this Wasted Energy
How this comply with the law of conservation of energy
Where does the sound energy go does it convert to other forms or it disappears

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6 Answers

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Wasted energy, in the end, becomes thermal. Thermal energy is the energy associated with temperature. It is the energy of random motions of molecules.

The hair dryer and phone get hot, and this heat dissipates into the air, warming it just a little bit. The air particles move just a little bit faster. No energy disappeared, but it becomes less useful, because there is no way of using a warm gas on its own to to useful work.

The energy of sound, the energy of motion, all go to the same place. Sound energy spreads out and becomes less intense until it becomes indistinguishable from the random motions of molecules. When an object stops due to friction, the surfaces along which it experienced friction heats up, and this also dissipates into the air, the ground, and the object.

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