Editing Dissipation (section)

== Examples ==

=== In hydraulic engineering ===
Dissipation is the process of converting mechanical energy of downward-flowing water into thermal and acoustical energy. Various devices are designed in stream beds to reduce the kinetic energy of flowing waters to reduce their [[erosion|erosive potential]] on banks and [[stream bed|river bottoms]]. Very often, these devices look like small [[waterfall]]s or [[waterfall#Types|cascades]], where water flows vertically or over [[riprap]] to lose some of its [[kinetic energy]].

=== Irreversible processes ===
Important examples of irreversible processes are: 
# Heat flow through a thermal resistance
# Fluid flow through a flow resistance
# Diffusion (mixing)
# Chemical reactions<ref>Glansdorff, P., [[Ilya Prigogine|Prigogine, I.]] (1971). ''Thermodynamic Theory of Structure, Stability, and Fluctuations'', Wiley-Interscience, London, 1971, {{ISBN|0-471-30280-5}}, p. 61.</ref><ref>Eu, B.C. (1998). ''Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics: Ensemble Method'', Kluwer Academic Publications, Dordrecht, {{ISBN|0-7923-4980-6}}, p. 49,</ref>
# Electrical current flow through an electrical resistance ([[Joule heating]]).

=== Waves or oscillations ===
[[Wave]]s or [[oscillation]]s, lose [[energy]] over [[time]], typically from [[friction]] or [[turbulence]]. In many cases, the "lost" energy raises the [[temperature]] of the system. For example, a [[wave]] that loses [[amplitude]] is said to dissipate. The precise nature of the effects depends on the nature of the wave: an [[atmospheric wave]], for instance, may dissipate close to the surface due to [[friction]] with the land mass, and at higher levels due to [[radiative cooling]].