Unlike [[soliton]]s (another kind of nonlinear wave), the energy of a shock wave dissipates relatively quickly with distance. Also, the accompanying expansion wave approaches and eventually merges with the shock wave, partially cancelling it out. Thus the [[sonic boom]] associated with the passage of a supersonic aircraft is the sound wave resulting from the degradation and merging of the shock wave and the expansion wave produced by the aircraft.
When a shock wave passes through matter, the total energy is preserved but the energy which can be extracted as work decreases and the entropy increases. This, for example, creates additional [[wave drag|drag]] force on aircraft with shocks.
Shock waves can also travel through [[solid]]s, or in some cases in the absence of a material medium, through a [[field (physics)|field]] such as an [[electromagnetic field]].{{fact|date=November 2014}}
