We are all familiar with waves, having seen them in the sea.

To see that they carry energy, think about when waves hit a cliff - the wave is stopped and you hear a big crash, with water flying high into the air. The energy to do this has been carried by the wave.

Just think of the havoc that a tidal wave (or tsunami) can cause. In the picture below the Japanese artist Hokusai has depicted a tsunami seen off the coast of Kanagawa in Japan in the 19th Century. It certainly gives a strong impression of the great power that can be stored in waves. In Japanese tsu means wild and nami means a wave.

A gigantic tsunami in Alaska, on 9th July 1958, was 524 m (1,720 feet) high!!

For waves to heat up the solar atmosphere, we need them to rise up from the Sun's surface and crash into the atmosphere, or corona, where their energy is dumped, heating the gas, just like sea waves crashing onto the shore.