| MadSci Network: Physics |
No. When a wave passing through one medium strikes the surface of another, one of three things can happen: absorbtion, transmission, or reflection. Refraction is just a special sort of transmission where the direction the wave is travelling changes slightly as it goes through. When absorbtion happens, the energy of the wave is turned into heat or some other form via friction, resistance, or other types of dissipation. When transmission/refraction happens, the energy in the wave continues straight through the material and out the other side.
While the wave's energy is "inside the barrier" (to use your phrasing) in both cases, for absorbtion it's been turned into non-wave form, while for refraction the energy stays in the wave.
Simplest example: consider a light wave in air which strikes a piece of glass. Almost all goes right through and out the other side. But a light wave which strikes black paper or thick smoked glass will be absorbed (suddenly for black paper, gradually for smoked glass) and none will come out the other side. The paper or glass becomes warm as the light energy is turned into heat.
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