In active Transport, a substance moves from a region of low concentration to a region of high concentration by using the energy provided by proteins.
A very known example of active transport in human body is the movement of potassium into the cell and sodium out of the cell by sodium potassium pump which paves the way for movement of sodium and potassium against the concentration gradient.
Thus, it is the active transport process that requires the cell to move particles from low concentration to high concentration.
The difference is that electromagnetic waves can travel through the vacuum of space but however mechanical waves only travel through air and solid materials
