Cecil Moore wrote:

Where did I go wrong in the following logic? You have said there is
no energy in those reverse-traveling waves. Waves cannot exist without
energy. Therefore, reflected waves don't exist. Since they don't exist,
they cannot cause standing waves.

You went wrong in the first sentence. That statement is false. The
second sentence is an over-simplification, and is logically dependent
upon the first sentence being true. As a result the third sentence also
has a faulty premise.

73, Jim AC6XG