What are the properties of electromagnetic waves?
1 Answer
Oct 8, 2015
- They are transverse in nature.
- They consist of oscillating electric (E) and magnetic (B) field vectors at right angles to each other and at right angles to the direction of propagation of the wave.
- They can travel through a vacuum.
- They travel at the speed of light in vaccuum,
#c=3xx10^8m//s# - They may be produced by oscillating electric charges or from transition of electrons between different energy levels in an atom.
- The obey the wave equation
#c=f lambda# - They may be arranged in an electromagnetic spectrum in terms of increasing frequency and include radio waves, TV waves, microwaves, infra-red, visible light (including the 7 spectral colours), UV, X-rays and gamma rays.
