ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION WAVES ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM TERMINOLOGY INFORMATION Radiation

ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION WAVES ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM TERMINOLOGY

INFORMATION • Radiation is a form of energy that is emitted from a source; it is “radiated”. • We are surrounded by radiation. • Radiation moves forward with the characteristics of a WAVE. • The electromagnetic spectrum includes, in order of increasing frequency and decreasing wavelength: – radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, VISIBLE LIGHT, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays.

ELECTROMAGNETISM • The study of electromagnetism deals with how electrically charged particles interact with each other and with magnetic fields. • Field: a region in which each point is affected by a force. • EM radiation is created when an atomic particle, such as an electron, is accelerated by an electric field, causing it to move.

PHOTONS • Bundles of light energy are called photons. • Photons have no mass. • Photons travel in harmonic waves at the fastest speed possible in the universe: – 186, 282 miles per second (299, 792, 458 meters per second) in a vacuum, also known as the speed of light. • The waves have certain characteristics, given as frequency, wavelength or energy. • The energy of the photon is directly proportional to its frequency.

WAVES

MAGNETIC & ELECTRIC FIELDS

E: electric field B: magnetic field v: direction of the moving wave

WAVE DESCRIPTION TERMINOLOGY

SHORT WAVES: notice the wavelength, λ

LONG WAVELENGTH, λ

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM