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0.6 Electromagnetic radiation  (Page 2/5)

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Electromagnetic radiation allows us to observe the world around us. It is this radiation which reflects off of the objects around you and into your eye. The radiation your eye is sensitive to is only a small fraction of the total radiation emitted in the physical universe. All of the different fractions taped together make up the electromagnetic spectrum.

Dispersion

When white light is split into its component colours by a prism, you are looking at a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The wavelength of a particular electromagnetic radiation will depend on how it was created.

Wave nature of em radiation

  1. List one source of electromagnetic waves. Hint: consider the spectrum diagram and look at the names we give to different wavelengths.
  2. Explain how an EM wave propagates, with the aid of a diagram.
  3. What is the speed of light? What symbol is used to refer to the speed of light? Does the speed of light change?
  4. Do EM waves need a medium to travel through?

The radiation can take on any wavelength, which means that the spectrum is continuous. Physicists broke down this continuous band into sections. Each section is defined by how the radiation is created, not the wavelength of the radiation. But each category is continuous within the min and max wavelength of that category, meaning there are no wavelengths excluded within some range.

The spectrum is in order of wavelength, with the shortest wavelength at one end and the longest wavelength at the other. The spectrum is then broken down into categories as detailed in [link] .

Electromagnetic spectrum
Category Range of Wavelengths (nm) Range of Frequencies (Hz)
gamma rays < 1 > 3 × 10 19
X-rays 1-10 3 × 10 17 - 3 × 10 19
ultraviolet light 10-400 7 , 5 × 10 14 - 3 × 10 17
visible light 400-700 4 , 3 × 10 14 - 7 , 5 × 10 14
infrared 700- 10 5 3 × 10 12 - 4 , 3 × 10 19
microwave 10 5 - 10 8 3 × 10 9 - 3 × 10 12
radio waves > 10 8 < 3 × 10 9

Since an electromagnetic wave is still a wave, the following equation that you learnt in Grade 10 still applies:

c = f · λ

Calculate the frequency of red light with a wavelength of 4 , 2 × 10 - 7  m

  1. We use the formula: c = f λ to calculate frequency. The speed of light is a constant 3 × 10 8 m/s.

    c = f λ 3 × 10 8 = f × 4 , 2 × 10 - 7 f = 7 , 14 × 10 14 Hz

Ultraviolet radiation has a wavelength of 200 nm . What is the frequency of the radiation?

  1. Recall that all radiation travels at the speed of light ( c ) in vacuum. Since the question does not specify through what type of material the Ultraviolet radiationis traveling, one can assume that it is traveling through a vacuum. We can identify two properties of the radiation - w a v e l e n g t h ( 200 nm ) and speed ( c ).

  2. c = f λ 3 × 10 8 = f × 200 × 10 - 9 f = 1 . 5 × 10 15 Hz

Examples of some uses of electromagnetic waves are shown in [link] .

Uses of EM waves
Category Uses
gamma rays used to kill the bacteria in marshmallows and to sterilise medical equipment
X-rays used to image bone structures
ultraviolet light bees can see into the ultraviolet because flowers stand out more clearly at this frequency
visible light used by humans to observe the world
infrared night vision, heat sensors, laser metal cutting
microwave microwave ovens, radar
radio waves radio, television broadcasts

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Source:  OpenStax, Maths test. OpenStax CNX. Feb 09, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11236/1.2
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