Station One:

Wavelength and Frequency

Electromagnetic radiation travels in
waves. What are waves though? Waves
are regular patterns of motion created by
a vibrational disturbance. A wave can
move through matter (such as sound).
Some waves can move through a vacuum
(no air to travel through).
Electromagnetic waves do not
require any air to travel
through. A wave transfers
energy as it moves from one
place to another. All
electromagnetic radiation
moves at the speed of light:
3.00 x 10⁸ m/s.

There are two important properties of

waves that we need to understand:
wavelength and frequency. Wavelength
is the distance between the crests
(tops) of two waves.
The frequency of a wave is the number
of waves that pass through a given
point in a given amount of time.

The smaller the distance between

waves, the larger the frequency. The
larger the distance between waves,
the smaller the frequency.
 Station Two:
Radio Waves, Microwaves, and
Infrared Waves
At the bottom of the
electromagnetic spectrum, there are
radio waves, microwaves, and
infrared waves. Radio waves have
the largest wavelength and the
lowest frequency. Since radio waves,
microwaves, and infrared waves
have such low frequency, they are of
no harm to humans.
Microwaves are the types of waves that you
use to heat up your food probably every day.
They have a frequency of
3 x 10⁹ Hz to 3 x 10¹² Hz and a wavelength of
0.001 meter to 1 meter.
Have you ever wondered how these
microwaves work? Microwaves operate at a
frequency that rotates water molecules. When
you turn on the microwave, the microwave
shoots microwaves at your food. The
microwaves rotate the water inside the food
which heats it up!
Radio stations use radio waves to
broadcast every day. The “channel”
that you tune to in your car stands
for 98.1 Megahertz (MHz) or 98.1 x 106
Hertz which is a frequency! Wireless
internet, cell phone signals, and
AM/FM radio are all examples of radio
waves. Radio waves have frequencies
in the 10,000 meter range to
1,000,000 range.They have a
wavelength of ~1 meter to 1,000
meters
Infrared waves are emitted by anything
that puts off heat. If you have ever
played a video game and have used
“heat vision goggles” to see through
walls, then you have observed this
phenomenon. Infrared waves do not
have enough energy to harm you either.
Snakes and other animals can actually
“sense” infrared waves and it allows
them to capture prey! These waves have
a frequency of
3.0 x 10¹² Hz to 4.3 x 10¹⁵ Hz
and wavelength of 700 nanometers to 1
millimeter.
 Station Three:
Visible Light
Visible light consists of light that
humans can detect with their eyes.
Visible light appears white to us, but
white light actually consists of the
rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, Visible light has a wavelength that is
blue, indigo, and violet (ROY G BIV). shorter than infrared waves, but
Violet has the shortest wavelength longer than ultraviolet light. Each
while red has the longest color has its own wavelength (the
wavelength. distance between two crests of a
wave). These waves range from 700
nanometers (red) to 380 nanometers
(violet). The frequency also cahanges
based on the color. It can be 4.3 x 10¹⁵
Hz to 7.9 x 10¹⁵ Hz

When we see colors, the color that we

are seeing is actually the color that is
being reflected! Humans can see colors
using cone-shaped cells in our eyes are
receivers that are tuned in to the
wavelengths in this narrow band of the
spectrum. Other portions of the
electromagnetic spectrum have
frequencies too large or small for us to
perceive.
 Station Four:
Ultraviolet Radiation
Ultraviolet radiation has long been called UV
rays. These are the rays that will give you a
sunburn.
UV-C radiation is the most harmful to
humans, but UV-C radiation is absorbed by a
gas in the upper atmosphere known as
ozone. The frequency is 7.9 x 10¹⁵ Hz to 3.0 x
10¹⁶ Hz.
Banks, stores and restaurants use UV
light to detect fake or counterfeit bills.
Under UV light, the counterfeit bills
appear bright, but the real bills appear
dull.
Humans actually need small amounts
of UV light to stimulate the
production of vitamin D in their skin.
Some people believe that they are not
getting enough vitamin D because
they are not outside enough, so
people buy UV lamps to stimulate the
production of vitamin D in their skin.
The wavelength range is 380
nanometers to 10 nanometers
Sterilizer machines have been created
using UV light to disinfect items. For
example, you can now buy phone
sterilizers online to kill bacteria on your
phone. UV-light has also been used to
disinfect water to prevent bacteria to
make it drinkable by humans.
 Station Five:
X-rays and Gamma Rays

X-Rays and gamma rays are

extremely harmful to humans. They
have frequencies high enough to
harm you and leave you with
permanent damage. X-rays are often
used at doctor’s or dentists’ office to
see your bones. These x-rays are
actually high powered waves (3.0 x
10¹⁶ Hz to 3.0 x 10¹⁸ Hz) that are
produced when electrons rapidly
slow down when they hit metal. They
have a wavelength of 10 nanometers
to 0.01 nanometers
think that they could become the Hulk
Gamma rays are the most harmful
electromagnetic waves with a
frequency greater than 3.0 x 10¹⁸ Hz.
Gamma rays cannot be stopped by
lead or any other material. Gamma
rays are produced by the sun, stars,
and unstable nuclei. Some people
by being hit with a dose of gamma
rays, but the amount that hit him
would have killed him in real life, not
given him super powers.

Nuclear weapons (such as nuclear bombs

and other nuclear warheads) produce
gamma rays which are extremely
dangerous. Gamma rays have extremely
high frequencies and extremely small
wavelengths (Less than 0.01 nanometers)