Lesson 1: Forms of EM Waves a tiny particle that comprises waves of electromagnetic

radiation
Thomas Young
Radio waves – photons with lowest energy.
- His double-slit interference experiment
provided the first experimental evidence for a Gamma rays – photons having the most energy.
wave theory of light. - EM waves have frequencies measured in cycles
- The double-slit experiment clearly demonstrate per second or hertz (Hz)
the ways in which the particles interfere with
each other as the electrons pass through the
slits and spread out in waves
 Dots
 Severation
 Slits
 Spread out

Electrons pass through the slit.

Isaac Newton – study of light.

James Clerk Maxwell
- He provided a convincing wave description of
light and of other forms of electromagnetic
radiation
- An EM wave is an electrical and magnetic
disturbance that moves through space at the
speed of light.
- Father of Theory of Electromagnetism
Speed of vacuum: (3x108 m/s)
Electromagnetic Waves
- The waves differ from each other in their
frequency and wavelength.
- The waves are similar in that they all move at
the speed of light and consist of moving electric
and magnetic fields.
- This shows an EM wave as an electrical and
magnetic disturbance that moves through
space at the speed of light.
- The oscillating electric and magnetic fields are
perpendicular to the direction in which the
waves move.
- This makes EM waves transverse waves.
- Also known as electromagnetic radiation, EM
arranged in an electromagnetic spectrum
based on their:
 Frequency (f)
 Wavelength (λ)
 photon energy (E) – bundle of energy.
- These oscillations may occur at very low
frequency or at an extremely high frequency.
Electromagnetic Spectrum
- The entire range of frequencies.
- Frequency in a scheme.
- It extends from the longest wavelengths of
radio waves up to the highest frequencies of
gamma rays.
- This arrangement strengthen the inverse
relationships between frequency and
wavelength, wavelength and energy, and direct
relationship between frequency and energy.
Each type of wave occupies a particular range of
wavelengths known as band.
TYPES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
1. Radio waves
2. Microwaves
3. Infrared
4. Visible Light
5. Ultraviolet Light
6. X-rays
7. Gamma rays
Same characteristic: Not requiring any medium to
propagate the energy. The waves differ in the way they
are produced and interact with matter and from each
other in their frequency and wavelength.
Frequency
- It is the number of complete vibrations per
second of the field at a point along the path of
the passing wave..
- The number of waves.
Wavelength
- Depends on its frequency and speed.
- In vacuum, the wavelength of all EM waves is
given by the mathematical relationship λ=c/f
- From the Wave Speed Equation c= λf
Where the wave speed, c, equals 3.0 x 108 m/s
Radio Wave
- Lower frequencies than microwave
- Longest wavelength
- Waves that can be longer than a football firld
or as short as a football.
FM – around NCR; you can’t hear
- Poor in localities
AM – mas malayo ang naririnig and nadedetect
- Loud and clear
Microwave
- The microwave region extends from 1,000 to
300,000 MHz (or 30 cm to 1 mm wavelength)
Infared
- Invisible to the eye, it can be detected as a
sensation of warmth on the skin.
- The infrared range is usually divided into three
regions:
1. near infrared (nearest the visible
spectrum), with wavelengths 0.78 to about
2.5 micrometers (a micrometer, or micron,
is 10-6 meter);
2. middle infrared, with wavelengths 2.5 to
about 50 micrometers;
3. and far infrared, with wavelengths 50 to
1,000 micrometers.
Sir William Herschel in 1800 discovered the existence
of infared by passing sulight through prism.
Visible Light
- It has frequencies of about 4 × 1014 to 8 ×
1014 cycles per second, or hertz (Hz) and
wavelengths of about 740 nanometers (nm) or
2.9 × 10−5 inches, to 380 nm (1.5 ×
10−5 inches).
Ultraviolet
- In Physics, ultraviolet radiation is traditionally
divided into four regions:
 near (400–300 nm),
 middle (300–200 nm),
 far (200–100 nm),
 and extreme (below 100 nm).
Non-ionizing radiation – Refers to any type of EM
radiation that does not carry enough energy per
quantum to ionize atoms or molecules- that is to
completely remove an electron from an atom or
molecule.
Based on the interaction of wavelengths of
ultraviolet radiation with biological materials, three
divisions have been designated:
 UVA (400–315 nm), also called black light;
 UVB (315–280 nm), responsible for the
radiation’s best-known effects on
organisms; (sunburn)
 and UVC (280–100 nm), which does not
reach Earth’s surface. (does not reach earth
and most dangerous)
X-Ray
- Electromagnetic radiation of extremely
short wavelength and high frequency, with
wavelengths ranging from about 10−8 to
10−12 metre and corresponding frequencies
from about 1016 to 1020 hertz (Hz).
WAVE SPEED EQUATION Combining this information with the equation for speed

Wave - Is produced when a vibrating source

(speed = distance/time),
periodically disturbs the first particle of a medium. This
it can be said that the speed of a wave is also the
creates a wave pattern that begins to travel along the
wavelength/period.
medium from particle to particle.
Properties of Wave

Amplitude – Wave is an energy transport phenomenon.

Amplitude is the height of the wave, usually measured
in meters. It is directly related to the amount of energy
carried by a wave.
Wavelength – The distance between identical points in
the adjacent cycles of crests of a wave is called a
wavelength. It is also measured in meters.
Period – The period of a wave is the time for a particle
on a medium to make one complete vibrational cycle.
As the period is time, hence is measured in units of
time such as seconds or minutes.
Frequency – Frequency of a wave is the number of
waves passing a point in a certain time. The unit of
frequency is hertz (Hz) which is equal to one wave per
second.

The diagrams at the right show several

"snapshots" of the production of a
wave within a rope. The motion of the
disturbance along the medium after
every one-fourth of a period is
depicted.

Observe that in the time it takes from

the first to the last snapshot, the hand has made one
complete back-and-forth motion. A period has elapsed.

Observe that during this same amount of time, the

leading edge of the disturbance has moved a distance
equal to one complete wavelength. So in a time of one
period, the wave has moved a distance of one
wavelength.