SCIENCE REVIEWER: FOR THE BOBO EDITION

By: Joepete Vega

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND THE EM SPECTRUM
 1803 THOMAS YOUNG DOUBLE-SLIT INTERFERENCE EXPERIMENT-
provided first experimental evidence of wave theory of light

 1860’s and 1870’s JAMES CLARK MAXWELL- provided a convincing wave

description of light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation

 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE- an electrical and magnetic disturbance that

moves through space at the speed of light (c= 3.0 x 108 m/s)

 Various forms include Radio waves, Microwaves, Infrared waves, Light waves,
Ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, Gamma rays
- Although they seem different from one another, all of them exhibit the same
characteristic: NOT REQUIRING ANY MEDIUM TO PROPAGATE THE
ENERGY
 The waves differ from each other in their frequency and wavelength and the way
they are produced and interact with matter.
- They all move at the speed of light
- Consist of moving electric and magnetic fields

 As the field near the antenna oscillates up and down in phase with the oscillating
charge distribution on the antenna, the elctric field created at earlier time
intervals moves away from the antenna at the speed of light.
- As the electric charge continues to oscillate, the waves grow longer and the
whole pattern continues to move away from the antenna at the speed of light.

 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE- combined field of electric and magnentic nature

- Produced by the oscillating charge on the antenna
- Fields are perpendicular to each other
- Perpendicular to the direction in which the wave moves.

 Electricity and magnetism can both be static.

- But when they change or move together, they produce a wave known as EM
wave, a combination of electric and magnetic fields. ;
- Arranged in an ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM based on their frequency,
wavelength, and photon energy.
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 Directions of the electric and magnetic fields at a point in space would alternate
back and forth.
 The wavelength of an EM wave depends on its frequency and speed.
 The different types of EM waves move at about the same speed in the air but at
at different speeds in other media
- Classified by frequency in a scheme called the ELECTROMAGNETIC
SPECTRUM
 Extends from the longest wavelengths of radio waves up to the high frequency of gamma rays.
- STRENGTHENS 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 wavelength known as a BAND.
 INFRARED WAVES – produced by molecular vibrations
 RADIO WAVES – produced by charges vibrating back and forth and in antennas.
 LOW RADIO FREQUENCY REGION- consist of waves mostly for communication
 MICROWAVE- used for radar tracking, radio navigation, communications, medical diathermy,
heating in microwave ovens, drying, and other industrial purposes.
 INFRARED PORTION- emitted and absorbed because of the vibrations of atoms and
molecules.
- Sometimes called HEAT or THERMAL RADIATION
 The portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that involves visible light waves start with red light
anad ends with violet light.
 LIGHT WAVES - caused by the motion of electrons in atoms as they jump between different orbits.
- Ultraviolet radiation and X-rays are also produced by the motion of electrons in atoms.

PRACTICAL USES OF THE EM SPECTRUM

 The EM Spectrum is radiation energy that travels and spreads out as it goes
- Hotter, more energetic objects and events create higher energy radiation than cool objects.
- Extremely hot objects and particles moving at very high velocities create high energy
radiation (X-rays, Gamma rays)
 EM Radiation – described in terms of a stream of particles, each traveling in a wave-like pattern
 Each particle contains a bundle of energy called a PHOTON
- Differenece between various types of electromagnetic radiation is the amount of energy
found in the photons.
 Radio Waves – have photons with the lowest energies
- Energies increase accross the spectrum with GAMMA RAYS having the most.

RADIO WAVES
- Have the longest wavelength is the elctromagnetic spectrum
 - Have wavelengths that range from less than a centimeter to tens or
even hundreds of meters.
AM Bands
 Have longer wavelength
(ranging from 180-550
meters)
 The wavelength readily
bends around buildings
and other objects
present in their path
FM Bands
 Radio waves are short
(ranging from 2.8-3.4
meters).
 Have short wavelength
compared to objects
that may obstruct
them.
 FM reception is often
poor in localities where
AM radio waves come
in loud and clear.

 RADIO FREQUENCY- a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3KHz to

300Ghz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating
currents that carry radio signals.

RADIO SPECTRUM: DIFFERENT TYPES OF RADIO WAVES AND THEIR

APPLICATION
 EXTREMELY LOW FREQUENCIES (ELFs)
- AC power line frequencies
- Frequencies in low end of human hearing range
 VOICE FREQUENCIES (VFs)
- Normal range of human speech
 VERY LOW FREQUENCIES (VLFs) – myriameter band
- Radio navigation
 LOW FREQUENCIES (LFs)- kilomter band
- Radio communication
- Aircraft beacon
- Weather systems
 MEDIUM FREQUENCIES (MFs) – hectometer band
- Radio communication (Amplified Modulation or AM radio
broadcasting)
- Non-directional navigational radio beacons
 HIGH FREQUENCIES (HFs) – decameter band
- Radio communication (AM radio broadcasting)
 VERY HIGH FREQUENCIES (VHFs)
- Radio Communication (Frequency Modulation or FM radio and tv
broadcasting)
- Marine communication
- Air Traffic control
- Land mobile stations
 ULTRA HIGH FREQUENCIES (UHFs) – decimeter band
- Radio communicatio (TV broadcasting)

 SUPER HIGH FREQUENCIES (SHFs) – centimeter band

- Radio and satellite communication
 Transmission and reception of Radio Waves
- Dependent on oscillating charges
 Radio waves encounter the antenna system of a radio receiver
- Small electric oscillations are set up in the antenna in
synchronization with their own vibrations.
 Radio waves began as a wireless telegraphy (during first three decades of radio)
 Samuel Thomas Von Sommering (1809)
- Early experiments in electrical telegraphy
- Electrochemical telegraph
 Sir Charles Wheatstone and sir William Fothergill Cook
- Constructed the first commercial electrical telegraph in England
 Samuel Morse
- Own version of the same technology
 James Clark Maxwell
- Showed mathematically that electromagnetic waves could
propagate thru free space
 Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
- Demonstrated on a laboratory scale, radio wave propagation
- Experimentally generated and detected waves using a spart-gap
apparatus and measured the wave speed.
- It turned out to be exactly the speed of light.
 Nikola Tesla
- Experimented on the transmission and radiation of radio frequency
energy and proposed for the telecommunication of information.
 James Lindsay (1854)
- Demonstrated wireless telegraphy with a 2-mile distance using
water as a transmission medium.
 Adolf Slasby and Georg von Arco
- Developed the Slaby-Arco Wireless System
 Reginald Fessenden (1900)
- Weak transmission of voice over air waves
 Guglielmo Marconi
- First to demonstrate application of radio in commercial, military, and
marine communications
- 1901.Conducted the first successful translantic experimental radio
communications.
 John Logie Baird (Ocvtober 1925)
- Able to obtain moving pictures from a halftone shade (first true
television pictures)
- Mechanical television
- Semi- experimental broadcasts done by the British Broadcasting
Corporation.
 MICROWAVES
- extremely high frequency radio waves
- Very short wavelengths ranging from approximately 1 millimeter to
30 centimeters
- Found between very high frequency (infrared) waves and
conventional radio waves
- Made by various types of transmitters
- TRANSMITTER: electronic device, with aid of antenna produces
radio waves
- Used in telecommunication
- Microwaves: generated by small atenna, Mobile phones: created
small and handy
 - Fixed traffic speed cameras
- RADAR (radio detecting and ranging)
- Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR or ESR) spectroscopy

INFRARED
 Sir William Herschel
- discovered in 1800 the existence of infrared by passing sunlight
through a prism.
- The prism divides sunlight into a rainbow of many colors called a
SPECTRUM.
 SPECTRUM
- Contains all of the colors that make up a sunlight
 Herschel was interested in measuring the amount of heat in each color
- He used thermometers and blackened bulbs
- Measured temperature of different colors of the spectrum
- He noticed that temperature increased from the blue to red part of
the spectrum
- Placed thermometer past red part of spectrumwhere there was no
visible light : temperature was even higher
- He realized that there must be another type of light which we
cannot see in this region, now called INFRARED
- First time someone showed forms of light we cannot see with our
own eyes
 INFRARED
- EM radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light bitch
- Measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.7
micrometers, extending conventionally to 300 micrometers
- Includes most of thermal radiation emitted by objects near room
temperature
- Microscopically, emitted or absorbed by molecules
 NEAR INFARED
- Closest in wavelength to visible light
- Not hot at all
- Example: infrared used in tv remote controls
 FAR INFRARED
- Thermal
- Can be experienced in the form of heat
- Example: sunlight, fire, radiator
 INFRARED RADIATION
- Used to remotely determine temperature of objects (if emissivity is
known) = process is called THERMOGRAPHY OR PYROMETRY
 VISIBLE LIGHT
- Portion of EM Radiation that is visible to human eye
- Light Waves are given off by anything that’s hot enough to glow
- We see light waves as colors of the rainbow, each color has a
different wavelength
- Red: longest wavelength, Violet: shortest wavelength
- When all waves are seen together they make up WHITE LIGHT
- Wavelength range from about 380 or 400 nanometers to 760/780
 ULTRAVIOLET
- EM Radiation with a wavelength shorter tahn that of visible light,
but longer than X-rays
- Consists of electromagnetic waves with frequencies higher than
those that humans identify as color violet
- Produced by high temperature surfaces such as the sun
- Most UV is classified as NON-IONIZING RADIATION
 Refers to any type of electromagnetic radiation that does not
carry enough energy per quantum to ionize atoms or
moleculecules ( to completely remove an electron from an
atom/molecule)
- Used to prevent counterfeits (sensitive documents add UV
watermarks only seen under a UV light)
- Also helpful in crime scenes: locating blood, semen, saliva
- Too much exposure may lead to skin cancer, melanoma, eye
problems such as photokeratitis, sunburn of cornea
 X- RAYS
- High energy waves which have great penetrating power
- Used extensively in medicall applications and in inspecting welds.
- X- radiation is also called RONTGEN RADIATION, after WILHELM
CONRAD RONTGEN
 Generally credited as its discoverer
 Named it such to signify an uknown type of radiation
- Used in medical facilities to image broken bones
- With technique called computer-assisted tomography, a section of
humn body can be imaged using X-rays and computer tech.
- Used in baggage scanners at the airport
- Overxposure to X-rays may lead to cancer such as luekemia.
- Have also introduced Radiotherapy
 medical procedure that is often used in chemotherapy: uses
very high frequency X-rays to destroy cancer cells.
 GAMMA RAYS
- Generated by radioactive atoms and in nuclear explosions
- Used in many medical applications
- More penetrating than X-rays
- Used in taking images of the universe
 Have yielded important information on the life and death of
stars, and other violent processes
- Used to treat some types of cancer
- GAMMA - KNIFE SURGERY
 Concentrated beams of gamma rays are directed on the
growth of cancer in order to kill the cancerous cells.
 Beams are aimed to focus the radiation on the growth while
minimizing damage to surrounding tissues.
TYPES OF EM WAVES AND THEIR USES
RADIO WAVES Radio, television, mobile
phones, magnetic
resonance imagery (MRI)

MICROWAVES Cooking, long-distance

communication, radar,
terrain mapping

INFRARED Heating and drying, night

vision cameras, remote
controls, satellite remote
sensing

VISIBLE LIGHT What the typical eye and

film can see

ULTRAVIOLET Photochemicals,
photoelectric effects,
hardening casts in
medicine

X-RAYS Medicine, crystallography,

astrophysics, remote
sensing

GAMMA RAYS Nuclear research,

geophysics, mineral
exploration