![]() ![]() We describe them using the photon model - we treat short-wavelength electromagnetic waves as a collection of discrete packets of energy ( photons). Interestingly, these waves in fact have more particle-y than wave-y characteristics. These species of electromagnetic waves behave much as we’d expect “normal” waves to.Īt the short- λ end of the spectrum lie the ultraviolet light ( λ on the order of a couple tens of to a couple hundred nanometers), the x-rays ( λ on the order of a few nanometers to a few hundredths of a nanometer), and the gamma rays ( λ on the order of hundredths of nanometers or less). At the long- λ end of the electromagnetic spectrum we find radio waves ( λ on the order of meters or more), microwaves ( λ on the order of centimeters to millimeters), thermal radiation ( λ on the order of tens of thousands of nanometers), and infrared light ( λ on the order of many hundreds of to thousands of nanometers). We’ll discuss things primarily in terms of λs here. They do this rather quickly: Light waves, and indeed all electromagnetic waves, travel in a vacuum at (unsurprisingly) the speed of light, about 3×10 8 m/s (roughly 186,000 miles per second!).Īll electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed in a vacuum, but they differ widely in wavelength ( λ), and therefore frequency ( f ), since the velocity of a wave is equal to the product of its wavelength and its frequency (see Everything You Need to Know About Oscillations
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