Electromagnetic Waves

Waves are the disturbance or oscillations produced in a medium or in space that transfers energy from one place to another. There are different types of waves depending upon the way they propagate and also depending upon the medium requirement for their propagation. Those waves which need medium to traverse are known as mechanical waves while those that do not need any medium are called electromagnetic waves. Also when the direction of propagation of the wave is perpendicular to the direction of disturbance or oscillation, then the waves are called traversal waves while if it is parallel then they are called longitudinal waves.I like to share this Electromagnetic Spectrum Waves with you all through my article.

Definition of Electromagnetic Waves : We Define Electromagnetic Waves as: the waves that are the periodic oscillation of the electric and magnetic field such that the direction of energy transfer is perpendicular to the disturbance.
The electric and magnetic field of the wave are such that they are perpendicular to each other and also they both are perpendicular to the direction of propagation of wave. For example if electric field is in x direction then magnetic field will be either in y direction or z direction so that direction of propagation will be then in z or y direction respectively. This is because EM waves are traverse in nature.

An important feature of EM waves is that they do not need any medium to travel in contrast to mechanical waves. These waves can travel through vacuum. Also they can travel through medium but in that case their speed slows down with the properties of the medium.


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This occurs due to the absorption of energy of EM wave by the atoms of the medium. The speed in a medium depends on the permittivity and permeability of the medium. Speed of Electromagnetic Waves is equal to the speed of light ‘c’ in vacuum which is approximately 3*108 m/s.  in some medium the speed changes as:
v = .
There are different Types of Electromagnetic Waves that exists. Visible light is the only Traveling Electromagnetic Wave that is visible to human eyes. All types of EM waves have different wavelengths and frequency range in which they exist. Representation of all types of EM waves depending on their wavelength and frequency is known as electromagnetic spectrum. Wavelength of electromagnetic spectrum ranges from 10-16 to 108 nm.  The different types of EM waves in EM spectrum are.
Radio waves, micro waves, infrared (IR) waves, visible light, UV or ultraviolet rays, X-rays and gamma rays.