Electromagnetic Waves

The bets and the most common example of electromagnetic waves are light waves. They do not require a medium of transmission and can, therefore, travel through space or vacuum. Electromagnetic waves cannot occur in the absence of a magnetic wave. For an electromagnetic wave to be formed, there must be the vibration of electric charge. This leads to the formation of the magnetic and the electric components. These two components can be static. For instance, static electricity that holds a balloon to the wall and magnetism found in a refrigerator because of the presence of the magnet. When the two get charged, they move together in the direction of the wave. When moving, they are perpendicular to each other but maintaining the direction of the formed electromagnetic wave.

Propagation of Electromagnetic Waves

Heinrich Hertz and Clerk Maxwell are the two scientists that studied how electromagnetic waves travel and their speed. They deduced that EM waves travel at the speed of light while in a vacuum. When traveling through other mediums, they attain the speed that is lower than that of light because of interference and barriers in the medium. For them to travel through a medium, their energy has to be absorbed by the atom of the medium. The absorbed energy leads to the excitement of the atoms of the atoms in the medium and they vibrate. After a short vibration, the energy is converted back to an electromagnetic wave with the same frequency as the first one. The vibrations of the atoms facilitate the movement of the waves through the medium. They only last for a very short period in but delay the wave though in duration that may be hard to notice. The short delays during vibrations cause the delay that result in a lesser speed as compared to the speed of light in a vacuum. The speed will also differ depending on the materials. Materials that have their atoms closely packed have short distances of travel. Different materials also have different delays because of the absorption and emission process.

Wavelength of EM waves

Because the frequency is the same, wavelength of the wave will be determined by the speed in different mediums. The difference in wavelength and speed give the different wave properties and make it possible for different applications. The application will also depend on the material and the above two factors that influence the speed of the electromagnetic waves. The speed of EM waves in a vacuum is 3*108 m/s. The speed should be less than the above figure in other mediums.