The Nature

of
Electromag
netic Waves
Transferring
Energy

Waves, such as water waves and

sound waves, transfer energy by making
particles of matter move. The energy is
passed along from particle to particle as
they collide with their neighbors.
Forces and Fields
An electromagnetic wave is
made of two parts—an electric field
and a magnetic field. These fields
are force fields. A force field enables
an object to exert forces on other
objects, even though they are not
touching. Earth is surrounded by a
force field called the gravitational
field. This field exerts the force of
gravity on all objects that have mass
Forces and Fields
What force field surrounds
Earth?
Magnetic Fields

Just as a gravitational field

exerts a force on a mass, a magnetic
field exerts a force on another magnet
and on magnetic materials. Magnetic
fields cause other magnets to line up
along the direction of the magnetic
field.
Electric Fields
Protons and electrons have a
property called electric charge. The
two types of electric charge are ____
and _____. ________ have positive
charge and
________ have negative charge.

Just as a magnet is
surrounded by a magnetic field, a
particle that has electric charge,
The electric field is a force field that
exerts a force on all other charged
particles that are in the field.
 Properties of
Electromagnetic Waves

1. Wavelength
2. Frequency

An electromagnetic wave is produced by a

vibrating charged particle. When the charge makes
one complete vibration, one wavelength is created,
Like a wave on a rope, the frequency of an
electromagnetic wave is the number of wavelengths
that pass by a point in 1 s. This is the same as the
number of times in 1 s that the charged particle
makes one complete vibration.
 Radiant Energy

The energy carried by an electromagnetic

wave is called radiant energy.

The electric field part of the wave exerts a

force on this particle and causes it to move. Some of
the radiant energy carried by the wave is
transferred into the energy of motion of the particle.

The amount of energy that an

electromagnetic wave carries is determined by
the wave’s frequency. The higher the
frequency of the electromagnetic wave, the
more energy it has.
 The Speed of Light.

All electromagnetic waves travel through

space at the same speed— about 300,000 km/s. This
speed sometimes is called the speed of light.
Even though light travels incredibly fast,
stars other than the Sun are so far away that it
takes years for the light they emit to reach Earth.
The Electromagnetic
Spectrum
Radio Waves
• Electromagnetic waves with wavelengths
longer than about 0.001 m.
• have the lowest frequencies of all the
electromagnetic waves and carry the least
energy.
• Television signals, as well as AM and FM
radio signals, are types of radio waves.
• Like all electromagnetic waves, radio
waves are produced by moving charged
particles

Detecting Radio Waves. These radio

waves can cause electrons in another piece
of metal, such as another antenna, to
vibrate. As the electrons in the receiving
antenna vibrate, they form an alternating
current. This alternating current can be
used to produce a picture on a TV screen
and sound from a loudspeaker. Varying the
frequency of the radio waves broadcast by
the transmitting antenna changes the
Microwaves

• Microwaves Radio waves with

wavelengths between about 0.3 m and
0.001 m are called microwaves.
• They have a higher frequency and a
shorter wavelength than the waves that
are used in your home radio.
• Microwaves are used to transmit some
phone calls, especially from cellular and
portable phones.

• Microwave ovens use microwaves to heat

food. Microwaves produced inside a
microwave oven cause water molecules in
your food to vibrate faster, which makes
the food warmer.
Microwaves

• Radar, an acronym for Radio

Detecting And Ranging, uses
electromagnetic waves to detect
objects in the same way.
• Radar was first used during World
War II to detect and warn of
incoming enemy aircraft.

A radar station sends out

radio waves that bounce off an object
such as an airplane. Electronic
equipment measures the time it takes
for the radio waves to travel to the
plane, be reflected, and return.
Because the speed of the radio waves
is known, the distance to the airplane
can be determined from the
measured time.
Infrared

• have wavelengths between about

one thousandth and 0.7 millionths
of a meter.

• Infrared detectors can detect

objects that are warmer or cooler
than their surroundings.
• For example, areas covered with
vegetation, such as forests, tend to
be cooler than their surroundings.
Using infrared detectors on
satellites, the areas covered by
forests and other vegetation, as
well as water, rock, and soil, can
be mapped. Some types of night
vision devices use infrared
detectors that enable objects to be
seen in nearly total darkness.
Infrared

Animals and Infrared Waves

Some animals also can detect
infrared waves. Snakes called pit
vipers, such as the one shown in
Figure 11, have a pit located
between the nostril and the eye that
detects infrared waves. Rattlesnakes,
copperheads, and water moccasins
are pit vipers. These pits help pit
vipers hunt at night by detecting the
infrared waves their prey emits.
Visible Light
• has wavelengths between about 0.7
and 0.4 millionths of a meter.
• What you see as different colors are
electromagnetic waves of different
wavelengths.
• Red light has the longest wavelength
(lowest frequency), and blue light has
the shortest wavelength (highest
frequency).

As the temperature of an object

increases, the atoms and molecules in the
object move faster. The electrons also
vibrate faster, and produce
electromagnetic waves of higher
frequency and shorter wavelength. If the
temperature is high enough, the object
might glow, as in Figure 12. Some of the
electromagnetic waves that the hot object
is emitting are now detectable with your
Ultraviolet radiation

• Ultraviolet radiation is higher in

frequency than visible light and has
even shorter wavelengths—between 0.4
millionths of a meter and about ten
billionths of a meter.
• Ultraviolet radiation has higher
frequencies than visible light and
carries more energy. The radiant
energy carried by an ultraviolet wave
can be enough to damage the large,
fragile molecules that make up living
cells.
• Too much ultraviolet radiation can
damage or kill healthy cells.
Ultraviolet radiation

• Beneficial Uses of UV Radiation A

few minutes of exposure each day to
ultraviolet radiation from the Sun
enables your body to produce the
vitamin D it needs. Most people receive
that amount during normal activity. The
body’s natural defense against too
much ultraviolet radiation is to tan.
However, a tan can be a sign that
overexposure to ultraviolet radiation
has occurred.

• Because ultraviolet radiation can kill

cells, it is used to disinfect surgical
equipment in hospitals.
Ultraviolet radiation

The Ozone Layer Much of the ultraviolet

radiation arriving at Earth is absorbed in
the upper atmosphere by ozone,

Ozone is a molecule that has three oxygen

atoms and is formed high in Earth’s
atmosphere.

Chemical compounds called CFCs, which

are used in air conditioners and
refrigerators, can react with ozone
molecules and break them apart.

Ultraviolet radiation is not the

only type of electromagnetic wave
absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere. Higher
energy waves of X rays and gamma rays
also are absorbed. The atmosphere is
transparent to radio waves and visible
light and partially transparent to infrared
X Rays and Gamma
Rays
Ultraviolet rays can penetrate the top
layer of your skin.
X rays, with an even higher
frequency than ultraviolet rays, have
enough energy to go right through skin
and muscle. A shield made from a dense
metal, such as lead, is required to stop X
rays.

Gamma rays have the highest

frequency and, therefore, carry the most
energy. Gamma rays are the hardest to
stop. They are produced by changes in
the nuclei of atoms. When protons and
neutrons bond together in nuclear fusion
or break apart from each other in nuclear
fission, enormous quantities of energy are
released. Some of this energy is released
as gamma rays.
X Rays and Gamma
Rays

Using High-Energy Electromagnetic

Radiation The fact that X rays can pass
through the human body makes them
useful for medical diagnosis. X rays pass
through the less dense tissues in skin and
other organs. These X rays strike a film,
creating a shadow image of the denser
tissues. X-ray images help doctors detect
injuries and diseases, such as broken
bones and cancer. A CT scanner uses X
rays to produce images of the human
body as if it had been sliced like a loaf of
bread.
X Rays and Gamma
Rays

Using Gamma Rays Although gamma

rays are dangerous, they also have
beneficial uses, just as X rays do. A beam
of gamma rays focused on a cancerous
tumor can kill the tumor. Gamma
radiation also can kill disease-causing
bacteria in food. More than 1,000
Americans die each year from Salmonella
bacteria in poultry and E. coli bacteria in
meat. Although gamma radiation has
been used since 1963 to kill bacteria in
food, this method is not widely used in the
food industry
Use of Electromagnetic
Waves

• Telecommunications
• Using Radio Waves
• Radio Transmission
• Amplitude Modulation
• Frequency Modulation
• Communications Satellites
• The Global Positioning System