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What are Electromagnetic Waves?
 Electromagnetic waves are waves that consist of vibrating electric and magnetic fields.
Like other waves, electromagnetic waves transfer energy from one place to another. The
transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves is called electromagnetic radiation.
 Electromagnetic waves can transfer energy through matter or across empty space.
How an Electromagnetic Wave Begins
 An electromagnetic wave begins when an electrically charged particle vibrates.
 A vibrating charged particle causes the electric field surrounding it to vibrate as well. A
vibrating electric field, in turn, creates a vibrating magnetic field.
 The two types of vibrating fields combine to create an electromagnetic wave.
How an Electromagnetic Wave Travels

 The electric and magnetic fields that make up an electromagnetic wave are perpendicular
(at right angles) to each other.
 Both fields are also perpendicular to the direction that the wave travels. Therefore, an
electromagnetic wave is a transverse wave.
 An electromagnetic transverse wave can travel through empty space. When waves travel
through matter, they lose some energy to the matter as they pass through it. But when
electromagnetic waves travel through space, no energy is lost. Therefore, electromagnetic
waves don’t get weaker as they travel. However, the energy is “diluted” as it travels
farther from its source because it spreads out over an ever-larger area.
What is the EM spectrum?
Electromagnetic (EM) waves are classified by their frequency and wavelength. EM waves with a
high frequency also have a short wavelength. EM waves with a low frequency have a long
wavelength. Energy is directly related to the frequency of a wave. The higher the frequency, the
more energy the wave has.
 Radio waves have a very low frequency and therefore a low energy.
 Gamma rays have a high frequency and high energy.
 Visible light (the part of the EM spectrum that we see) is a very small portion of the EM
spectrum. Red has the lowest frequency and the longest wavelength of the light that
humans can see. Violet light has the highest frequency of visible light.
 EM waves that have a slightly lower frequency than red is called infrared waves. EM
waves with a slightly higher frequency than violet light is called ultraviolet waves.
Electromagnetic Wave Interactions

When electromagnetic waves strike matter, they may interact with it in the same
ways that mechanical waves interact with matter. Electromagnetic waves may:
● Reflect - bounce back from a surface;
● Refract - bend when entering a new medium;
● Diffract - spread out around obstacles or through openings.
● Electromagnetic waves may also be absorbed by matter and converted to other forms of
energy. Microwaves are a familiar example. When microwaves strike
food in a microwave oven, they are absorbed and converted to thermal energy,
which heats the food.
Reflection
Reflection occurs when waves bounce back from a boundary that separates two different
mediums. Reflection can happen with any type of waves, not just sound waves.
Reflected waves have the same speed and frequency as the original waves before they were
reflected. However, the direction of the reflected waves is different. When waves strike an
obstacle head on, the reflected waves bounce straight back in the direction they came from.
When waves strike an obstacle at any other angle, they bounce back at the same angle but in a
different direction. The waves are reflected at the same angle, called the angle of reflection, but
in a different direction. Notice that both angles are measured relative to a line that is
perpendicular to the wall. This line is called the normal line.
Refraction
Refraction occurs when waves bend as they enter a new medium at an angle. Light bends when it
passes from air to water or from water to air.
Waves bend as they enter a new medium because they start traveling at a different speed in the
new medium. For example, light travels more slowly in water than in air. This causes it to refract
when it passes from air to water or from water to air.
Diffraction
 Sound waves spread out and travel around obstacles. This is called diffraction.
 It also occurs when waves pass through an opening in an obstacle.
Interference
 Interference is a phenomenon in which two waves combine by adding their

displacement together at every single point in space and time, to form a resultant
wave of greater, lower, or the same amplitude. Interference effects can be
observed with all types of waves, for example, light, radio, acoustic, surface
water waves, gravity waves, or matter waves as well as in Loudspeakers as
electrical waves
Doppler Effect
 The Doppler Effect is a change in the frequency of waves that occurs when the source of
the wave is moving relative to a stationary observer. (It can also occur when the source is
stationary and the observer is moving.) The diagram shows how the Doppler Effect
occurs.
Wave-Particle Duality Nature of Light

 Light can behave as both a wave and a particle.
 A wave is a vibration which exhibits superposition and interference.
 Light has wave light characteristics: it gets refracted, it experiences interference, and
exhibits the doppler effect.
 Light also has particle characteristics: it reflects/bounces like you would expect a ball to
and its photons have distinct energy or quanta.
 Light exhibits both of these models in what we refer to as wave-particle duality.

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What are Electromagnetic Waves?

How an Electromagnetic Wave Travels

Electromagnetic Wave Interactions

 Interference is a phenomenon in which two waves combine by adding their

Wave-Particle Duality Nature of Light

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