9702 - electromagnetic waves
mhmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm yummy radiation and burns
TWO posts IN one DAY? now thats a whole treat, isnt it guys!
i wanted to talk about electromagnetic waves, because mainly i can't remember all of their frequencies and wavelengths because i'm pretty sure you need to memorise them for the exam...
but the real question, what are electromagnetic waves?
electromagnetic waves are a type of transverse waves that are progressive, meaning they can transport energy without matter.
they can be diffracted, reflected, polarised (important part, only transverse waves can be polarised), refracted, and produce interference patterns.
these guys have a neat thing: they are able to travel through a vacuum (space!). and in a vacuum, they all travel at the speed of light! (3x10^8 ms). that's something you gotta remember.
unfortunately yeah you DO have to remember all of them, so here's my best attempt at remembering all of them:
radio waves (R), wavelength of 100Mm to 1m
microwave (M), wavelength of 1m to 1mm
infrared (I), wavelength of 1mm to 750nm
visible light (V), wavelength of 400nm to 700nm
UV light (UV), wavelength of 400nm to 1nm
X-ray (X), wavelength of 1nm to 1pm
Gamma Rays (G), wavelength of 1pm to 1x10^-4 pm
the higher the frequency, the higher the radiation
once you go above visible light, those type of electromagnetic waves are highly ionising, and potentially dangerous. (UV, X-ray, Gamma)
are highly ionising, meaning they can cause illness and cancer in living issue if exposed to for long enough
can span across wide areas (radio)
quite a short chapter, but still important nonetheless! remebering all of the wavelengths have really got me stumped though...
thank you for reading! all the best to your studies :)