Electromagnetic Waves

By :
I Nyoman S. (X-8/09)
Raka Pandam G. (X-8/21)

SMAN 1 SIDOARJO
2009/2010
A. Origin and Theory of Electromagnetic Waves

Electromagnetism is defined as the combinations of alternating electric and magnetic fields

created by accelerated charges that propagate out from these charges at the speed of light in the
form of waves- electromagnetic waves or radiation.

Origin:

The phenomena associated with electricity and magnetism was studied over most of the
nineteenth century. But the knowledge that the two fields were interdependent began with the
fantastic discovery by Hans Christian Orsted in the early 1820’s. He learnt that magnetism is
ultimately caused by moving electric charges or current, when he observed a magnetic compass
needle to react to a current flowing through a wire placed near it.

Later on the simultaneous though separate discoveries made by Michael Faraday and Joseph
Henry concerning electromagnetic induction in the 1830’s led to the theory of James Clerk
Maxwell, which united electricity, magnetism and optics into one grand theory of light : the
explanation of electromagnetic waves.

Maxwell published his work Treastise on Electricity and Magnetism (1873), in which he showed
that four fundamental mathematical equations described the entire known electric and magnetic
phenomenon. The first equation is Gauss’s law for electricity, which states that positive and
negative charges create magnetic fields; Gauss’s law for magnetism states that currents create
magnetic field, which have associated north and south poles, but single poles (monopoles) do
not exist; Ampere’s law states that time varying magnetic fields induce time varying electric
fields; and faraday’s law of induction states that time varying electric fields create time varying
magnetic fields. Additionally, Maxwell’s equation predicted the existence of combined,
changing electric and magnetic fields in the form of waves that traveled with the speed of light
i.e. electromagnetic waves. He speculated that accelerated charges ultimately create these
electromagnetic waves, that they should exist over a wide range of frequencies and wavelengths,
that they traveled at the speed of light in a vacuum, and that they exhibited all the optical
properties of visible light, such as reflection, refraction and diffraction.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz in 1887 verified Maxwell’s theory experimentally ten years after his
death. Hertz built an induction coil device, which was essentially a step up transformer whose
high output voltage caused, sparks to jump back and forth across an air gap between two metal
plates. One wire, bent so that it too had an air gap between its ends, was placed near another
wire. Hertz noticed sparks jumping across the ends of this wire at the same frequency as the
induction coil’s sparks. He concluded that electromagnetic waves propagated through air from
the coil to the bent wire. These waves proved to be radio waves of about 1 meter in wavelength.
He demonstrated that the waves exhibited all the usual properties of light; namely, they
reflected, focused on parabolic mirrors, and refracted through glass. He caused them to interfere,
setting up a standing wave pattern that enabled him to calculate their speed to be the speed of
light. Later experiments demonstrated that a wide range of electromagnetic wavelengths and
frequencies exist and led to the technologies of radio, television, radar and myriad other
technologies important to society.

Theory:

Many natural phenomena exhibit wavelike behavior. Water waves, earthquake waves, and sound
waves all require a medium or substance through which to propagate. These are examples of
mechanical waves. Light can also be described as waves- waves of changing electric and
magnetic fields that propagate outward from their sources. These electromagnetic waves
however do not require a medium. They propagate at 3, 000, 000, 00 meters per second through
vacuum. Electromagnetic waves are transverse waves. In simpler terms, the changing electric
and magnetic fields oscillate perpendicular to each other and to the direction of the propagating
waves.

The best source of electromagnetic waves is accelerated waves. An accelerated charge is one
that is increasing or decreasing its speed or changing its direction of motion or both. Let us
imagine two charges at rest in the vicinity of each other. They are immersed in each other’s
electric force field. If one charge suddenly begins to oscillate up and down, the second charge
experiences the change in the field of the first charge after some very small finite time elapses.
The oscillating charge was accelerated. The moving charge’s electric fields change, as do their
magnetic fields. These changing electric and magnetic fields generate each other through
Faraday’s law of induction and Ampere’s law. These changing fields dissociate from the
oscillating charge and propagate out into space at the speed of light.

All periodic waves, whether they are electromagnetic or mechanical, are characterized by such
properties as wave length, frequency, and speed. For electromagnetic waves, wavelength
measures the distance between the successive pulses of electric or magnetic fields. A waves’
frequency represents how many wave pulses pass by a given point each second and is measured
in cycles per second or waves per second and is measured in cycles per second or waves per
second. One wave per second is called one Hertz. Electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of
light in vacuum, but they travel more slowly when they pass through various media such as air,
glass, and water. A relationship among frequency, wavelength and speed exists for
electromagnetic waves; the product of frequency and wavelength equals the speed of light. Thus,
wavelength and frequency are inversely related. The longer the frequency lower is the
wavelength and vice versa.

An entire spectrum of electromagnetic waves exists, which ranges from very low frequency
wavelength (power waves) to very high wavelength (gamma rays). All wavelengths are
collectively referred to as electromagnetic wavelengths and not merely the narrow range of
wavelengths and frequencies identified as visible light.

The wave nature of light describes many aspects of its behavior. Nevertheless, radiation also has
its particle like characteristics. Rather than infinite or nearly infinite series of electromagnetic
waves emanating from some accelerated charge, light also appears to come in particle –like
bursts of energy. These individual bursts of energy or quanta are called photons. Each photon
possesses an amount of energy that directly depends on the frequency of the associated
electromagnetic wave. Doubling the frequency of the photon of radiation doubles its energy.
Thus, all types of electromagnetic waves, photons of power waves possess the least energy and
gamma-ray photons possess the greatest energy.

B. The Spectrum of Electromagnetic Waves

Electromagnetic wave is not only visible light, but also includes infrared, ultraviolet, and
other electromagnetic waves. We can see some of the electromagnetic wave in the spectrum
of electromagnetic waves in the picture below.

The rate of electromagnetic wave equal with the rate of the light in the vacuum. But, the
length of the wave and the frequency of the wave are not same with the light. The
relationship is as the following below
c=f λ
Explanation:
c = the propagation-velocity of electromagnetic wave (3x 108 m/s)
f = frequency (Hz)
λ = wave length (m)

The spectrum of electromagnetic wave includes the visible light, infrared,

ultraviolet, radio waves, micro waves, X-ray, and gamma ray.
1. Visible Light
The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to
(can be detected by) the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of
wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond
to wavelengths from about 390 to 750 nm. In terms of frequency, this corresponds to
a band in the vicinity of 400-790 THz. A light-adapted eye generally has its
maximum sensitivity at around 555 nm (540 THz), in the green region of the optical
spectrum (see: luminosity function). The spectrum does not, however, contain all the
colors that the human eyes and brain can distinguish. Unsaturated colors such as
pink, or purple variations such as magenta, are absent, for example, because they can
only be made by a mix of multiple wavelengths.

Visible wavelengths also pass through the "optical window", the region of the
electromagnetic spectrum that passes largely through the Earth's atmosphere. Clean
air scatters blue light more than wavelengths toward the red, which is why the mid-
day sky appears blue. The human eye's response is defined by subjective testing, but
atmospheric windows are defined by physical measurement.

The "visible window" is so called because it overlaps the human visible response
spectrum. The near infrared (NIR) windows lie just out of human response window,
and the Medium Wavelength IR (MWIR) and Long Wavelength or Far Infrared
(LWIR or FIR) are far beyond the human response region.

Many species can see frequencies which fall outside the "visible spectrum". Bees and
many other insects can see light in the ultraviolet, which helps them find nectar in
flowers. Plant species that depend on insect pollination may owe reproductive
success to their appearance in ultraviolet light, rather than how colorful they appear
to us. Birds too can see into the ultraviolet (300–400 nm), and some have sex-
dependent markings on their plumage, which are only visible in the ultraviolet range.
 Color Frequency Wavelength
Violet 668–789 THz 380–450 nm
Blue 631–668 THz 450–475 nm
Cyan 606–630 THz 476–495 nm
Green 526–606 THz 495–570 nm
Yellow 508–526 THz 570–590 nm
Orange 484–508 THz 590–620 nm
Red 400–484 THz 620–750 nm

2. Infrared
Infrared radiation (IR) is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between 0.7
and 300 micrometers, which equates to a frequency range between approximately 1
and 400 THz.

Its wavelength is longer (and the frequency lower) than that of visible light, but the
wavelength is shorter (and the frequency higher) than that of terahertz radiation
microwaves. Bright sunlight provides an irradiance of just over 1 kilowatt per square
meter at sea level. Of this energy, 527 watts is infrared radiation, 445 watts is visible
light, and 32 watts is ultraviolet radiation.
Infrared imaging is used extensively for military and civilian purposes. Military
applications include target acquisition, surveillance, and night vision, homing and
tracking. Non-military uses include thermal efficiency analysis, remote temperature
sensing, short-ranged wireless communication, spectroscopy, and weather
forecasting. Infrared astronomy uses sensor-equipped telescopes to penetrate dusty
regions of space, such as molecular clouds; detect objects such as planets, and to
view highly red-shifted objects from the early days of the universe.

Humans at normal body temperature radiate chiefly at wavelengths around 12μm

(micrometers), as shown by Wien's displacement law.

At the atomic level, infrared energy elicits vibration modes in a molecule through a
change in the dipole moment, making it a useful frequency range for study of these
energy states for molecules of the proper symmetry. Infrared spectroscopy examines
absorption and transmission of photons in the infrared energy range, based on their
frequency and intensity.
 The name means below red, the Latin infra meaning "below". Red is the color of the
longest wavelengths of visible light. Infrared light has a longer wavelength (and so a
lower frequency) than that of red light visible to humans, hence the literal meaning of
below red.

3. Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than
that of visible light, but longer than x-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm. It is so
named because the spectrum consists of electromagnetic waves with frequencies
higher than those that humans identify as the color violet.

UV light is found in sunlight and is emitted by electric arcs and specialized lights
such as black lights. As an ionizing radiation it can cause chemical reactions, and
causes many substances to glow or fluoresce. Most people are aware of the effects of
UV through the painful condition of sunburn, but the UV spectrum has many other
effects, both beneficial and damaging, on human health.

The discovery of UV radiation was intimately associated with the observation that
silver salts darken when exposed to sunlight. In 1801 the German physicist Johann
Wilhelm Ritter made the hallmark observation that invisible rays just beyond the
violet end of the visible spectrum were especially effective at darkening silver
chloride-soaked paper. He called them "de-oxidizing rays" to emphasize their
chemical reactivity and to distinguish them from "heat rays" at the other end of the
visible spectrum. The simpler term "chemical rays" was adopted shortly thereafter,
and it remained popular throughout the 19th century. The terms chemical and heat
rays were eventually dropped in favor of ultraviolet and infrared radiation,
respectively.

The discovery of the ultraviolet radiation below 200 nm, named vacuum ultraviolet
because it is strongly absorbed by air, was made in 1893 by the German physicist
Victor Schumann.

The name means "beyond violet" (from Latin ultra, "beyond"), violet being the color
of the shortest wavelengths of visible light. UV light has a shorter wavelength than
that of violet light.

4. Radio waves
 Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the
electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light. Like all other electromagnetic
waves, they travel at the speed of light. Naturally-occurring radio waves are produced
by lightning, or by astronomical objects. Artificially-generated radio waves are used
for fixed and mobile radio communication, broadcasting, radar and other navigation
systems, satellite communication, computer networks and innumerable other
applications. Different frequencies of radio waves have different propagation
characteristics in the Earth's atmosphere; long waves may cover a part of the Earth
very consistently, shorter waves can reflect off the ionosphere and travel around the
world, and much shorter wavelengths bend or reflect very little and travel on a line of
sight.

Radio waves were first predicted by mathematical work done in 1865 by James Clerk
Maxwell. Maxwell noticed wavelike properties of light and similarities in electrical
and magnetic observations. He then proposed equations that described light waves
and radio waves as waves of electromagnetism that travel in space. In 1887, Heinrich
Hertz demonstrated the reality of Maxwell's electromagnetic waves by
experimentally generating radio waves in his laboratory. Many inventions followed,
making practical the use of radio waves to transfer information through space.

5. Micro waves
Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths ranging from as long as
one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between
300 MHz (0.3 GHz) and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF
(millimeter waves), and various sources use different boundaries. In all cases,
microwave includes the entire SHF band (3 to 30 GHz, or 10 to 1 cm) at minimum,
with RF engineering often putting the lower boundary at 1 GHz (30 cm), and the
upper around 100 GHz (3mm).

Apparatus and techniques may be described qualitatively as "microwave" when the

wavelengths of signals are roughly the same as the dimensions of the equipment, so
that lumped-element circuit theory is inaccurate. As a consequence, practical
microwave technique tends to move away from the discrete resistors, capacitors, and
inductors used with lower frequency radio waves. Instead, distributed circuit
elements and transmission-line theory are more useful methods for design and
analysis. Open-wire and coaxial transmission lines give way to waveguides and strip
line, and lumped-element tuned circuits are replaced by cavity resonators or resonant
 lines. Effects of reflection, polarization, scattering, diffraction and atmospheric
absorption usually associated with visible light are of practical significance in the
study of microwave propagation. The same equations of electromagnetic theory
apply at all frequencies.

While the name may suggest a micrometer wavelength, it is better understood as

indicating wavelengths very much smaller than those used in radio broadcasting. The
boundaries between far infrared light, terahertz radiation, microwaves, and ultra-
high-frequency radio waves are fairly arbitrary and are used variously between
different fields of study.

Electromagnetic waves longer (lower frequency) than microwaves are called "radio
waves". Electromagnetic radiation with shorter wavelengths may be called
"millimeter waves", terahertz radiation or even T-rays. Definitions differ for
millimeter wave band, which the IEEE defines as 110 GHz to 300 GHz.

Above 300 GHz, the absorption of electromagnetic radiation by Earth's atmosphere is

so great that it is effectively opaque, until the atmosphere becomes transparent again
in the so-called infrared and optical window frequency ranges.

6. X-ray
X-radiation (composed of X-rays) is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have
a wavelength in the range of 10 to 0.01 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in
the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz (3 × 1016 Hz to 3 × 1019 Hz). They are shorter
in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma rays. In many languages, X-
radiation is called Rontgen radiation, after Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, who is
generally credited as their discoverer, and who had named them X-rays to signify an
unknown type of radiation.

Hard X-rays can penetrate solid objects, and their largest use is to take images of the
inside of objects in diagnostic radiography and crystallography. As a result, the term
X-ray is metonymically used to refer to a radiographic image produced using this
method, in addition to the method itself. By contrast, soft X-rays can hardly be said
to penetrate matter at all. X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation, and exposure to
them can be a health hazard.

The distinction between X-rays and gamma rays has changed in recent decades.
Originally, the electromagnetic radiation emitted by X-ray tubes had a longer
 wavelength than the radiation emitted by radioactive nuclei (gamma rays). So older
literature distinguished between X-ray and gamma radiation on the basis of
wavelength, with radiation shorter than some arbitrary wavelength, such as 10 −11 m,
defined as gamma rays. However, as shorter wavelength continuous spectrum "X-
ray" sources such as linear accelerators and longer wavelength "gamma ray" emitters
were discovered, the wavelength bands largely overlapped. The two types of
radiation are now usually distinguished by their origin: X-rays are emitted by
electrons outside the nucleus, while gamma rays are emitted by the nucleus.

7. Gamma ray
Gamma radiation also known as gamma rays (denoted as γ) is electromagnetic
radiation of high frequency (very short wavelength). They are produced by sub-
atomic particle interactions such as electron-positron annihilation, neutral pion decay,
radioactive decay, fusion, fission or inverse Compton scattering in astrophysical
processes. Gamma rays typically have frequencies above 1019 Hz, and have
wavelength less than 10 picometers, often smaller than an atom.

Because they are a form of ionizing radiation, gamma rays can cause serious damage
when absorbed by living tissue and, are therefore health hazards.

Paul Villard, a French chemist and physicist, discovered gamma radiation in 1900,
while studying radiation emitted from radium. Alpha and beta "rays" had already
been separated and named by the work of Ernest Rutherford in 1899, and in 1903
Rutherford named Villard's distinct new radiation "gamma rays."

In the past, the distinction between X-rays and gamma rays was based on energy (or
equivalently frequency or wavelength), with gamma rays being considered a higher-
energy version of X-rays. However, modern high-energy (megavoltage) X-rays
produced by linear accelerators ("linacs") for megavoltage treatment, in cancer
radiotherapy usually have higher energy than gamma rays produced by radioactive
gamma decay. Conversely, one of the most common gamma-ray emitting isotopes
used in diagnostic nuclear medicine, technetium-99m, produces gamma radiation of
about the same energy (140 KeV) as produced by a diagnostic X-ray machine, and
significantly lower energy than therapeutic photons from linacs. Because of this
broad overlap in energy ranges, the two types of electromagnetic radiation are now
usually defined by their origin: X-rays are emitted by electrons (either in orbitals
outside of the nucleus, or while being accelerated to produce Bremsstrahlung-type
radiation), while gamma rays are emitted by the nucleus or from other particle decays
or annihilation events. There is no lower limit to the energy of photons produced by
nuclear reactions, and thus ultraviolet and even lower energy photons produced by
these processes would also be defined as "gamma rays".

In certain fields such as astronomy, gamma rays and X-rays are still sometimes
defined by energy, or used interchangeably, since the processes which produce them
may be uncertain.