A Guide to Electromagnetic Radiation

Teaching Approach

This section is allocated 3 ½ hours of curriculum time so this limits the depth you can go to in
the content. The students need to watch the videos in their order, Lesson 1 first, and so on.
The videos have only a few questions in them so make use of the task video to ensure that
the students exercise the ideas you are teaching them through the Mindset lesson videos.

Key ideas in the topic are:

1. Electromagnetic radiation is emitted from electrons that are oscillating — that is, it’s
emitted from electrons that are being accelerated, first one way and then the other.
2. The radiation has a frequency and wavelength that is determined by the frequency of the
electrons’ oscillations.
3. The radiation travels away from the source at the speed of light.
4. The frequency and wavelength of radiation are locked together through the relationship
c = f, where c is the speed of light. If the electrons’ frequency f increases, then
wavelength λ decreases because c remains constant.
5. Electromagnetic radiation can transfer the energy of the oscillating electrons through
empty space (or through certain materials) into any material or device that can absorb
energy at that frequency. (Try to avoid saying that the radiation is energy itself; it’s more
accurate to say that the radiation transfers the energy of one system to another
system.)
6. The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all frequencies (and therefore
wavelengths) of the radiation; the Lesson 4 video shows frequencies from low radio
wavelengths, through visible light, to extreme gamma-ray frequencies.
7. Different materials and devices (such as cell phones) respond to particular frequencies.
This can be useful in many cases. On other cases the material can be altered or
damaged by the radiation.

The approach is to begin with the devices that students know such as cell phones and
remote controls and microwave ovens. Explain the word "radiation"; students may associate
the "radiation" with nuclear bombs but reassure them that there are many kinds of non-
harmful radiation all around us all the time.

We can sense some radiation with our bodies: our eyes respond to light, our skin to infrared
immediately and, in the case of sunburn, skin responds to ultraviolet radiation (and remind
them that black skin is also affected by ultraviolet radiation though to a lesser extent than
white skin.)

But for almost all the other frequencies we do not sense most of this radiation, because we
do not have the nervous system to do so. Radios and cell phones (which are small radios)
respond to other frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.
CAPS specifies that this topic must be taught in Term 1 but does not introduce the magnetic
field until Term 2 and electric fields until Grade 11. So in Lesson 2 and 3 we have to give
some meaning to the CAPS statements about mutually regenerating electric and magnetic
fields. There is some very simple apparatus you can make that will help explain what
happens when electrons are accelerated up and down a conductor.
Video Summaries
Some videos have a ‘PAUSE’ moment, at which point the teacher or learner can choose to
pause the video and try to answer the question posed or calculate the answer to the problem
under discussion. Once the video starts again, the answer to the question or the right answer
to the calculation is given

Mindset suggests a number of ways to use the video lessons. These include:
 Watch or show a lesson as an introduction to a lesson
 Watch or show a lesson after a lesson, as a summary or as a way of adding in some
interesting real-life applications or practical aspects
 Design a worksheet or set of questions about one video lesson. Then ask learners to
watch a video related to the lesson and to complete the worksheet or questions, either in
groups or individually
 Worksheets and questions based on video lessons can be used as short assessments or
exercises
 Ask learners to watch a particular video lesson for homework (in the school library or on
the website, depending on how the material is available) as preparation for the next day’s
lesson; if desired, learners can be given specific questions to answer in preparation for
the next day’s lesson

1. Electromagnetic Waves All Around Us

Electromagnetic radiation is all around us. The lesson focuses on radio waves to remind
students of the concepts of frequency and wavelength, and ends with the speed of
electromagnetic radiation, which is the same as the speed of light.

2. Electric and Magnetic Fields

A changing electric field generates a changing magnetic field. The changes at a source
will take a certain time to travel to a distant point. This lays the groundwork for Lesson 3,
which is about how electromagnetic waves propagate.

3. How Vibrating Charges Emit Electromagnetic Waves

This lesson uses a simple antenna system to show how a changing electric field causes a
changing magnetic field to propagate outward from the antenna. The changes in the fields
travel outwards from the transmitter at the speed of light.

4. The Electromagnetic Spectrum

A wide range of frequencies form the electromagnetic spectrum; they are arranged from
low radio frequency to the very high frequencies of gamma rays. The lesson gives
examples of how they are detected and how they are used.

5. The Energy of Electromagnetic Radiation

This lesson shows the uses of electromagnetic radiation at different frequencies. It deals
with the actual danger of very high frequency, high energy radiation.
Resource Material

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcseb This web page has a useful

1. Electromagnetic Waves itesize/science/aqa_pre_2011/radia summary of waves, including radio
All Around Us tion/anintroductiontowavesrev1.sht waves, with animations to play. It
ml has exercises using the wave speed
equation, and students can take a
test at the end.

http://missionscience.nasa.gov/ems A good overview of fields and

2. Electric and Magnetic /02_anatomy.html electromagnetic waves.
Fields

http://missionscience.nasa.gov/ems Some history of radio waves and

3. How Vibrating Charges /05_radiowaves.html then looks at radio waves coming
Emit Electromagnetic from deep Space.
Waves
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elec The animation you saw in the video
tromagneticwave3D.gif lesson. You can open it and let it
play for as long as you wish.

http://missionscience.nasa.gov/ems A series of linked pages that deal

4. The Electromagnetic /05_radiowaves.html with seven frequency ranges, radio
Spectrum waves to gamma rays.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcseb Good detailed descriptions of the

5. The Energy of itesize/science/aqa_pre_2011/radia ways all the frequencies in the
Electromagnetic Radiation tion/the_electromagnetic_spectrumr spectrum are used. Students can
ev1.shtml take a test at the end.
Task

Question 1
YFM broadcasts on 99.2 MHz. What is the wavelength of the broadcast? Answer to the
nearest metre.
Hint: Use the wave equation: c = fλ.
Rearrange it to make wavelength the subject of the equation. To do this, divide both sides of
the equation by f.

Question 2
In a commentary box at a stadium, a radio announcer is reporting on a soccer match in
Maputo. A group of people in the room can hear his voice; they are 6 m away from him.

As he speaks, the information is carried on a radio wave to Cape Town, where it is heard by
someone listening to a radio. Straight line distance to Cape Town from Maputo is 1 600 km.

Who hears the news first, the people in the commentary box or the person in Cape Town
listening on a radio? Take the speed of sound in air as 330 m·s-1.

Work your answers corrected to 3 decimal places

Question 3
A visitor goes to the technician in the transmitting radio station. The station is broadcasting at
3 000 kHz. The visitor asks how much quicker the signal will reach Cape Town if he
increases the frequency to 6 000 kHz.

What do you think the technician will tell the visitor?

Question 4
Domestic microwave ovens heat food with electromagnetic radiation at 2 450 MHz.
The usual way to write large numbers in science is an integer, followed by a decimal point,
followed by two decimal figures times a power of ten.
So express 2 450 MHz in this scientific notation. Your answer will be in the unit of gigahertz.

Question 5
What is the wavelength of the radiation inside a microwave oven? The wavelength needs to
be shorter than the dimensions of the metal box where you place the food.

Question 6
Another microwave oven radiates with a wavelength of 100 mm. Work out the energy of a
photon of the radiation inside the microwave oven.

Use the relationship, energy E = hf where h is Planck’s constant and f is the frequency.

There are two ways to work this out.

First, you know that the wavelength is 100 millimetres, and you can work out the frequency f.
The other method is to work with just the symbols until you get an equation that has E, c, h
and lambda in it. Then you don’t need to work out the frequency and you can use the
wavelength that you are given.

Question 7
Electromagnetic waves travel through vacuum but they will also travel through some
materials. Find some examples of such materials.

On the other hand, certain materials absorb the energy of electromagnetic waves and so the
radiation does not pass through those materials.
Design an investigation to find out which materials will absorb and stop radiation of 900 MHz.

You can use your cell phone as a receiver, because 900 MHz is the frequency of cell phone
signals in South Africa.

Question 8
The film Alien was a horror movie about the crew of a space station. A famous line from the
film’s advertising was “In Space, no one can hear you scream”. What did the line mean?
Would it always be true for the crew in the space station?
Task Answers
Question 1
3.024 m.
c = λf, and λ =
Hertz means “the number of cycles per second “ A number per second is just a number; it has no
-1
units, so we can write just “per second” or s

c= = 3,024 m.

Question 2
Time for the sound wave to travel 6 metres:
Distance = speed x time,: t = = = 0,018 s
Time for the radio wave to travel 1 600 000 m = = 0,0053 s
The radio signal reaches Cape Town in less time than the sound travels in air across the room.

Question 3
Increasing the frequency will not increase the speed; the speed is never greater than the speed of
light. However, increasing the frequency will change the wavelength, so the radio in Cape Town will
lose the signal until somebody re-tunes it to 6 000 kHz.

Question 4
Manufacturers often give the frequency in terms of MHz.
6 9
1 MHz = 1 x 10 Hz, and 1 GHz = 1 x 10 Hz
6 9
2 450 MHz = 2 450 x 10 Hz = 2,450 x 10 GHz.
To get the answer, move the decimal three places to the left (divide by 1 000) while you increase the
exponent by 3 (multiply by 1 000).

Question 5
From c = λf, we get = and so = and
-1
= 1, 22 x 10 m = 0,122 m or 12, 2 cm.
This length is short enough to fit about 3 wavelengths inside the cavity of the microwave oven. This is
important because the microwave sets up a standing wave inside the cavity.

Question 6
First method:
c =  f, so f =
9
= 3 x 10 = 3 000 MHz
-34 9 -1 -25
Then E = hf, so E = 6.63 x 10 J. s x 3 x 10 s = 19.89 x 10 J.

Second method, by first manipulating the equations:

f= , and substituting this relationship into E = hf, E =
 
-1 -1
Then E = J.s x m·s x m
-25
= 19.89 x 10 J

Question 7
A simple way to test materials is to place a cell phone inside a container made of the material, such as
cardboard, plastic, a suitcase, clothing, a drawer in wooden table, a glass jar, a tightly-closed glass jar
under water, a metal biscuit tin. Use another phone to call the phone inside the box; if it rings, the
signal from the local cell tower is penetrating the box’s material.
The phone always rings except if it is enclosed inside a metal container, like a biscuit tin.

Try this further with a jam-tin, open at one end. Does it make a difference if the opening points in
different directions? Find out where the nearest cell phone tower is, to know where the signal is
coming from.

Question 8
There is no air in Space, so a scream would not propagate. Of course, if the crew had air inside the
space station, then they could hear each other talk (and scream). Outside the station, they would have
to use radios to talk to each other.
Acknowledgements
Mindset Learn Executive Head Dylan Busa
Content Manager Classroom Resources Jenny Lamont
Content Coordinator Classroom Resources Helen Robertson
Content Administrator Agness Munthali
Content Developer Peter Moodie
Content Reviewers R Moore
Duncan Chiriga

Produced for Mindset Learn by Traffic

Facilities Coordinator Cezanne Scheepers
Production Manager Belinda Renney
Director Alriette Gibbs
Editor Talent Maphisa
Presenter Niki Montgomery
Studio Crew Abram Tjale
James Tselapedi
Wilson Mthembu
Graphics Wayne Sanderson

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