EM Radiation
describes in terms of a stream of particles, each travelling in a wave-like pattern and moving at
the speed of light
makes EM waves transverse waves
EM Wave
arrange in electromagnetic spectrum based on their frequency, wavelength, and photon energy
an electrical and magnetic disturbance that moves through space at the speed of light
Types of Electromagnetic Radiation
Radio Waves
have longest wavelengths and electromagnetic spectrum
have wavelengths that range from less than a centimeter or tens or even hundreds of meters.
can be used to transmit radio and television signal, mobile phones, magnetic resonance
Microwaves
have very short wavelengths ranging from approximately one millimeter to 30 centimeters
they are made by various types of transmitters an electronic device which, with the aid of an
antenna, produces radio waves
can be used in telecommunication, such as mobile phones, fixed traffic speed camera, oven
cooking, radar, aircraft, navigation, terrain mapping, molecular research, long distance
communication
Infrared
William Herschel discovered the existence of infrared by passing sunlight through a prism.
sometimes called heat or thermal energy
they can be used in heating and drying, night vision cameras, satellite remote sensing, remote
controls
Visible Light
the portion of EM radiation that is visible to human eye
given off by anything that is not enough to glow (light waves can be seen as the colors of
rainbow)
red is the longest wavelength and violet is the shortest
used as what the typical eye and film can see like visible light photography, lasers emitting visible
light like laser pointers, laser surgery and cutting of metals
Ultraviolet
an EM radiation with a wavelength shorter than visible light but longer than x-ray
produced by high-temperature surfaces, such as the sun
can be used in photochemical and photo electric effects, hardening cast in medicines
X-rays
high-energy waves which have great penetrating power and are used extensively in medical
applications like examination of bones, teeth, and vital organs, treatment for types of cancer;
crystallography, astrophysics.
Overexposure to x-rays may lead to cancer such as leukemia
Gamma Rays
these are more penetrating than x-rays
generated by radioactive atoms and in nuclear explosions, and are used in many medical
applications like treatment for types of cancer, food irradiation.
these can be used also in nuclear research, geophysics and mineral exploration.
Photon – particles contain a bundle of energy
Thermography – infrared radiation used to remote and determine the temperature of objects
