Electromagnetic Waves

• Types of Waves (listed from longest to shortest wavelength)
  1. radio waves
  2. microwaves
  3. infrared light
  4. visible light (ROYGBIV)
  5. ultraviolet light
  6. X-rays
  7. Gamma Rays
• Parts of a Wave
  1. amplitude-defined as maximum displacement from origin-simply stated, it's the height from the waves origin to the top of one of its crests
  2. wavelength (represented by Greek letter, lambda)-distance between identical points on two sequential waves (measure from crest to crest)
  3. frequency number of complete wave cycles to pass by a particular point in per time interval
     • usually measured in cycles per second
     • SI unit of 1 cycle/s = 1 hertz(Hz)
     • frequency and wavelength are inversely related
• Producing a Spectrum
  • light consists of a mixture of wavelengths and frequencies
  • each color of light has a specific wavelength
  • Red light has the longest wavelength(and lowest frequency & energy)of visible light
  • Violet light has the shortest wavelength (thus the highest frequency and energy) of visible light
  • by passing light through a prism, light can be broken down into its individual wavelengths and frequencies
• Continuous Spectrum
  • produced by sunlight
  • all areas of the spectrum (ROYGBIV) are present
  • each color blends into the next
• Line Spectrum
  • is not continuous, only certain bands of color, or lines, are present
  • produced by individual elements when their electrons absorb energy (jump into higher energy levels) then emit light as the electron return to their ground state
  • since each element has different electron configurations, the energy (related to frequency by Planck) given off is different for each element
  • is an identifying property of an element

• Visit NASA's web site for more information on electromagnetic waves
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