#Electromagnetic radiant energy examples free#

A single gamma ray photon, for example, might carry ~100,000 times the energy of a single photon of visible light. This relationship is given by Planck's equation E = hf, where E is the energy per photon, f is the frequency of the photon, and h is Planck's constant. The energy of an individual photon is quantized and is greater for photons of higher frequency. Quantum effects provide additional sources of EMR, such as the transition of electrons to lower energy levels in an atom and black-body radiation. Quantum electrodynamics is the theory of how EMR interacts with matter on an atomic level. In quantum mechanics, an alternate way of viewing EMR is that it consists of photons, uncharged elementary particles with zero rest mass which are the quanta of the electromagnetic field, responsible for all electromagnetic interactions.

In this language, the near field refers to EM fields near the charges and current that directly produced them, specifically electromagnetic induction and electrostatic induction phenomena. Thus, EMR is sometimes referred to as the far field.

#Electromagnetic radiant energy examples free#

Electromagnetic radiation is associated with those EM waves that are free to propagate themselves ('radiate') without the continuing influence of the moving charges that produced them, because they have achieved sufficient distance from those charges. EM waves carry energy, momentum and angular momentum away from their source particle and can impart those quantities to matter with which they interact. Įlectromagnetic waves are emitted by electrically charged particles undergoing acceleration, and these waves can subsequently interact with other charged particles, exerting force on them. In order of increasing frequency and decreasing wavelength these are: radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays. Electromagnetic waves of different frequency are called by different names since they have different sources and effects on matter. The position of an electromagnetic wave within the electromagnetic spectrum can be characterized by either its frequency of oscillation or its wavelength. In homogeneous, isotropic media, the oscillations of the two fields are perpendicular to each other and perpendicular to the direction of energy and wave propagation, forming a transverse wave. In a vacuum, electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light, commonly denoted c.

Depending on the frequency of oscillation, different wavelengths of electromagnetic spectrum are produced. Ĭlassically, electromagnetic radiation consists of electromagnetic waves, which are synchronized oscillations of electric and magnetic fields. Types of EMR include radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visible) light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays, all of which are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In physics, electromagnetic radiation ( EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. A linearly polarized electromagnetic wave going in the z-axis, with E denoting the electric field and perpendicular B denoting magnetic field