Waves

A wave is a disturbance that propagates through a medium.

Water waves and sound waves are examples of mechanical waves, but light is not so easy to understand as a wave. Light waves are any waves in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Radio Waves

Radiowaves are the light waves with the longest wavelength, so they have the least amount of energy in the spectrum.

The frequency wavelength formula is given by

            λ = 𝜈/f 
Wavelength(λ) = Velocity(𝜈) / Frequency(f) 
              - Greek letters
                - nu:     ν
                - lambda: λ
  • where 𝜈 is the velocity of the waveform, if only the value of the frequency is given and the velocity is unknown, velocity of light in a vacuum is generally taken while calculating the wavelength of the wave.

Speed of Light is 3.00 x 10^8 m/s

Radio Wave Characteristics

Speed in medium

  • Air is 99.97% of the speed of light.
  • Coaxial cable or fiber optics are 30% to 70%, depending on the material.

Wavelength

  • Range from a few millimeters to hundreds of hundreds of miles
  • Visible light has wavelengths in the 400 to 700 nanometer range (1 × 10⁻⁹ m)
    • About 5,000 times shorter than the shortest wavelength radio waves.
  • Radio waves oscillate at frequencies:
    • few kilohertz to few terahertz (1 THz = 10^12 Hz)

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Type of Wave Wavelength Frequency Examples
Radio meters to kilometers kHz to GHz AM/FM radio, Wi-Fi, cell signals
Microwaves centimeters to millimeters GHz Microwave ovens, radar
Infrared micrometers (μm) THz TV remotes, thermal imaging
Visible light ~400–700 nanometers Hundreds of THz Human vision
Ultraviolet ~10–400 nanometers Higher THz Sunburns, blacklights
X-rays picometers to nanometers Even higher Medical imaging
Gamma rays <0.01 nanometers Highest Radioactive decay, cosmic rays

Citations

  • https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/atmosphere/radio-waves
  • https://physics.info/waves/

Image Citations

  • https://inspiritvr.com/wavelength-and-frequency-study-guide/