Electromagnetic

WAVES IN THE
Spectrum

Submitted by:
Elka Erin A. Santiago /
10-Aguinaldo
Submitted to:
Maam Jenny Rose
Dagting
Electromagnetic Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of

electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object has
a different meaning, and is instead the characteristic distribution of
electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object.
The electromagnetic spectrum extends from below the low frequencies
used for modern radio communication to gamma radiation at the shortwavelength (high-frequency) end, thereby covering wavelengths from
thousands of kilometers down to a fraction of the size of an atom. The limit
for long wavelengths is the size of the universe itself, while it is thought that
the short wavelength limit is in the vicinity of the Planck length. Until the
middle of last century it was believed by most physicists that this spectrum
was infinite and continuous.
Most parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are used in science for
spectroscopic and other probing interactions, as ways to study and
characterize matter. In addition, radiation from various parts of the
spectrum has found many other uses for communications and
manufacturing.
For most of history, visible light was the only known part of the
electromagnetic spectrum. The ancient Greeks recognized that light
traveled in straight lines and studied some of its properties,
including reflection and refraction. The study of light continued, and during
the 16th and 17th centuries conflicting theories regarded light as either a
wave or a particle.

REFERENCE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroma
gnetic_spectrum
http://physics.tutorvista.com/waves/el
ectromagnetic-waves.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwav
e
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviole
t
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviole
t#/media/File:UV-handlamp_hg.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray
https://www.google.com.ph/search?
biw=1821&bih=889&tbm=isch&sa=1
&btnG=Search&q=ultravioletelectrom
agnetic+wave
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_r
ay
https://www.google.com.ph/search?
biw=1821&bih=889&tbm=isch&sa=1

&btnG=Search&q=ultravioletelectrom
agnetic+wave#tbm=isch&q=gamma
+rays+electromagnetic+spectrum

Radio Waves

Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in

the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light. Radio waves
have frequencies from 300 GHz to as low as 3 kHz, and corresponding
wavelengths ranging from 1 millimeter (0.039 in) to 100 kilometers (62 mi).
Like all other electromagnetic waves, they travel at the speed of light.
Naturally occurring radio waves are made by lightning, or by astronomical
objects. Artificially generated radio waves are used for fixed and
mobile radio communication, broadcasting, radar and other navigation
systems, communications satellites, computer networks and innumerable
other applications. Radio waves are generated by radio transmitters and
received by radio receivers. Different frequencies of radio waves have
different propagation characteristics in the Earth's atmosphere; long waves
can diffract around obstacles like mountains and follow the contour of the
earth (ground waves), shorter waves can reflect off the ionosphere and
return to earth beyond the horizon (sky waves), while much shorter
wavelengths bend or diffract very little and travel on a line of sight, so their
propagation distances are limited to the visual horizon.

To prevent interference between different users, the artificial generation

and use of radio waves is strictly regulated by law, coordinated by an
international body called the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
The radio spectrum is divided into a number of radio bands on the basis of
frequency, allocated to different uses.

Micro Waves

Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic

radiation with wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short
as one millimeter; with frequencies between 300 MHz (100 cm) and
300 GHz (0.1 cm). This broad definition includes both UH
Fand EHF (millimeter waves), and various sources use different
boundaries. In all cases, microwave includes the entire SHF band (3 to
30 GHz, or 10 to 1 cm) at minimum, with RF engineering often restricting
the range between 1 and 100 GHz (300 and 3 mm).
The prefix micro- in microwave is not meant to suggest a wavelength in the
micrometer range. It indicates that microwaves are "small", compared to
waves used in typical radio broadcasting, in that they have shorter
wavelengths. The boundaries between far infrared, terahertz radiation,
microwaves, and ultra-high-frequency radio waves are fairly arbitrary and
are used variously between different fields of study.
Beginning at about 40 GHz, the atmosphere becomes less transparent to
microwaves, at lower frequencies to absorption from water vapor and at

higher frequencies from oxygen. A spectral band structure causes

absorption peaks at specific frequencies (see graph at right). Above
100 GHz, the absorption of electromagnetic radiation by Earth's
atmosphere is so great that it is in effect opaque, until the atmosphere
becomes transparent again in the so-called infrared and optical window
frequency ranges.

Infrared Rays

Infrared (IR) is invisible radiant energy, electromagnetic radiation with

longer wavelengths than those of visible light, extending from the
nominal red edge of the visible spectrum at
700 nanometers (frequency 430 THz) to 1 mm (300 GHz)] (although people
can see infrared up to at least 1050 nm in experiments). Most of
the thermal radiation emitted by objects near room temperature is infrared.
Infrared radiation was discovered in 1800 by astronomer Sir William
Herschel, who discovered a type of invisible radiation in the spectrum lower
in energy than red light, by means of its effect upon a thermometer. Slightly
more than half of the total energy from the Sun was eventually found to
arrive on Earth in the form of infrared. The balance between absorbed and
emitted infrared radiation has a critical effect on Earth's climate.

Infrared energy is emitted or absorbed by molecules when they change

their rotational-vibrational movements. Infrared energy
excites vibrational modes in a molecule through a change in the dipole
moment, making it a useful frequency range for study of these energy
states for molecules of the proper symmetry. Infrared
spectroscopy examines absorption and transmission of photons in the
infrared energy range.

Visible Light

Light is electromagnetic radiation within a certain portion of

the electromagnetic spectrum. The word usually refers to visible light,
which is visible to the human eye and is responsible for the sense
of sight. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range
of 400700 nanometres (nm), or 400109 m to 700109 m, between
the infrared (with longer wavelengths) and the ultraviolet (with shorter
wavelengths). This wavelength means a frequency range of roughly 430
750 terahertz (THz). Often, infrared and ultraviolet are also called light.
The main source of light on Earth is the Sun. Sunlight provides the energy
that green plants use to create sugars mostly in the form of starches, which
release energy into the living things that digest them. This process of
photosynthesis provides virtually all the energy used by living things.
Historically, another important source of light for humans has been fire,
from ancient campfires to modern kerosene lamps. With the development
of electric lights and of power systems, electric lighting has all but replaced
firelight. Some species of animals generate their own light,

called bioluminescence. For example, fireflies use light to locate mates,

and vampire squids use it to hide themselves from prey.
Primary properties of visible light are intensity, propagation
direction, frequency or wavelength spectrum, andpolarisation, while
its speed in a vacuum, 299,792,458 meters per second, is one of the
fundamental constants of nature. Visible light, as with all types of
electromagnetic radiation (EMR), is experimentally found to always move at
this speed in vacuum

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet (UV) light is an electromagnetic radiation with

a wavelength from 400 nm to 100 nm, shorter than that of visible light but
longer than X-rays. Though usually invisible, under some conditions
children and young adults can see ultraviolet down to wavelengths of about
310 nm, and people with aphakia(missing lens) can also see some UV
wavelengths. Near-UV is visible to a number of insects and birds.
UV radiation is present in sunlight, and is produced by electric arcs and
specialized lights such as mercury-vapor lamps, tanning lamps, and black
lights. Although lacking the energy to ionize atoms, long-wavelength
ultraviolet radiation can cause chemical reactions, and causes many
substances to glow or fluoresce. Consequently, biological effects of UV are
greater than simple heating effects, and many practical applications of UV
radiation derive from its interactions with organic molecules.

Suntan, freckling and sunburn are familiar effects of over-exposure, along

with higher risk of skin cancer. Living things on dry land would be severely
damaged by ultraviolet radiation from the sun if most of it were not filtered
out by the Earth's atmosphere, particularly the ozone layer. Moreenergetic, shorter-wavelength "extreme" UV below 121 nm ionizes air so
strongly that it is absorbed before it reaches the ground. Ultraviolet is also
responsible for the formation of bone-strengthening vitamin D in most land
vertebrates, including humans. The UV spectrum thus has effects both
beneficial and harmful to human health.

X-rays

X-radiation (composed of X-rays) is a form of electromagnetic radiation.

Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 0.01 to 10 nanometers,
corresponding to frequencies in the range 30petahertz to
30 exahertz (31016 Hz to 31019 Hz) and energies in the range 100 eV to
100keV. X-ray wavelengths are shorter than those of UV rays and typically
longer than those of gamma rays. In many languages, X-radiation is
referred to with terms meaning Rntgen radiation, after Wilhelm Rntgen,
who is usually credited as its discoverer, and who had named it Xradiation to signify an unknown type of radiation. Spelling of X-ray(s) in the
English language includes the variants x-ray(s), xray(s) and X ray(s).
X-rays with photon energies above 510 keV (below 0.20.1 nm
wavelength) are called hard X-rays, while those with lower energy are

called soft X-rays.] Due to their penetrating ability, hard X-rays are widely
used to image the inside of bjects, e.g., in medical radiography and airport
security. As a result, the term X-ray is metonymically used to refer to
a radiographic image produced using this method, in addition to the method
itself. Since the wavelengths of hard X-rays are similar to the size of atoms
they are also useful for determining crystal structures by X-ray
crystallography. By contrast, soft X-rays are easily absorbed in air and
the attenuation length of 600 eV (~2 nm) X-rays in water is less than 1
micrometer.

Gamma Rays

Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays, and denoted by the Greek
letter , refers to electromagnetic radiation of an extremely high frequency
and therefore consists of high-energy photons. Gamma rays are ionizing
radiation, and are thus biologically hazardous. They are classically
produced by the decay of atomic nuclei as they transition from a high
energy state to a lower state known as gamma decay, but may also be
produced by other processes. Paul Villard, a French chemist and physicist,

discovered gamma radiation in 1900, while studying radiation emitted from

radium. Villard's radiation was named "gamma rays" by Ernest
Rutherford in 1903.
Natural sources of gamma rays on Earth include gamma decay from
naturally occurring radioisotopes, and secondary radiation from
atmospheric interactions with cosmic ray particles. Rare terrestrial natural
sources produce gamma rays that are not of a nuclear origin, such
as lightning strikes and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes. Additionally, gamma
rays are produced by a number of astronomical processes in which very
high-energy electrons are produced, that in turn cause secondary gamma
rays via bremsstrahlung, inverse Compton scattering, and synchrotron
radiation. However, a large fraction of such astronomical gamma rays are
screened by Earth's atmosphere and can only be detected by spacecraft.