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ElectromagneticradiationWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Electromagneticradiation
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Electromagneticradiation(EM
radiationorEMR)istheradiant
energyreleasedbycertain
electromagneticprocesses.Visiblelight
isonetypeofelectromagneticradiation
otherfamiliarformsareinvisibletothe
humaneye,suchasradiowaves,
infraredlightandXrays.

Theelectromagneticwavesthatcomposeelectromagneticradiation
canbeimaginedasaselfpropagatingtransverseoscillatingwaveof
electricandmagneticfields.Thisdiagramshowsaplanelinearly
polarizedEMRwavepropagatingfromlefttoright.Theelectric
fieldisinaverticalplaneandthemagneticfieldinahorizontal
plane.TheelectricandmagneticfieldsinEMRwavesarealwaysin
phaseandat90degreestoeachother.

Classically,electromagneticradiation
consistsofelectromagneticwaves,
whicharesynchronizedoscillationsof
electricandmagneticfieldsthat
propagateatthespeedoflightthrougha
vacuum.Theoscillationsofthetwo
fieldsareperpendiculartoeachotherandperpendiculartothedirectionofenergyandwavepropagation,
formingatransversewave.Electromagneticwavescanbecharacterizedbyeitherthefrequencyor
wavelengthoftheiroscillationstoformtheelectromagneticspectrum,whichincludes,inorderof
increasingfrequencyanddecreasingwavelength:radiowaves,microwaves,infraredradiation,visiblelight,
ultravioletradiation,Xraysandgammarays.
Electromagneticwavesareproducedwheneverchargedparticlesareaccelerated,andthesewavescan
subsequentlyinteractwithanychargedparticles.EMwavescarryenergy,momentumandangular
momentumawayfromtheirsourceparticleandcanimpartthosequantitiestomatterwithwhichthey
interact.QuantaofEMwavesarecalledphotons,whicharemassless,buttheyarestillaffectedbygravity.
ElectromagneticradiationisassociatedwiththoseEMwavesthatarefreetopropagatethemselves
("radiate")withoutthecontinuinginfluenceofthemovingchargesthatproducedthem,becausetheyhave
achievedsufficientdistancefromthosecharges.Thus,EMRissometimesreferredtoasthefarfield.Inthis
language,thenearfieldreferstoEMfieldsnearthechargesandcurrentthatdirectlyproducedthem,
specifically,electromagneticinductionandelectrostaticinductionphenomena.
Inthequantumtheoryofelectromagnetism,EMRconsistsofphotons,theelementaryparticlesresponsible
forallelectromagneticinteractions.QuantumeffectsprovideadditionalsourcesofEMR,suchasthe
transitionofelectronstolowerenergylevelsinanatomandblackbodyradiation.Theenergyofan
individualphotonisquantizedandisgreaterforphotonsofhigherfrequency.Thisrelationshipisgivenby
Planck'sequationE=h,whereEistheenergyperphoton,isthefrequencyofthephoton,andhis
Planck'sconstant.Asinglegammarayphoton,forexample,mightcarry~100,000timestheenergyofa
singlephotonofvisiblelight.
TheeffectsofEMRuponbiologicalsystems(andalsotomanyotherchemicalsystems,understandard
conditions)dependbothupontheradiation'spoweranditsfrequency.ForEMRofvisiblefrequenciesor
lower(i.e.,radio,microwave,infrared),thedamagedonetocellsandothermaterialsisdeterminedmainly
bypowerandcausedprimarilybyheatingeffectsfromthecombinedenergytransferofmanyphotons.By

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ElectromagneticradiationWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

contrast,forultravioletandhigherfrequencies(i.e.,Xraysandgammarays),chemicalmaterialsandliving
cellscanbefurtherdamagedbeyondthatdonebysimpleheating,sinceindividualphotonsofsuchhigh
frequencyhaveenoughenergytocausedirectmoleculardamage.

Contents
1 Physics
1.1 Theory
1.1.1 Maxwellsequations
1.1.2 Nearandfarfields
1.2 Properties
1.3 Wavemodel
1.4 Particlemodelandquantumtheory
1.5 Waveparticleduality
1.6 Waveandparticleeffectsofelectromagneticradiation
1.7 Propagationspeed
1.8 Specialtheoryofrelativity
2 Historyofdiscovery
3 Electromagneticspectrum
3.1 Interactionsasafunctionoffrequency
3.1.1 Radioandmicrowave
3.1.2 Infrared
3.1.3 Visiblelight
3.1.4 Ultraviolet
3.1.5 Xraysandgammarays
4 Atmosphereandmagnetosphere
5 Typesandsources,classedbyspectralband
5.1 Radiowaves
5.2 Microwaves
5.3 Infrared
5.4 Visiblelight
5.5 Ultraviolet
5.6 Xrays
5.7 Gammarays
5.8 Thermalradiationandelectromagneticradiationasaformofheat
6 Biologicaleffects
7 Derivationfromelectromagnetictheory
8 Seealso
9 References
10 Furtherreading
11 Externallinks

Physics
Theory
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Maxwellsequations
Maxwellderivedawaveformoftheelectricandmagnetic
equations,thusuncoveringthewavelikenatureofelectricand
magneticfieldsandtheirsymmetry.BecausethespeedofEM
wavespredictedbythewaveequationcoincidedwiththemeasured
speedoflight,MaxwellconcludedthatlightitselfisanEMwave.
MaxwellsequationswereconfirmedbyHeinrichHertzthrough
experimentswithradiowaves.
AccordingtoMaxwell'sequations,aspatiallyvaryingelectricfield
isalwaysassociatedwithamagneticfieldthatchangesovertime.
Showstherelativewavelengthsofthe
Likewise,aspatiallyvaryingmagneticfieldisassociatedwith
electromagneticwavesofthree
specificchangesovertimeintheelectricfield.Inan
differentcoloursoflight(blue,green,
electromagneticwave,thechangesintheelectricfieldarealways
andred)withadistancescalein
accompaniedbyawaveinthemagneticfieldinonedirection,and
micrometersalongthexaxis.
viceversa.Thisrelationshipbetweenthetwooccurswithouteither
typefieldcausingtheotherrather,theyoccurtogetherinthesame
waythattimeandspacechangesoccurtogetherandareinterlinkedinspecialrelativity.Infact,magnetic
fieldsmaybeviewedasrelativisticdistortionsofelectricfields,sothecloserelationshipbetweenspaceand
timechangeshereismorethanananalogy.Together,thesefieldsformapropagatingelectromagneticwave,
whichmovesoutintospaceandneedneveragainaffectthesource.ThedistantEMfieldformedinthisway
bytheaccelerationofachargecarriesenergywithitthat"radiates"awaythroughspace,hencetheterm.
Nearandfarfields
Maxwell'sequationsestablishedthatsomechargesandcurrents("sources")producealocaltypeof
electromagneticfieldnearthemthatdoesnothavethebehaviourofEMR.Currentsdirectlyproducea
magneticfield,butitisofamagneticdipoletypethatdiesoutwithdistancefromthecurrent.Inasimilar
manner,movingchargespushedapartinaconductorbyachangingelectricalpotential(suchasinan
antenna)produceanelectricdipoletypeelectricalfield,butthisalsodeclineswithdistance.Thesefields
makeupthenearfieldneartheEMRsource.NeitherofthesebehavioursareresponsibleforEMradiation.
Instead,theycauseelectromagneticfieldbehaviourthatonlyefficientlytransferspowertoareceiververy
closetothesource,suchasthemagneticinductioninsideatransformer,orthefeedbackbehaviourthat
happensclosetothecoilofametaldetector.Typically,nearfieldshaveapowerfuleffectontheirown
sources,causinganincreasedload(decreasedelectricalreactance)inthesourceortransmitter,whenever
energyiswithdrawnfromtheEMfieldbyareceiver.Otherwise,thesefieldsdonotpropagatefreelyout
intospace,carryingtheirenergyawaywithoutdistancelimit,butratheroscillate,returningtheirenergyto
thetransmitterifitisnotreceivedbyareceiver.
Bycontrast,theEMfarfieldiscomposedofradiationthatisfreeofthetransmitterinthesensethat(unlike
thecaseinanelectricaltransformer)thetransmitterrequiresthesamepowertosendthesechangesinthe
fieldsout,whetherthesignalisimmediatelypickedupornot.Thisdistantpartoftheelectromagneticfield
is"electromagneticradiation"(alsocalledthefarfield).Thefarfieldspropagate(radiate)withoutallowing
thetransmittertoaffectthem.Thiscausesthemtobeindependentinthesensethattheirexistenceandtheir
energy,aftertheyhaveleftthetransmitter,iscompletelyindependentofbothtransmitterandreceiver.
Becausesuchwavesconservetheamountofenergytheytransmitthroughanysphericalboundarysurface
drawnaroundtheirsource,andbecausesuchsurfaceshaveanareathatisdefinedbythesquareofthe
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