Task 1 - Electromagnetic waves in open media

Individual work format

Yamilton Jeffry Ortiz Martinez

Group 203058_25
Identification number: 1090416459

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA UNAD

Escuela de Ciencias Básicas, Tecnología e Ingeniería

Teoría Electromagnética y Ondas

2021 16-04
 Exercises development

Activity
Answers: (write with your own words)

1. In the context of electromagnetic waves, what is an open propagation

medium?

An open propagation medium we can say that it is the path that electromagnetic
waves use to propagate but that it does not require a physical or material
medium to do it and they are known as open media since they can travel without
any interference or obstacle. some open means of propagation are air, vacuum,
fresh water, sea water, topsoil, dry soil.

2. Within the propagation mediums, what is the meaning of the “Loss

Tangent”?

The meaning that the loss tangent has when we calculate it to a propagation
medium in which a wave travels at a set frequency is that we can know how the
medium behaves for said wave where we can find behaviors such as dielectric
or conductor.

3. How the propagation medium is classified according to the value of

the “Loss Tangent”?

According to the loss tangent of a medium, we can classify the behavior of the
medium as follows:
4. Define the propagation parameters for waves traveling through a
medium (they are different from the wave parameters).

The propagation parameters of electromagnetic waves are the following:

propagation constant 𝜸 (𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂): Orthogonally relate the attenuation

constant and the phase constant.

constant attenuation 𝜶 (𝒂𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒂): It is the attenuation of the amplitude of the

wave depending on the distance, the units of measure are 𝑁𝑝 /𝑚.

constant phase 𝜷 (𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒂): It is the phase gain obtained for each unit of length
that the wave travels, the units of measurement are 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑚.

intrinsic impedance 𝜼 (𝒆𝒕𝒂): It is the relationship between the magnitude of

the electric field and the magnitude of the magnetic field associated with a
wave., The units of measurement are Ω.
Application exercise:
The following 5-step exercise describes the method to characterize an
electromagnetic wave when propagating in an open environment, for which,
each student must choose 1 propagation media of the proposed in Table 1 and
announce it within the Task 1 forum to avoid repetition.

Table 1: Conductivity 𝛔 and electrical permittivity 𝛆𝐫 of some media.

Media 𝛔 [𝐒⁄𝐦] 𝛆𝐫 [ ]
1. Copper 5.80𝑥107 1
2. Sea water 4 80
3. Air 5.5𝑥10−15 1.0005
4. Vegetable soil 1.00𝑥10−2 14
5. Dry soil 1.00𝑥10−4 3
6. Sweet water 1.00𝑥10−3 80
7. Vacuum 0 1
𝜀 = εr ε𝑜 ; εo = 8.8542x10−12 𝐶 2 /N𝑚 2 = 8.8542x10−12 𝐹 ⁄𝑚
the selected propagation medium is dry soil

1. Calculate the tangent of losses Tan (δ) and the angle of losses δ of the
medium chosen in Table 1, if through it travel an electromagnetic wave E of
frequency 𝑓 = (𝐶𝐶𝐶 + 10) 𝑀𝐻𝑧. Note that 𝐶𝐶𝐶 are the last 3 digits of your
identification number.

Identification number: 1090416459, then 𝐶𝐶𝐶 = 459

Then: 𝑓 = ( 459 + 10) 𝑀𝐻𝑧 = 469 𝑀𝐻𝑧 = 469 𝑥 106 𝐻𝑧

Selected propagation medium: dry soil

Conductivity: 𝛔 = 1 × 10−4 𝑆/𝑚

Electrical permittivity: 𝛆𝐫 = 3

electrical permittivity of vacuum: 𝛆𝟎 = 8,8542 × 10−12 𝐹 ⁄𝑚

Note that 𝜔 = 2𝜋𝑓 and 𝜀 = εr ε𝑜

 𝜎 𝜎
𝑇𝑎𝑛(𝛿) = =
𝜔𝜀 2𝜋𝑓εr ε𝑜

𝜎 𝜎 1 × 10−4 𝑆/𝑚
𝑇𝑎𝑛(𝛿) = = =
𝜔𝜀 2𝜋𝑓εr ε𝑜 2𝜋 ∗ 469𝑥106 𝐻𝑧 ∗ 3 ∗ 8.8542x10−12 𝐶 2/N𝑚2

𝑇𝑎𝑛(𝛿) = 0.00127754647072

𝛿 = tan−1 (0.00127754647072)

𝛿 = 0.07319°

Figure 1: operation 1 on a virtual scientific calculator.

2. According to the result obtained in point 1, classify the behavior of the chosen
medium according to one of the 5 options in Table 2:

Considering the result of the loss tangent and the loss angle, we can classify
the behavior of the medium (dry soil) at a frequency of 469 MHz as a
dielectric with low losses.
 Media Tan(δ) δ [°]
1. Perfect dielectrics (Not dissipative) Tan(δ) = 0 δ = 0°

2. Good insulators (Lost low dielectric) 0 < Tan(δ) <= 0,1 0° < δ <= 6°

3. Dissipative dielectrics (Dielectrics with losses) 0,1 < Tan(δ) <= 10 6° < δ <= 84°

4. Good conductors (Good conductors) Tan(δ) > 10 84°< δ < 90°

5. Perfect conductors (Perfect conductors) Tan(δ) >>> 10 δ = 90°

Table 2: Classification of propagation media.

3. According to the classification obtained in point 2 and using Table 3 shown

below, calculate the following propagation parameters of the wave in the
chosen medium:

a. Propagation constant  (gamma).

b. Attenuation constant  (Alpha).
c. Phase constant  (Beta).

According to the behavior of the medium found in step 2, then we select the
corresponding equations in table 3 to calculate the propagation parameters of
the wave in the medium.

Table 3: Propagation parameters in open media.

Not Lost low Dielectrics with Good

Parameter
dissipative dielectric losses conductors
𝜸 𝑗𝜔 √𝜇𝜀 𝑗𝜔 √𝜇𝜀 √𝒋𝝎𝝁(𝝈 + 𝒋𝝎𝜺) √𝑗𝜔𝜎𝜇𝑜

𝜶 0 𝜎𝜂 ⁄2 𝑹𝒆() √𝜋𝑓𝜎𝜇𝑜

𝜷 𝜔 √𝜇𝜀 𝜔 √𝜇𝜀 𝑰𝒎() √𝜋𝑓𝜎𝜇𝑜

𝜼 √𝜇⁄𝜀 √𝜇⁄𝜀 √𝒋𝝎𝝁 ⁄(𝝈 + 𝒋𝝎𝜺) √𝑗𝜔𝜇𝑜 ⁄𝜎

𝜇 = 𝜇𝑟 𝜇𝑜 ; 𝜇𝑟 = 1 (𝑛𝑜𝑛 − 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎) ; 𝜇𝑜 = 1.2566x10−6 T m/A
we consider the following:

angular frequency:
𝜔 = 2𝜋𝑓
𝜔 = 2𝜋 ∙ 469 × 106 𝐻𝑧
𝜔 = 2946813909.06723 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠

absolute magnetic permeability:

𝜇 = 𝜇𝑟 𝜇0
𝜇 = 1.002 ∙ 1.2566 × 10−6 𝑇𝑚/𝐴
𝜇 = 1.2591132 × 10−6 𝑇𝑚/𝐴

absolute electrical permittivity:

𝜀 = 𝜀𝑟 𝜀0
𝜀 = 3 ∙ 8.8542 × 10−12 𝐶 2 /𝑁𝑚 2
𝜀 = 2.65626 × 10−11 𝐶 2 /𝑁𝑚 2

electric conductivity:
𝜎 = 1.00 × 10−4 𝑆/𝑚

now we calculate the wave propagation parameters:

• propagation constant 𝜸 (𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂):

𝜸 = 𝒊𝝎√𝝁 ∙ 𝜺
𝛾 = 𝑖 ∙ 2946813909.06723 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠√1.2591132 × 10−6 𝑇𝑚/𝐴 ∙ 2.65626 × 10−11 𝐶2 /𝑁𝑚 2
𝛾 = 17.04199𝑖
𝛾 = 0 + 17.04199𝑖

• intrinsic impedance 𝜼 (𝒆𝒕𝒂):

𝜼 = √𝝁/𝜺

1.2591132 × 10−6 𝑇𝑚/𝐴

𝜂=√
2.65626 × 10−11 𝐶 2 /𝑁𝑚 2
𝜂 = 217.719 Ω
• constant attenuation 𝜶 (𝒂𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒂):

𝝈∙𝜼
𝜶=
𝟐
1.00 × 10−4 𝑆/𝑚 ∙ 217.719 Ω
𝛼=
2
𝛼 = 0.01088595 𝑁𝑝 /𝑚

• constant phase 𝜷 (𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒂):

𝜷 = 𝝎√𝝁 ∙ 𝜺
𝛽 = 2946813909.06723 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠√1.2591132 × 10−6 𝑇𝑚/𝐴 ∙ 2.65626 × 10−11 𝐶 2 /𝑁𝑚 2
𝛽 = 17.04199 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑚

Figure 2: operation 2 on a virtual scientific calculator.

4. According to the results obtained in point 3 and using the following equations,
calculate the propagation characteristics of the wave in the chosen medium:
a. Propagation speed 𝒗𝒑 .
b. Wavelength 𝝀.
c. The penetration depth of the 𝜹𝒑 wave in the medium.

After calculating the wave propagation parameters in step 3, we will now

calculate the wave propagation characteristics:
• propagation speed 𝒗𝒑 :

𝝎
𝒗𝒑 =
𝜷
2946813909.06723 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠
𝑣𝑝 =
17.04199 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑚
𝑣𝑝 = 172914894.860708 𝑚/𝑠
𝑣𝑝 = 172.914 × 106 𝑚/𝑠

• wavelength 𝝀:

𝟐𝝅
𝝀=
𝜷
2𝜋
𝜆=
17.04199 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑚
𝜆 = 0.36868 𝑚

• deep penetration 𝜹𝒑 :

𝟏
𝜹𝒑 =
|𝜶|
1
𝛿𝑝 =
|0.01088595 𝑁𝑝 /𝑚|
𝛿𝑝 = 91.861 𝑚
Figure 3: operation 3 on a virtual scientific calculator.
 Interpretation
Interpretation: According to the concepts explored, explain in your own words the meaning
and the result obtained for: 𝑇𝑎𝑛(𝛿), 𝑉𝑝 , 𝜆 and 𝛿𝑝 .

lost tangent 𝑻𝒂𝒏(𝜹): Basically, it is the relationship between the conduction

current and the displacement current, where its value depends on the
parameters of the medium where the wave propagates and on the frequency.
With the value of the loss tangent or if we calculate the loss angle, we can know
how the propagation medium behaves, for the case of this exercise the
propagation medium is dry soil and the wave frequency is 469MHz calculating
the tangent of loss we can conclude that the medium behaves as a dielectric of
losses.

propagation speed 𝑽𝒑 : It is the advance that it develops per unit of time, or

basically it is the speed at which an electromagnetic wave propagates. For our
exercise, the speed at which the electromagnetic wave propagates in the
medium (dry soil) is 172.914 × 106 𝑚/𝑠

wavelength 𝝀: We can understand the wavelength as the distance between

two maximum points in a row located in the same phase of the electromagnetic
wave. the wavelength of the exercise performed is 0.36868 𝑚

penetration depth 𝜹𝒑: the value calculated in the penetration depth indicates
the distance in meters where the wave has already lost 64% of its power and
where the signal is already considered imperceptible. the value of the exercise
carried out the depth of penetration is 91.861 𝑚
 Application example

Electro-magnetic waves are used in different applications and fields, within the
health area we can see the use of electromagnetic waves in X-ray shots.

X-rays are called OEMs whose wavelength is within the range of 10 to 0.01 nm,
with frequencies within the range of 30 to 3000 Phz. These are invisible to the
human eye, but have an energy capable of passing through opaque bodies and
printing photographic film. Current digital systems allow obtaining and
displaying the radiographic image on a computer (tomograph).

Video link

URL: https://youtu.be/0wSrbwH40TI
 References

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