Lesson Plan

Lesson: Electromagnetic waves

Aim: To learn and understand electromagnetic waves.

Lesson objectives
In this lesson, students should be able to

• understand electromagnetic waves are made up of electric vibrations and

magnetic that vibrations.
• understand the orientations of E and B in an electromagnetic wave.
• compare electromagnetic waves with mechanical waves.
1
• State the formula c =
ε 0 µ0
• state the order of magnitude of wavelength of each type of electromagnetic waves.

Assumed Prior Knowledge

Students should be familiar with

• electric field
• magnetic field
• wave equation
• mechanical waves
• oscillations

Activity Descriptions

Activity 1
Electromagnetic vibrations

Students learn and understand

• Accelerating electric charges produce to electromagnetic waves.

• Orientation of E and B in an electromagnetic wave.

© 2004 Ministry Of Education Malaysia. All Rights Reserved. 1

 Activity 2 and 3
Relationship between ε 0 , µ 0 , and c

Students learn and understand the relationship between ε 0 , µ 0 , and c

1
• Expression for the speed of light, c =
ε0µ0

1
• The significance of the formula c =
ε 0 µ0

Activity 4
Electromagnetic spectrum

Students learn and understand

• Orders of magnitude of wavelengths and frequencies of electromagnetic waves.

• Electromagnetic waves in the electromagnetic spectrum

© 2004 Ministry Of Education Malaysia. All Rights Reserved. 2

 Development of Lesson

No. Steps Strategy Resources

1. Introduction Teacher projects the introduction on the screen. LCD projector

Teacher’s notebook
computer

Multimedia
courseware

2 Students activity Teacher projects activities of lesson on the screen LCD projector

Teacher starts the activities one by one by following the Teacher’s notebook
instruction in the program, followed by questions and computer
answers.
Multimedia
Teacher together with the students summarize the lesson. courseware

Summary of activity Activity 1:

• To learn and understand the

i. Accelerating electric charges produce

to electromagnetic waves.
ii. Orientations of E and B in an electromagnetic
waves

Activity 2 and 3:
• To learn and understand the
i. Expression for the speed of light, c = 1
ε 0 µ0
ii. The significance of the formula c = 1
ε 0 µ0
Activity 4:
• Learn and understand
i. Order and magnitude of wavelengths and
frequencies of electromagnetic waves.
ii. Electromagnetic waves in the electromagnetic
spectrum

3 Worksheet Teacher distributes the worksheets to the students. Printed copies of

worksheets
Students are supposed to complete the worksheet
individually.

Completed worksheets to be collected by the teacher for

marking.

4 Extension activity Students are asked to look for further information by: Suggested websites

Surfing the Internet using the search engines like Yahoo Recommended text
or Alta Vista or Googgle references

Looking up text references

© 2004 Ministry Of Education Malaysia. All Rights Reserved. 3

 Answers to Worksheet

Question 1

Complete the following sentences

a. The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from high energy gamma radiation to long wavelength radio
waves.

b. A well-defined part of the electromagnetic spectrum, in the wavelength range 400 nm to 700 nm is the
visible light.

c. The range of the spectrum with wavelengths less than 400 nm is called ultra-violet (UV) while the range
with wavelengths more than 700 nm is called infra-red (IR).

Question 2

1. The electromagnetic wave is a transverse wave which consists of electric and magnetic vibrations.
2. The electric field is always perpendicular to the magnetic field.
3. The two fields vary sinusoidally with the same frequency and in phase with each other

4. The electric and magnetic fields E and B are always perpendicular to the direction of propagation of
the wave.

5. The cross product E × B always gives the direction of travel of the wave.

Question 3

Frequency does not change when electromagnetic wave travels from one medium to another, but the
wavelength of the wave will change as it travels from one medium to another.

Question 4 : D

Question 5 : A

Question 6 : A

Question 7: A

Question 8: A

© 2004 Ministry Of Education Malaysia. All Rights Reserved. 4