Chapter 8 – Electromagnetic Waves

What is wattless current?

An inconsistency in the ampere law and the presence of an additional current in order to remove
this inconsistency is referred to as displacement current. The displacement current acts as a source
of the magnetic field just like the conduction current.

Spectrum of electromagnetic waves

The spectrum of electromagnetic waves ranges over different wavelength. Those are:

 Infrared Rays
 Visible Rays
 Ultraviolet Rays
 X- Rays
 Radio Waves
 Microwaves
They interact with matter through their electric and magnetic fields which is responsible behind the
oscillations charges of the matter. The mechanism of scattering and adsorption depends on electromagnetic
waves’ wavelength along with the nature of the atoms and molecules.

Total energy of an electromagnetic wave

Electromagnetic waves possess energy when they move through space and they share this energy through
their magnetic and electric fields. These waves are also responsible for transporting momentum also. With
the strike of total energy on a surface, the pressure is seen to be exerted on the surface. If the total energy
transferred to a surface is taken as U and in the time t, then total momentum delivered to the surface is p =
U/c

The speed of an electromagnetic wave in the vacuum medium is

Here, the value of c equals the speed of light from the measuring optical instruments. Light is also an
electromagnetic wave that means it has the same speed as light. Even the electromagnetic waves other than
light also has the same speed as light in the free medium and is given by

Where is the permeability of the considered medium and is the permittivity.

A Dipole is the basic component of an electromagnetic wave. An accelerating charge produces an

electromagnetic wave.

Important Questions
1. By using the formula E = hν, obtain the photon energy in units of eV for different parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum (for the energy of a quantum of radiation: photon).
2. What can you say about the directions of its electric and magnetic field vectors of a plane
electromagnetic wave t which is travelling in vacuum along z-direction and the frequency of the
wave is 50 MHz and find out what is its wavelength?
3. A radio can tune in to any station in the 8.3 MHz to 15 MHz bands. What is the corresponding
wavelength band?