Nature of Electromagnetic

Waves
Most Essential Learning Competency (MELC)

Compare the relative wavelengths of different

forms of electromagnetic waves (S10FE-IIa-b-47).
 Learning Objectives:

• Identify scientists with major contribution to

Electromagnetic Wave theory;
• Calculate the mathematical definition for determining
wave speed (v= λf); and
• Appreciate the uses of the different types of
electromagnetic wave in our daily living.
 THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE THEORY
Did you send text messages to somebody today? Or have you
ever tried cooking in a microwave oven? Did you know that these
previously mentioned human activities make use of microwaves?
Microwaves carry energy, and so with the other kinds of
electromagnetic waves. But what are electromagnetic waves?
How can these waves useful to us? To study electromagnetic
wave, we must study first the proponents on the formulation of
this theory.
 The proponents on the formulation of this
Electromagnetic wave theory

Hans Christian Ørsted, Ørsted also spelled Oersted,

(born August 14, 1777, Rudkøbing, Denmark—died March 9, 1851,
Copenhagen), Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric
current in a wire can deflect a magnetized compass needle, a phenomenon the
importance of which was rapidly recognized and which inspired the
development of electromagnetic theory.
 Andre Marie Ampere
The man who formulated the law of electromagnetism often known as Ampere's
Law and who gave his name to the Amp, the unit of electrical current. Ampere's
major break though came in 1820 after he heard about the discovery that Hans
Christian Oersted had made in observing that a magnetic needle was deflected
when placed near a current carrying cable. Ampere formulated a law of
electromagnetism, often called Ampere's Law that mathematically describes the
magnetic force between two currents. In addition to this he undertook many
experiments from which he managed to explain some electromagnetic
phenomena that had been observed.
 Michael Faraday (1832)
• An English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism
and electrochemistry. Faraday developed the mathematical concept of
the 'electro-magnetic force field' as a way of mathematically describing
action-at-a-distance for charged particles (i.e. electrons and protons). This
is a continuous mathematical 'plotting' of the effects (forces and thus
accelerated motions) that matter has on other matter in the Space
around it, thus it is a description of effects rather than causes (Inductive
rather than deductive).
 James Clerk Maxwell
• An English scientist, developed a scientific theory to explain
electromagnetic waves. He noticed that electrical fields and
magnetic fields can couple together to form electromagnetic waves.
Neither an electrical field (like the static which forms when you rub
your feet on a carpet), nor a magnetic field (like the one that holds a
magnet onto your refrigerator) will go anywhere by themselves.
But, Maxwell discovered that a CHANGING magnetic field will
induce a CHANGING electric field and vice-versa.
 Heinrich Rudolf Hertz,

• A German physicist, applied Maxwell's theories to the production

and reception of radio waves. The unit of frequency of a radio
wave (one cycle per second) is named the hertz (Hz), in honor of
Heinrich Hertz. Hertz proved the existence of radio waves in the
late 1880s. He used two rods to serve as a receiver and a spark
gap as the receiving antennae. Where the waves were picked up,
a spark would jump. Hertz showed in his experiments that these
signals possessed all of the properties of electromagnetic waves.
 Some of the more famous scientists who
developed / formulated the foundations of
Electricity and Magnetism are listed below.

• Alessandro Volta, James Prescott Joule, Georg Simon

Ohm, Charles William Siemens, Charles-Augustin
Coulomb, Joseph Henry, Nicola Tesla, Wilhelm Eduard
Weber ,Guglielmo Marconi, Gustav Robert Kirchhoff,
Léon Charles Thévenin
 THE ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS
TOGETHER
Accelerating electrons produce electromagnetic waves. These
waves are a combination of electric and magnetic fields. A
changing magnetic field produces an electric field, and a changing
electric field produces a magnetic field. As accelerated electrons
produce an electric field of a wave, the varying electric field
produces the wave’s magnetic field. Both the electric field and the
magnetic field oscillate perpendicular to each other and to the
direction of the propagating wave.
• The relative directions of electric and magnetic field can
be predicted using Right-Hand Rule with respect to the
direction of the wave’s propagation. This rule is invented
for use in electromagnetism by British physicist John
Ambrose Fleming in the late 19th century. By
considering the thumb as the direction of the wave’s
propagation (travel), index and middle fingers as electric
and magnetic fields, you should be able to predict what
would be the direction of electric field and magnetic field
as it oscillates with respect to the wave’s direction.
• Try to considering the figure on the right, let say the
index represents the electric field and the middle finger
represents the magnetic field. Therefore, the electric
field oscillates vertically up-and-down and the magnetic
field oscillates toward-and-away from you as the wave
travels to the right.
All electromagnetic waves can travel through a medium but
unlike other types of waves, they can also travel in vacuum.
They travel in vacuum at a speed of 3 x 108 m/s which is
denoted as c, commonly known as the speed of light. The
wave speed, frequency, and wavelength are related by the
following equation:
v=λf
Where v is the wave speed, or c (speed of light) expressed
in meters per second, the frequency f is expressed in hertz
(Hz) and the wavelength λ is expressed in meters (m).
Consider the following sample problem below. The unit for
hertz (Hz) is equivalent to 1 cycle – per – second (1/s).
Example Problem:
(Assume that the waves propagate
in a vacuum)
What is the frequency of radio
waves with wavelength of 20 m?
What is the wavelength of light
waves with frequency of 6 x 1014
Hz?
Given: λ= 20m; Unknown: f= ?;
v=c=λf f=c/λ
f=3 x 108m/s20m =𝟏.𝟓 𝐱 𝟏𝟎𝟕/𝐬 𝐨𝐫
𝐇𝐳
Given: v=c=3x108 m/s;
f= 6 x 1014 Hz or 6 x 1014/s
Unknown: λ = ?; λ =c/f
λ=3 x 108m/s6 x 1014/s =𝟓 𝐱 𝟏𝟎−𝟕 𝐦
 THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

• The electromagnetic spectrum is a continuum of electromagnetic waves

arranged according to frequency and wavelength. It is a gradual progression
from the waves of lowest frequencies to the waves of highest frequencies.
According to increasing frequency, the Electro Magnetic Spectrum includes:
radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma
rays. There is no clear line that tells the boundary between two waves in the
spectrum. Using the phrase “Rajah’s mother is visiting Uncle Xavier’s garden”
can help you memorize these seven electromagnetic waves easily by
considering the first letter of each word represents the type of the wave.
• The different types of electromagnetic waves are defined
by the amount of energy carried by/possessed by the
photons. Photons are bundles of wave energy and
considered as a tiny particle that comprises waves of
electromagnetic radiation. As shown by Maxwell, photons
are just electric fields traveling through space.. The energy
of a photon is given by the equation:
• E=hf
• where h is the Planck’s Constant and f is the frequency of the EM
wave. The value of the Planck’s constant (h) is 6.63 x 10-34 joules
per second. The energy of a photon is measure in an S.I. unit of
electron-volts (eV).
• From among the EM waves, the gamma rays have photons of the
highest energies while radio waves have photons with the lowest
energies. With regard to wavelength, radio waves can be likened to
the size of a football field while gamma rays are as small as the
nucleus of an atom.
• In Addition, visible light is the only electromagnetic wave
in the spectrum that can be observed by our naked eye.
This electromagnetic wave is divided into seven different
colors which are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo,
and violet (you can use “ROYGBIV” for easy retention).
Table 1. Electromagnetic wavelength,
frequency and energy ranges