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What is the Electromagnetic Spectrum?
Electromagnetic
waves can have wavelengths which
range from
several thousand metres to
less than
one million
millionth of a metre.
The waves are divided into wavelength ranges
according to the wave's effect or
uses.
This is called the electromagnetic spectrum.
You need to know the order of the
regions shown above
and that radio waves have the longest
wavelength
decreasing down to gamma rays which have the shortest
wavelength.
How do the Wavelength, Frequency
and Energy Change?
As the wavelength decreases, the frequency increases.
Radio waves have the smallest frequency
and gamma rays have the largest frequency.
The amount of energy
that the wave has
increases as the frequency
increases
(and the energy of each photon
increases).
Radio waves have the smallest amount of energy
and gamma rays have the largest amount of energy.
What is the Intensity of Electromagnetic
Radiation?
The intensity of a
beam of electromagnetic
radiation
is a measure of the amount of energy
hitting
each square metre of surface every
second. The
actual
amount of energy depends on the
energy of each photon
as well as the number of photons hitting the
surface.
The intensity of electromagnetic
radiation decreases the
further it
travels
because it spreads out over a bigger
surface area
and some electromagnetic
radiation is absorbed
by the air.
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