Lesson 1: The Nature of Electromagnetic Waves Unit: Sound and Light Lesson 1: The Nature of Electromagnetic Waves Essential Questions: 1.) What makes up an electromagnetic wave? 2.) What models explain how electromagnetic waves behave?
What makes up an electromagnetic wave? An electromagnetic wave is a transverse wave that involves the transfer of electric and magnetic energy and travels at the speed of light
Electromagnetic radiation is the energy that electromagnetic waves transfer
What models explain how electromagnetic waves behave? 1.) Wave Model of Light Light enters a polarizing filter. The light that passes through the filter is called polarized light.
2.) Particle Model of Light Light is a stream of tiny particles of energy called photons. When photons hit a metal surface they knock out electrons. This is called the photoelectric effect.