Goal 4 – The Electromagnetic Spectrum Recognize and describe the source of energy and how it is transferred to the Earth in a range of wavelengths and energy levels.    

Sunlight Radio Infrared Visible light Ultra Violet Television X-rays Gamma Rays Ocean

300,000,000 meters in one second. Light from the sun reaches the earth in 8 minutes.

There are times when it is easier to understand light as a stream of particles or a RAY

When light goes through a filter eliminating some of the waves

They transfer energy from place to place They require a medium

Transverse waves that have some electrical and some magnetic properties.

They consist of changing electrical and magnetic fields

A wave that vibrates the medium perpendicular to the direction of the wave.

Name for the range of electromagnetic wave placed in order of increasing frequency

Radio Microwaves Infrared Visible light Ultraviolet X Rays Gamma Rays

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Radio  

Microwaves The radio waves with the shortest wavelengths and the highest frequencies.

Infrared rays The invisible heat you feel is infrared radiation, or infrared rays. Wavelengths shorter than those of radio waves.

Why can’t you see the others? Only visible light Why can’t you see the others? The waves are moving either too fast or too slow for your eyes to pick them up.

White light Composed of multiple colors of light. Red longest wavelength, bends the most Violet, shortest wavelength bends the least

X-rays Electromagnetic waves with wavelengths just shorter than those of ultraviolet rays. Their frequencies are just a little higher than ultraviolet rays. Because of their high frequencies, X-rays carry more energy than ultraviolet rays and can penetrate most matter. But dense matter, such as bone or lead, absorbs X-rays and does not allow them to pass through.

Gamma Rays Electromagnetic waves with the shortest wavelengths and highest frequencies. Because they have the greatest amount of energy, gamma rays are the most penetrating of all the electromagnetic waves.

In what ways are all electromagnetic waves the same In what ways are all electromagnetic waves the same?  In what ways are they different?

As the wavelengths of electromagnetic waves decrease, wat happens to their frequencies?   To their energies? Because the speed of all electromagnetic waves is the same, as the wavelength decreases, the frequency increases.  Waves with the longest wavelengths have the lowest frequencies. Waves with the shortest wavelengths have the highest frequencies.  The amount of energy carried by an electromagnetic wave increases with frequency. The higher the frequency of a wave, the higher its energy.

Goal Recognize and describe the source of energy and how it is transferred to the Earth in a range of wavelengths and energy levels.