Electromagnetic spectrum is the name of a bunch of types of radiation organized by the amount of energy they carry. Radiation is any kind of movement of energy though space. Radiation can be a wave or a particle

Energy level Radio Waves: lower energy: Radio / TV signal – mobiles - from stars Microwaves: microwaves to heat food – radar signal Infrared waves: radiating heat Visible light Ultraviolet waves: sunlight X-rays: high penetration power, pictures of bones Gamma-rays: from space – nuclear reaction

Electromagnetic Spectrum

The diagram shows a section of the electromagnetic spectrum How do the frequency and the speed of gamma rays compare with those of visible light?

Properties They are produced when atoms or electrons lose energy. They can all be reflected and refracted. They are all transverse waves. They can travel through a vacuum. They all travel in a vacuum at a speed of 300 000 000 m/s (3 x 108 m/s). Their speed in air is almost the same as this.

Infrared

Visible light Light coming from the sun is called white light White light is not a pure colour, it is a mixture of all the different colours making up the visible spectrum. The separating of white light into its component colours is called dispersion.

Visible light, made up of 7 colours: Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet R O Y G B I V

X-rays

Light coming form the sun is __________ light. It is not a _______ colour but a ___________ of all _________ colours, making up the __________. The ___________ light can be separated into __________ of colours The visible spectrum is part of the ________ spectrum that our _______ are able to detect. The separation of white light into colours is called __________.