Introduction

Figure 15.1 Human eyes detect these orange sea goldie fish swimming over a coral reef in the blue waters of the Gulf of Eilat, in the Red Sea, using visible light. (credit: David Darom, Wikimedia Commons)

Chapter Outline

15.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum

15.2 The Behavior of Electromagnetic Radiation

The beauty of a coral reef, the warm radiance of sunshine, the sting of sunburn, the X-ray revealing a broken bone, even microwave popcorn—all are brought to us by electromagnetic waves. The list of the various types of electromagnetic waves, ranging from radio transmission waves to nuclear gamma-ray (γ-ray) emissions, is interesting in itself.

Even more intriguing is that all of these different phenomena are manifestations of the same thing—electromagnetic waves (see Figure 15.1). What are electromagnetic waves? How are they created, and how do they travel? How can we understand their widely varying properties? What is the relationship between electric and magnetic effects? These and other questions will be explored.