The electromagnetic spectrum
INTRODUCTION: The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. Radiation can be said to be energy that travels and spread as it goes. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object has a different meaning, and is instead the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object. We tend to witness different radiations of the electromagnetic spectrum without knowing, example is the visible light that we see with our naked eyes and the activities of radio waves in our radios and TVs.
HISTORY OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM DISCOVERY The ancient Greeks recognized that light traveled in straight lines and studied some of its properties, including reflection and refraction. Over the years the study of light continued and during the 16th and 17th centuries there were conflicting theories which regarded light as either a wave or a particle. The first discovery of electromagnetic radiation other than visible light came in 1800, when William Herschel discovered infrared radiation. The next year Johann Ritter discovered ultraviolet radiation. Electromagnetic radiation had been first linked to electromagnetism in 1845, when Michael Faraday noticed that the polarization of light traveling through a transparent material responded to a magnetic field. During the 1860s James Maxwell developed four partial differential equations for the electromagnetic field, out of them, two equations predicted to be waves led to the inference that light itself is a type of electromagnetic wave. Maxwell's effort was the first indication of the existence of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Attempting to prove Maxwell's equations and detect such low frequency electromagnetic radiation, in 1886 the physicist Heinrich Hertz found the waves and was able to infer that they traveled at the speed of light. Hertz also demonstrated that the new radiation could be both reflected and refracted by
HISTORY OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM DISCOVERY The ancient Greeks recognized that light traveled in straight lines and studied some of its properties, including reflection and refraction. Over the years the study of light continued and during the 16th and 17th centuries there were conflicting theories which regarded light as either a wave or a particle. The first discovery of electromagnetic radiation other than visible light came in 1800, when William Herschel discovered infrared radiation. The next year Johann Ritter discovered ultraviolet radiation. Electromagnetic radiation had been first linked to electromagnetism in 1845, when Michael Faraday noticed that the polarization of light traveling through a transparent material responded to a magnetic field. During the 1860s James Maxwell developed four partial differential equations for the electromagnetic field, out of them, two equations predicted to be waves led to the inference that light itself is a type of electromagnetic wave. Maxwell's effort was the first indication of the existence of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Attempting to prove Maxwell's equations and detect such low frequency electromagnetic radiation, in 1886 the physicist Heinrich Hertz found the waves and was able to infer that they traveled at the speed of light. Hertz also demonstrated that the new radiation could be both reflected and refracted by