Waves 2 Flashcards
Electromagnetic waves, Light & Lenses. (170 cards)
Use of radio waves
Television and radio.
They transfer energy from TV and radio transmitters to TVs and radios.
They are not transmitted by the ionosphere, instead, they are refracted and then reflected to a receiver.
Why are radio waves suitable for television and radio?
Reflected by ionosphere (the ionized part of the Earth’s atmosphere) so can broadcast over long distances.
Use of microwaves
Satellite communications, cooking food.
Why are radio waves suitable for satellite communications and cooking food?
They’re able to pass through the atmosphere to satellites.
Has a heating effect.
What are electromagnetic (EM) waves?
Transverse waves that transfer energy from the source of the waves to an absorber. (can be an observer?)
All types of electromagnetic wave travel at the same velocity through a vacuum (space) or air - 3 x 10⁸ m/s
What do electromagnetic (EM) waves form?
A continuous spectrum.
How are the waves that form the electromagnetic spectrum grouped?
In terms of their wavelength and their frequency.
List the EM waves from low to high frequency.
Radio waves
Micro waves
Infrared radiation
Visible light
Ultraviolet
X-rays
Gamma rays
EM wave with highest frequency?
Gamma rays
EM wave with lowest frequency?
Radio Waves
EM wave with longest wavelength?
Radio Waves
EM wave with shortest wavelength?
Gamma rays
What differentiates the EM waves?
Their frequencies and wavelengths which are inversely related (highest frequency = shortest wavelength, lowest frequency = longest wavelength).
Why can our eyes only detect a limited range of electromagnetic waves?
Our eyes only detect visible light.
What gives us colours?
Different wavelengths in the visible light region
(longest =red - hence lowest frequency, shortest = blue)
Which EM waves transfer energy from the Sun to the Earth?
Infrared
Visible light
UV
What is the wavelength of radio waves?
10³ m
What is the wavelength of gamma rays?
10⁻¹² m
Order the wavelengths of visible light from long to short (remember- the wavelength determines the colour)
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
Different substances may absorb, transmit, refract or reflect electromagnetic waves in ways that vary with what?
wavelength
Some effects, for example __________ are due to the difference in ________of the waves in different _________.
refraction
velocity
substances
Students should be able to use wave front diagrams to explain refraction in terms of the change of…
…speed that happens when a wave travels from one medium to a different medium.
How can radio waves be produced/generated?
By oscillations in electrical circuits.
They can also induce an alternating current in an electrical circuit.
What can happen when radio waves are absorbed?
When radio waves are absorbed, they may create an alternating current with the same frequency as the radio wave itself.
This means that radio waves themselves can induce oscillations in an electrical circuit.