The electromagnetic Spectrum
The EM Spectrum
The EM spectrum is the span of electromagnetic energy, from long to short waves, and also high to low frequency. It measures all the waves known to humans on a scale we can understand. Pretty much all of the waves affect your life in some way, shape or form. But first, which waves are these and what are they? Here's some key info on these waves. Application to space is in blue. The pictures in between the wave name and the description are the space pictures.
Which waves?
X RAY
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-second smallest wavelength
-second largest energy level -second highest frequency -used by doctors and dentists -first observed in 1805 by Wilhem Conrad -pretty helpful -x rays are generated by very very very hot objects like the sun's corona -used in telescopes -emitted by electrons -President Reagan once had a plan for an X ray laser. It failed. |
VISIBLE LIGHT
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-The only part of the EM spectrum we can see
-right in the middle in terms of everything -determines color of things -helpful -Order is ROYGBIV -used to see things -wavelengths separate into the rainbow in a prism because each color is a different wavelength. -Violet has the shortest wavelength and red has the longest wavelength -the sun produces it -can blind you |
INFRARED
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-low medium frequency
-high wavelength -medium energy level -beyond red on visible light spectrum -we can sense some of it as heat -used in TV remotes, heaters and thermal imaging -both harmful & helpful -in high concentration it can harm you -sends signals to TV remote -in thermal imaging it uses heat to form a colored picture -also used to capture pictures of nebulas |
RADIO
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-longest wavelength
-used to transmit signals -lowest frequency and energy level -helpful and harmful -used to communicate -Astronomical objects that have a changing magnetic field can produce radio waves and this can be measured with radio telescopes -radio telescopes detect quasars -can heat body tissue to a harmful point -discovered by Heinrich Hertz |