ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN OUR DAILY LIVES

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. What are electromagnetic waves? Are these even useful? safe? For life? Or harm?

Transmission of energy through a vacuum or using no medium is accomplished by electromagnetic waves, caused by the oscillation of electric and magnetic fields. They move at a constant speed of 3x10⁸ m/s. Often, they are called electromagnetic radiation, light, or photons. Electromagnetic waves or EM Waves are used to transmit long/short/FM wavelength radio waves, and TV/telephone/wireless signals or energies. They are also responsible for transmitting energy in the form of microwaves, infrared radiation (IR), visible light (VIS), ultraviolet light (UV), X-rays, and gamma rays. Each region of this spectrum plays an important part in our lives, and in the business involving communication technology. The list given above are in increasing frequency (or decreasing wavelength) order. Here again is the list of regions and the approximate wavelengths in them. For simplicity, we choose to give only the magnitudes of frequencies. That is we give log (frequency) (log(f)).

The electromagnetic waves (EM waves) are transverse in nature. The changes in the electric field or the magnetic field represent the wave disturbance in the EM waves. These are the waves that get propagated due to the simultaneous variations of the electric and magnetic field intensity.

PEOPLE WHO CONTRIBUTED IN ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

Guru Nanak Dev Ji  

The first man to discover Electromagnetic Waves.

James Clerk Maxwell
The Scotsman James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) is regarded as the greatest theoretical physicist of the 19th century. Although he died young, Maxwell not only formulated a complete electromagnetic theory, represented by Maxwell’s equations. Maxwell brought together all the work that had been done by brilliant physicists such as Oersted, Coulomb, Gauss, and Faraday, and added his own insights to develop the overarching theory of electromagnetism. 

Heinrich Hertz
The German physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894) was the first to generate and detect certain types of electromagnetic waves in the laboratory. Starting in 1887, he performed a series of experiments that not only confirmed the existence of electromagnetic waves, but also verified that they travel at the speed of light.

Michael Faraday
(born September 22,1791, died August 25, 1867, Hampton Court, Surrey), English physic and chemist whose many experiments contributed greatly to the understanding of electromagnetism. Faraday, who became one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century, began his career as a chemist. His major contribution, however, was in the field of electricity and magnetism. He was the first to produce an electric current from a magnetic field.

Joseph HenryHe discovered several important principles of electricity. He observed electromagnetic induction a year before Michael Faraday announced its discovery, including self-induction. He made improvements to electromagnets.

APPLICATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

Every part of the electromagnetic spectrum has multiple applications in our everyday lives, and many of those applications involve technology.

Radio waves are used for communications, that's why the thing in your car is called a radio. But they're not just for FM and AM radio. They're also used to broadcast television signals, and they're how mobile phones work. Radio waves are also used for radar (radio detecting and ranging), which is why both words start with the same three letters. 

Microwaves have probably the most obvious application: in a microwave. Microwaves can be used to heat and cook your food. Since microwaves aren't that different from radio waves, they've also been used for communications, especially for extending TV signals to larger distances.

Infrared waves are what comes out of remote controls. Infrared is also a type of wave that transmits a lot of heat. When you put your hand near to, but not touching, something and it feels warm, it's because of infrared waves coming out of it. All hot objects produce infrared. In fact, you're producing infrared waves right now. Infrared waves can also be used to create heat-sensitive and night-vision cameras.

Visible light is a form of electromagnetic (EM) radiation, as are radio waves, infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and microwaves. Generally, visible light is defined as the wavelengths that are visible to most human eyes.

Ultraviolet waves have their uses too, but they're also a bit of a pain. That's because the sun produces a lot of ultraviolet and is a common cause of skin cancer. When powerful enough, UV can damage your skin. Getting a sun tan might be a fun-sounding use of UV, but because of the risks, it's a bad idea. More positive uses include the fact that UV can sterilize and disinfect medical instruments, killing bacteria and viruses. 

X-rays are electromagnetic waves that can be used in aptly named x-ray machines to see inside your body and diagnose various diseases. They can also be used to kill cancer cells.

Gamma rays are the highest energy, highest frequency, and shortest wavelength waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma rays can be used to kill living organisms, sterilize medical equipment, and treat cancer. Gamma rays have to be used carefully, because they can be dangerous.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
Electromagnetic waves has advantages where in these waves are beneficial to us humans and other living things in the world. While its disadvantages, if we are overexposed to it it causes harm to all of  us. Especially when we are using it abusively. Humans should know how to control in doing such thing for their safety and for their own good.

IMPORTANCE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

Now, in the 21st century, electromagnetic waves are a very crucial part of our lives. Even though we are often not aware of how much they actually effect and influence our lives, electromagnetic waves enable easy communication and help us live our lives easier. Electromagnetic waves are used by cell phones, computers, televisions, and even microwaves. They simplify our lives by letting us connect to people around the globe within second, and creating a whole "global village" that keeps the everyone in the world in touch with what is happening on the other side of them hemisphere. These waves make communication and news-spreading extremely fast and efficient. In the olden times, news took weeks, if not even months to travel, while now, you can send an email and get it delivered within seconds, or call somebody and spread the news right away. Electromagnetic waves also make our home life easier and more luxurious by enabling us to heat our food in microwaves  to heat up food(instead of making a fire) and let us relax and get information from television.

SUMMARY

Electromagnetic waves or EM Waves are waves that can travel through a vacuum, like in space. This is possible because they're not vibrations in an actual material; they're fluctuations in electric and magnetic fields. All electromagnetic waves move at the speed of light. EM Waves can either be safe or unsafe, useful, and for life or harm. It just depends on us on how exposed are we to it. We should not use things abusively, we need to learn how to control. To avoid any harm, danger or bad effects unto us, let us do what is right and better for us and to our world. Overall, electromagnetic waves have a major effect on our lives, even though we are often not aware of how much we actually rely on them. 

"A wave of energy having a frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum and propagated as a periodic disturbance of the electromagnetic field when an electric charge oscillates or accelerates."

- Brian E. Gilchrist

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