The Regions of the Electromagnetic Spectrum and their uses

Note: Electromagnetic waves are classified

Electromagnetic spectrum is the continues range

Electromagnetic spectrum

NOTE: Electromagnetic spectrum arranged in order of decreasing wavelength

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES:

RADIO WAVES
• Radio waves have the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from
10−1 m to 104 m. They range from the length of a football to larger than our planet or from 30
kHz to 3000 MHz.
• Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves in the late 1880s.
2. MICROWAVES

• Microwaves are a portion or "band" found at the higher frequency end of the radio spectrum,
but they are commonly distinguished from radio waves because of the technologies used to
access them.
• The microwave region in the EM spectrum lies somewhere from 300 MHz to 300 GHz , with
wavelength corresponding to 10−3 m to 10−1 m.
• James Clerk Maxwell is credited for discovering microwaves in 1864.

3. Infrared waves

• Infrared literally means “below red”. Infrared radiations (IR) have a lower frequency than the
red part of the visible light.Their frequencies range from 3x 〖10"to 4x" 10^(14 ) "Hz , with
wavelengths ranging from 7.5x " 10^(−7 ) "m to " 10^(−3 ) "m. " 〗^(11 ) Hz . In 1800, William
Herschel conducted an experiment measuring the difference in temperature between the colors
in the visible spectrum. He placed thermometers within each color of the visible spectrum. The
results showed an increase in temperature from blue to red. When he noticed an even warmer
temperature measurement just beyond the red end of the visible spectrum, Herschel had
discovered infrared light!
• They are used for many tasks, for example, remote controls for TVs and video recorders, and
physiotherapists use heat lamps to help heal sports injuries. IR is also used for short-range
communications, for example between mobile phones.
• CCD chips are used as pickup devices in digital cameras, including camcorders and mobile phone
cameras.
• "Passive Infra-Red" (PIR) detectors are used in burglar alarm systems, and to control the
security lighting that many people have fitted outside their houses.
• Helicopters track criminals at night, using "thermal imaging" cameras which can see in the dark.
• Weather forecasters use satellite pictures to see what's heading our way. Some of the images
they use are taken using IR cameras, because they show cloud and rain patterns more clearly.
 4. VISIBLE LIGHT
• The visible light spectrum is the segment of the
electromagnetic spectrum that the human eye can
view. More simply, this range of wavelengths is
called visible light.
• Electromagnetic radiations in the range of 4x
1014 Hz to 8x 1014 with corresponding
wavelengths of 4x 10−7 m to 8x 10−7 m are the
only ones seen by our naked eye.
• The sequence of colors of visible light from longest
to shortest may be remembered by the acronym
ROYGBIV; red , orange , yellow , green, blue,
indigo and violet.

• Visible Light waves can also be made using a

5. ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT
• Ultraviolet (UV) light has shorter wavelengths than visible light. Although UV waves are invisible
to the human eye, some insects, such as bumblebees,
can see them. This is similar to how a dog can hear
the sound of a whistle just outside the hearing range
of humans.
• The Sun is a source of the full spectrum of ultraviolet
radiation, which is commonly subdivided into UV-A,
UV-B, and UV-C. These are the classifications most
often used in Earth sciences. UV-C rays are the most
harmful and are almost completely absorbed by our
atmosphere. UV-B rays are the harmful rays that
cause sunburn. Exposure to UV-B rays increases the
risk of DNA and other cellular damage in living
organisms. Fortunately, about 95 percent UV-B rays
are absorbed by ozone in the Earth's atmosphere.
UV-A is used to treat skin conditions like psoriasis and
vitiligo.

6. X-RAYS

• X-rays are sometimes called Roentgen rays, after their discoverer German physicist Wilhelm
Conrad Roentgen. The letter X is normally used to represent an unknown quantity. Roentgen
called the rays that he discovered X-rays because he did not know their nature or origin.

• X-rays have much higher energy and much shorter wavelengths than ultraviolet light, and
scientists usually refer to x-rays in terms of their energy rather than their wavelength. This is
partially because x-rays have very small wavelengths, between 0.03 and 3 nanometers, so small
that some x-rays are no bigger than a single atom of many elements.
 • X-rays are produced by the sun and other stars. They are also produced when accelerated
electrons hit metal and some medical equipment.

• X-rays are used by doctors to see inside people. The machines are managed by a trained x-ray
technician. They pass easily through soft tissues, but not so easily through bones.
• We send a beam of X-Rays through the patient and onto a piece of film, which goes dark where
X-Rays hit it.
• This leaves white patches on the film where the bones were in the way.
• X-Rays are also used in airport security checks, to see inside your luggage. They are also used
by astronomers - many objects in the universe emit X-rays, which we can detect using suitable
radio telescopes.
• Lower energy X-Rays don't pass through tissues as easily, and can be used to scan soft areas
such as the brain.

7. GAMMA RAYS

• Gamma rays have the smallest wavelengths and the most energy of any wave in the
electromagnetic spectrum. They are produced by the hottest and most energetic objects in the
universe, such as neutron stars and pulsars, supernova explosions, and regions around black
holes. On Earth, gamma waves are generated by nuclear explosions, lightning, and the less
dramatic activity of radioactive decay.

• Gamma rays are given off by radioactive materials like cobalt-60 and cesium-137.

• Paul Villard , a French chemist and physicist, is recognized as having discovered gamma rays in
1900.
REMEMBER!