Task 1 - Electromagnetic waves in open media

Individual work

Student name
Group xx
Identification number
xxxxxxx

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA UNAD

Escuela de Ciencias Básicas, Tecnología e Ingeniería
Teoría Electromagnética y Ondas
2024 16-01
 Exercises development

Activity
Answers: (write with your own words).
1. ¿In the context of electromagnetic waves, what is an open
propagation medium?
An open propagation medium in the context of electromagnetic waves is one in
which waves propagate without being confined or guided by specific specific
structures, such as cables or waveguides. Instead, waves propagate freely in
space, as in the case of radio waves or light waves in air.

2. Within the propagation mediums, what is the meaning of the

“loss tangent”?
"Loss tangent" is a measure of the energy loss in a propagating medium due to
factors such as absorption and scattering. In more technical terms, the loss
tangent represents the relationship between the imaginary part and the real
part of the electrical permittivity (or magnetic permeability) of the medium. It
indicates how much energy is dissipated as heat during the propagation of an
electromagnetic wave through the medium.
3. How can we classify a medium according to the value of its "loss
tangent"?
Media can be classified according to the value of their loss tangent into two
main categories: low-loss media and high-loss media.

 Low-loss media: They have a small loss tangent, which means that they
lose relatively little energy during the propagation of electromagnetic
waves. These media are ideal for applications where efficient signal
transmission is required, such as fiber optics or microwave transmission
lines.
 High loss media: They have a high loss tangent, which indicates that
they experience a significant loss of energy during the propagation of
electromagnetic waves. These media may be less efficient for signal
transmission and may require signal amplification or regeneration to
compensate for losses, such as in low-quality coaxial cables or in certain
types of dielectric materials.

Application exercise:
The following 4-step exercise describes the method to characterize an
electromagnetic wave when propagating in an open environment, for which,
each student must choose 1 propagation media of the proposed in Table 1
and announce it within the Task 1 forum to avoid repetition.
Table 1: Conductivity σ and electrical permittivity ε rof some media.
Select Media σ [S /m] εr [ ]
7
☒ 1. Copper 5.80 x 10 1
☐ 2. Sea water 4 80
−15
☐ 3. Air 5.5 x 10 1.0005
−2
☐ 4. Vegetable soil 1.00 x 10 14
−4
☐ 5. Dry soil 1.00 x 10 3
−3
☐ 6. Sweet water 1.00 x 10 80
☐ 7. Vacuum 0 1

1. Calculate the tangent of losses Tan (δ) and the angle of losses δ of the
medium chosen in Table 1, if through it travel an electromagnetic wave E of
frequency f =( CCC +20 ) =111 MHz . Note that CCC are the last 3 digits of your
identification number.
Tangent of losses:
7 S
5.80 x 10
σ σ m
tan ( δ )= = = =9392396463

( )
ω ε 2 πf ε r ε o 8.8542 x 10
−12
C
2
2 π (111 MHz )( 1 ) 2
Nm

Angle of losses:

δ=tan−1 ( 2 πfσε ε )=tan

r o
−1
( 9392 396463 ) =89.99999=90°

Note that:
ω=2∗π∗f ; μ=μ r∗μ o and ε =ε r ¿ ε o
−12 2 2
ε o=8.8542 x 10 C /N m
−6
μo =1.2566 x 10 T m/ A
μr =1

Calculator evidence:
 Figure 1: operation on a virtual scientific calculator.
2. According to the result obtained in point 1, classify and select the
behavior of the chosen medium according to one of the 5 options in Table 2:
Check Media Tan(δ) δ [°]
☐ Perfect dielectrics (Not dissipative) Tan(δ) = 0 δ = 0°
☐ Good insulators (Lost low dielectric) 0 < Tan(δ) <= 0,1 0° < δ <= 6°
☐ Dissipative dielectrics (Dielectrics with losses) 0,1 < Tan(δ) <= 10 6° < δ <= 84°
☐ Good conductors (Good conductors) Tan(δ) > 10 84°< δ < 90°
☒ Perfect conductors (Perfect conductors) Tan(δ) >>> 10 δ = 90°
Table 2: Classification of propagation media.

3. According to the classification obtained in “Step 2” and using Table 3 shown

below, calculate the following propagation parameters of the wave in the
chosen medium:
a. Propagation constant  (gamma).
b. Attenuation constant  (Alpha).
c. Phase constant  (Beta).
Lost low Dielectrics with Good
Parameter Not dissipative
dielectric losses conductors
γ jω √ με jω √ με √ jωμ(σ + j ωε) √ jω σ μo
α 0 ση /2 ℜ¿) √ πf σ μ o
β ω √ με ω √ με ℑ() √ πf σ μ o
η √ μ/ε √ μ/ε √ jω μ/(σ + j ωε) √ jω μo /σ
Table 3: Propagation parameters in open media.

Use equation editor (values and units)

a. Propagation constant γ :

√( ( S
γ = √ jωσ μ o= j ( 2 π∗111 MHz ) 5.80 x 107
m )(
1.2566 x 10−6 T

γ =159422.2558+159422.255864 j
m
A ))
 Figure 2: operation 2 on a virtual scientific calculator.

b. Attenuation constant :

√ ( S
α =√ πf σ μ o= π (111 MHz ) 5.80 x 107
m )(
1.2566 x 10−6 T
α =112728.5581+ 112728.5581 j
m
A )

Figure 3: operation 3 on a virtual scientific calculator.

c. Phase constant :

√ ( S
β=√ πf σ μ o= π (111 MHz ) 5.80 x 107
m )(
1.2566 x 10−6 T
β=112728.5581+ 112728.5581 j
m
A )

Figure 4: operation 4 on a virtual scientific calculator.

4. According to the results obtained in step 3 and using the following

equations, calculate the propagation characteristics of the wave in the chosen
medium:

a. Propagation speed v p.
b. Wavelength λ .
c. The penetration depth of the δ pwave in the medium.

a. Propagation speed v p:
ω 2 π∗111 MHz
V p= =
β 112728.5581+ 112728.5581 j

V p=3093.42−3093.42 j

Figure 5: operation 5 on a virtual scientific calculator.

b. Wavelength λ :
2∗π
λ=
112728.5581+112728.5581 j
λ=0.00002786−0.00002786 j

Figure 6: operation 6 on a virtual scientific calculator.

c. Penetration depth of the δ p:

1
δ p=
¿ 112728.5581+112728.5581 j∨¿ ¿

δ p=0.000006272
 Figure 7: operation 7 on a virtual scientific calculator.

5. Using the following equation, calculate δ ( f ) for some values of frequency f

given in Table 5 (Calculator must be in DEGREE mode). Identify and explain
how the medium behaves as the frequency increases. use the medium chosen
in this activity. Plot the data using Excel or other.

δ ° ( f )=tan−1 ( σ
2 π f εr εo )
Table 5: losses angle / media behavior
Media: Cooper =5.8*10^7 S/m o=8.8542x10^-12 C^2/Nm^2 r=1
f (Hz) δ°(f ) Media behavior
1 11 90 δ = 90° Perfect conductors
1 11∗10
3 90 δ = 90° Perfect conductors
1 11∗10
6 90 δ = 90° Perfect conductors
1 11∗10
9 89.999 84°< δ < 90° Good conductors
1 11∗10
12 89.999 84°< δ < 90° Good conductors

Calculo de 𝛿(𝑓)
100000
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
0 50000000000000 100000000000000 150000000000000
 Figure 8: Example of graph and interpretation of data with Excel

References

Reference 1: Electrodinamica y ondas. Retrieved from

https://repository.unad.edu.co/bitstream/handle/10596/6555/203058-?
sequence=3

Reference 2: Salazar, I. (2021). ¿Cómo es la comunicación de los submarinos

?[Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBca6Oo7e0c

Reference 3: Torres Garcia, G. (2020). Estudio y diseño de un sistema de

comunicación con submarinos sumergidos. Retrieved from
https://upcommons.upc.edu/bitstream/handle/2117/327052/memoria.p df?
sequence=1&isAllowed=y