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ROLL NO B34
SECTION E4901
REG NO 10902294
1) Introduction
3) Emission spectrum
16) Reference
1) Introduction to electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation is another name for light. Not just visible light that we can
see but lower energy light like radio waves and higher energy light like xrays. Light is
an electomagnetic wave. What does all this mean?
Dropping a rock in a pond and watching the waves move outward from it. The riples
spread outward but the water just move up and down. A sound wave generated at a
point also spreads outward. It does so by alternately i compressing and expanding
the air as it travels along. Notice that in both cases the wave moves large distances
but the medium it travels through does not. A wave is a periodic disturbance,
meaning that if one sits in one location the disturbance associated with the wave
(like the height of the water or the density of the air above) repeats itself. The time it
takes to repeat is called the period of the wave. The length between two peaks of the
wave is called its wavelength. The period and wavelength of a wave are related by
the speed at which it travels.
(1) These consist of electric and magnetic fields that oscillate in the perpendicular
to the direction in which the wave the travelling the field component have the
same wavelength and frequency
(2) All the electromagnetic waves travel with the same speed .in vacuum, the
speed of all types of electromagnetic radiation is 3,00,000 km/s. this speed is
called the speed of the light.
(3) These electromagnetic radiations do not require any medium for propagation .
for example light us from the sun through empty space.
If you draw a beam of light in the form of a wave (without worrying too much about
what exactly is causing the wave!), the distance between two crests is called
the wavelength of the light. (It could equally well be the distance between two
troughs or any other two identical positions on the wave.)
You have to picture these wave crests as moving from left to right. If you counted the
number of crests passing a particular point per second, you have the frequency of
the light. It is measured in what used to be called "cycles per second", but is now
called Hertz, Hz. Cycles per second and Hertz.
we can rearrange this to work out the wavelength from a given frequency and
vice versa:
These relationships mean that if you increase the frequency, you must decrease the
wavelength.
4) Electromagnetic spectrum
As already discussed ,all the electromagnetic waves have the same speed .How
ever the different types of radiations differ from one another in their wavelengths and
therefore in frequency(frequency = velocity of light /wavelength of light).
Thus the electromagnetic with a long wavelength has low frequency while the
radiation with the short wavelength has a large frequency.
Thus
It is the interesting to note the visible light, which human eye can detect constitutes
only small portion of the total electromagnetic spectrum. The visible spectrum also
shown separately .Different colours in the spectrum correspond to waves of different
wavelength and frequency out of the various colours in the visible range ,violet
colour corresponds to radiation of maximum frequency and minimum wavelength
(380nm) while
The red colour corresponds to the radiation of minimum frequency and maximum
length ,the frequency and wavelength of the radiation corresponding or colours in the
between lie between these two extreme values.
The region just above the visible portion is the ultra violet region of the spectrum.
These radiations are included in the sun rays although these are invisible .
The portion below visible region(decreasing order of frequency)infra red region these
produce high thermal effects and is heat radiation .Below infra red region are the
micro waves .These are used in telephone circuits and for radar. Below this region
lie the radio waves which have the lowest frequency or highest wavelengths and are
used for broadcasting.
Thus, while radio waves have the lowest frequencies or highest wavelength,the
cosmic rays have the highest frequencies or lowest wavelengths. The different types
of radiations are arranged in the decreasing order of frequencies or increases order
of wavelengths as:
Radio energy is the lowest energy level form of electromagnetic energy, with
wavelengths that range from thousands of kilometers to less than a meter. Radio is
actually divided into numerous sub-classifications that are beyond the scope of this
discussion, but suffice it to say that radio energy has many common uses including
communication and broadcasting.
One of the most common uses of radio technology related to remote sensing is the
study of the universe and the vast empty spaces between stars in outer space (the
interstellar medium). Hydrogen gasses in these spaces at temperatures very close to
Absolute Zero emit radiation in the form of very low frequency radio energy. These
radio waves are captured by vast arrays of giant radio antennas arranged across
acres of land and which are aimed at a common point in the sky.
Its uses in remote sensing vary, and it is often used in active remote sensing
systems that direct microwave pulses at a target and measure the reflection
characteristics of the target. Other systems, such as the Tropical Rainfall Measuring
Mission’s (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI), measure the minute amounts of
microwave radiation emitted from the Earth's atmosphere in order to quantify the
water vapor, the cloud water, and the rainfall intensity in the atmosphere.
Infrared sensors are especially important to remote sensing. The Earth's surface
emits thermal infrared radiation, which can be detected from aircraft or satellite
sensors after it passes through the atmosphere and travels through space. This
information can be used to construct temperature profiles of the Earth's land and
water surfaces and to observe the temperature of cloud tops in the atmosphere,
which provide us with clues about weather patterns
When white visible light passes through materials it can be bent, or refracted, and
the component colors can be separated. This is the basic concept behind the
creation of a rainbow or the formation of a colored spectrum when light passes
through a prism. Visible light that strikes an opaque surface is selectively absorbed,
meaning that some specific wavelenghts (or colors) are absorbed while others are
reflected. It is the collective wavelengths of visible light reflected off a surface that
gives an object its color when it reaches the eye.
Ultraviolet, X-Ray, and Gamma Ray radiation form the high end portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum. Each of these types of radiation are naturally ocurring,
and each tends to be detected in association with very high energy events, such as
star formation, nuclear reactions on star surfaces, explosions of stars, and the
destruction of materials as they fall under the influence of a black hole.
Ultraviolet is located just beyond the range of visible light radiation (hence the name:
"ultra," meaning beyond, and "violet," the last color in the visible spectrum).
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is a key culprit in causing skin damage and
cancer. X-Ray radiation follows UV on the spectrum. Perhaps the best known
application of X-Ray radiation is medical imaging of the body. Gamma Ray radiation
is the form of electromagnetic radiation that has the highest energy level. One widely
used application of gamma ray radiation is cancer treatement, which uses exposure
to gamma ray radiation in the attempt to destroy and eliminate cancerous tumors
from a patient's body.
An important aspect of the nature of light is frequency. The frequency (nu) is the
number of the wave passing through the particular point in 1 point. the SI unit of
frequency is Hurtz , where one hertz is equal to one oscillation per seconds. Light
usually has a spectrum of frequencies which sum together to form the resultant
wave. Different frequencies undergo different angles of refraction.
A wave consists of successive troughs and crests, and the distance between two
adjacent crests or troughs is called the wavelength. Waves of the electromagnetic
spectrum vary in size, from very long radio waves the size of buildings to very short
gamma rays smaller than atom nuclei. Frequency is inversely proportional to
wavelength, according to the equation:
where v is the speed of the wave (c in a vacuum, or less in other media), f is the
frequency and λ is the wavelength. As waves cross boundaries between different
media, their speeds change but their frequencies remain constant.
Scientists break down electromagnetic radiation into two types, non-ionizing and
ionizing. Non-ionizing varieties include visible radiation, infrared radiation, and most
types of low-energy radiation like radio and microwaves. Overexposure to non-
ionizing radiation can cause burns to the skin, but is unlikely to cause genetic
mutation or alter cellular structure. Ionizing radiation, such as that used in cancer
treatments, is made up of high-energy wavelengths and can actually alter or mutate
DNA. While this can be used to treat cell-affecting diseases like cancer, it can also
cause serious and possibly fatal cellular damage leading to birth defects or radiation
sickness
Electromagnetic waves that originate on the sun are radiated through space and
eventually enter the Earth's atmosphere. In the atmosphere, the radiation interacts
with atmospheric particles, which can absorb, scatter, or reflect it back into space.
Much of the sun's high-energy radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere, preventing it
from reaching the Earth's surface. This absorption of energy in the upper
atmosphere is an important factor in allowing life to flourish on the Earth.
Atmospheric particles such as dust, sea salt, ash, and water droplets will reflect
energy back into space. Visible light can be scattered by particles in the atmosphere,
allowing only selected wavelengths to penetrate to the surface.
A portion of the energy is able to penetrate the atmosphere, allowing it to reach the
Earth's surface. Radiation that is able to penetrate the material and pass through it is
said to be transmitted. Most wavelengths of visible light energy from the sun are
transmitted through the atmosphere, allowing it to come into contact with the Earth's
surface. Once this radiation reaches the surface, it interacts with the surface
materials where it can be reflected back into space or absorbed and red-emitted as
thermal infrared energy.
Radiation is also reflected off various materials in the atmosphere and on the
planet's surface. Clouds, smoke, and other particles in the atmosphere reflect
varying levels of radiation back into space. This would explain why cloudy days are
often cooler than days when the skies are clear; the clouds prevent the radiation
from the sun from being transmitted to the surface. This is also one of the key
concepts behind the theory of the dinosaur extinction that hypothesizes that
dinosaurs disappeared when a large asteroid struck the Earth, throwing tremendous
amounts of dust into the atmosphere which blocked light and heat from reaching the
Earth's surface. It is suggested that the resulting change in climate was responsible
for the elimination of the dinosaurs.
Reference
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-electromagnetic-radiation.htm
http://chesapeake.towson.edu/data/all_electro.asp