Transcription of UNIT 2 THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
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Like expanding ripples in a pond after a pebblehas been tossed in, ELECTROMAGNETIC radiationtravels across space in the form of waves. Thesewaves travel at the speed of light 300,000 kilo-meters per second. Their wavelengths, the dis-tance from wave crest to wave crest, vary fromthousands of kilometers across (in the case ofthe longest radio waves) to fractions of ananometer, in the cases of the smallest x-raysand gamma rays. ELECTROMAGNETIC radiation has properties of bothwaves and particles.
Unit 1.) Only small portions of the spectrum actually reach the surface. (See figure 2.) More pieces of the puzzle are gathered by putting observatories at high altitudes (on mountain tops) where the air is thin and dry, and by flying instruments on planes and balloons. By far the best viewing location is outer space. Unit Goals
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