Transcription of UNIT 2 THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
{{id}} {{{paragraph}}}
Example: biology
UNIT 2 THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
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. What we detect depends on themethod we use to study it. The beautiful colors thatappear in a soap film or in the dispersion of lightfrom a diamond are best described as waves.
Unfortunately for astronomical research, Earth’s atmosphere acts as a filter to block most wave-lengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. (See 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
Loading..
Tags:
Information
Domain:
Source:
Link to this page:
Please notify us if you found a problem with this document: