Transcription of UNIT 2 THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM - NASA
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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. 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. Thelight that strikes a solar cell to produce an electriccurrent is best described as a particle.
Space-Based Astronomy Activity Guide for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education23 Introduction Contrary to popular belief, outer space is not empty space. It is filled with electro-magnetic radiation that crisscrosses the universe. This radiation comprises the spectrum of energy ranging from radio waves on one end to gamma rays on the ...
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