Electromagnetic radiation help

[betterfuture]

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I would just like to get a little more of an understanding of what exactly electromagnetic radiation is. It is composed of both electric field and magnetic field; I know that. But I mean whenever I read through the chapter relating to light I just kind of read over this part because of the fact I have been taught this numerous times throughout my education but never learned what it really is.

Like it is energy that is emitted but how does an electric field and magnetic field emit energy? How does this gives up the light we see. How does this give off other types of radiation we don't see like gamma rays, radio waves. Etc. If it is too much to explain, I would be happy with just a helpful video or link or whatever. Thank you

 

[aldol16]

EM radiation doesn't "emit" energy but rather carries it. It's just like any electric field, which has an electric potential energy. In other words, it has the capacity to do work. Light is just one part of the EM spectrum with energies corresponding to wavelengths we can see. How we can see those wavelengths has more to do with how the retina works than with the physics of EM waves. As you can imagine, there is a wide array of energies that we cannot observe - those have wavelengths in the gamma, X-ray, infrared, etc. region.

 

[betterfuture]

Thanks! Any useful links or such?

 

[NextStepTutor_2]

Thanks! Any useful links or such?

Investigating the "nature" of EM radiation and how it throws off energy is well beyond the scope of the MCAT (you should focus more on the properties of waves like EM radiation and the different types of energy it can give off and its potential effects on the body.

However, a good link for a thorough explanation is HERE and HERE.

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[betterfuture]

Investigating the "nature" of EM radiation and how it throws off energy is well beyond the scope of the MCAT (you should focus more on the properties of waves like EM radiation and the different types of energy it can give off and its potential effects on the body.

However, a good link for a thorough explanation is HERE and HERE.

Hope this helps, good luck!

I just like to get an understanding of things and not just simply memorizing them. It makes me get a feel for the importance of how or why something happens instead of okay "so and so happens."

I greatly appreciate the links! Very helpful. Thank you!