electromagnetic wave n vacuum

[inaccensa]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

As far as I recall, wave is a transfer of energy and momentum, ie it requires a medium or particles to transfer the energy. Light is an electromagnetic transverse wave, how does it travel through vacuum?

 

[ratatat]

"Light is a moving electromagnetic wave, and the energy it contains is carried in the moving electric and moving magnetic components of the wave. Sound is mechanical energy, and the energy of the sound is transferred into the medium through which it is travelling. As the energy of sound is carried by the medium, the vacuum of space will not support a sound wave"

From: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_a_light_wave_travel_through_a_vacuum_but_a_sound_wave_cannot

 

[inaccensa]

"Light is a moving electromagnetic wave, and the energy it contains is carried in the moving electric and moving magnetic components of the wave. Sound is mechanical energy, and the energy of the sound is transferred into the medium through which it is travelling. As the energy of sound is carried by the medium, the vacuum of space will not support a sound wave"

From: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_a_light_wave_travel_through_a_vacuum_but_a_sound_wave_cannot

thanks