Eli5: Do fields (magnetic, EM etc) radiate in a 360 degree (ball shaped type) manner or is it a “2D” movement?

Question

I know I probably didn’t phrase this correctly, but my English grammar is limited in this sort of stuff . I hope someone understands what I’m trying to say hah

In: 21

Answer 1

It depends. In general, radiation is three dimensional but not necessarily in a perfect spherical shape. Dipoles for example radiate in a sort of “donut” shape (well, their power density does, which is what you can measure), wherein the closer you get to the axis the dipole is in, the lesser the radiation is.