eli5: what’s the difference between AM radio and FM radio?

Question

i don’t understand when i google it so Whats the difference

In: Technology

Answer 1

AM was around first. While it worked ok for listening in the house, it didn’t work well while driving due to it fading out depending on location and obstacles like trees, bridges, tunnels, etc.

Then FM was developed and it worked much better in cars because the signal didn’t fade out as much.

AM radio signals can skip around the planet due to atmospheric conditions, and so be heard many miles from the transmitter, sometime hundreds of miles from the transmitter, especially at night.

But FM pretty much has a 70 mile range so it works well as long as you are relatively close to the transmitter.

AM works best with a long antenna whereas FM works well with a short antenna making easier for most people to get a good signal, and works better in cars.