If sound waves travel by pushing particles back and forth, then how exactly do electromagnetic/radio waves travel through the vacuum of space and dense matter? Are they emitting… stuff? Or is there some… stuff even in the empty space that they push?
In: Physics
Actual ELI5 answer:
Electricity generates magnetism in front of it and magnetism generates electricity in front of it. Hence, this loop of exchange between electricity and magnetism moves forward without the need for any other medium.
Bonus ELI5:
The speed of light isn’t the speed of anything in particular about this phenomenon, it’s just the speed of “causality”, eg the speed at which cause and effect happen in the universe. This is why it’s a fundamental limit of the universe.
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