I know that standard stuff that every textbook says about electromagnetic radiation. I know the different categories (x-ray, microwave, visible light, etc). I know the meaning of the words frequency and wavelength. I still don’t really understand what electromagnetic radiation IS or why objects emit it. I know that wavelength is the distance between the crests of the wave, but what ARE the crests?
In: 4
Others have answered your first few questions, but to answer the thing about the crests, the crests are the points in time and space where the electric field vector and magnetic field vector are their largest. So a charged particle sitting at a crest would feel the largest force while a charged particle sitting at a node would feel no force.
I know that standard stuff that every textbook says about electromagnetic radiation. I know the different categories (x-ray, microwave, visible light, etc). I know the meaning of the words frequency and wavelength. I still don’t really understand what electromagnetic radiation IS or why objects emit it. I know that wavelength is the distance between the crests of the wave, but what ARE the crests?
In: 4
Others have answered your first few questions, but to answer the thing about the crests, the crests are the points in time and space where the electric field vector and magnetic field vector are their largest. So a charged particle sitting at a crest would feel the largest force while a charged particle sitting at a node would feel no force.
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