What is electromagnetic spectrum?


The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from low energy radio waves with wavelengths that are measured in meters to high energy gamma rays with wavelengths that are less than 1 x 10^-11 meters. In this range, there are other waves such as microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and x-rays. The wavelengths of the above-given waves are:

Waves Wavelengths
radio waves 10^3 to 10^-1
microwaves 10^-1 to 10^-3
infrared rays 10^-3 to 10^-6
visible light 10^-6 to 10^-7
ultraviolet rays 10^-7 to 10^-8
x - rays 10^-8 to 10^-11
gamma rays 10^-11 to 10^-15

Of all the electromagnetic waves human eye can detect only the light of wavelength ranged from 10^-6 to 10^-7. This visible range has violet(400 nanometers) and red(700 nanometers) as its extremes. The radiation lower than 400nm is referred to as Ultra-Violet (UV) and radiation longer than 700nm is referred to as Infrared (IR), neither of which can be detected by the human eye. The speed of light is 300,000,000 m/s.

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Updated on: 10-Oct-2022

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