- #1
prane
- 23
- 0
All electromangtic radiation comes under one continuous spectrum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Electromagnetic-Spectrum.png
Different wavelengths of this radiation has different properties which is very evident in real life. However the whole concept remains extremely mysterious to me.
I am familiar with the wave-particle duality theory for light and I know for some purposes it makes more sense to describe light as a wave rather than a particle. With respect to the electromagnetic spectrum it makes more sense to think of light as a 'wave' with a certain wavelength. I know light is neither a wave nor a particle it is just LIGHT going along doing its usual thing it just happens that thinking of it as a particle sometimes and a wave othertimes helps explain certain macroscopic properties
However, what about other types of radiation? For example, what constitutes a radio wave? Is it a photon with a longer wavelength? Surely then it is no longer a photon? Also what happens at boundaries of the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves become microwaves somewhere around 10^(-1)m in wavelength but what is about these types of radiation which are at this unclear boundaries?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Electromagnetic-Spectrum.png
Different wavelengths of this radiation has different properties which is very evident in real life. However the whole concept remains extremely mysterious to me.
I am familiar with the wave-particle duality theory for light and I know for some purposes it makes more sense to describe light as a wave rather than a particle. With respect to the electromagnetic spectrum it makes more sense to think of light as a 'wave' with a certain wavelength. I know light is neither a wave nor a particle it is just LIGHT going along doing its usual thing it just happens that thinking of it as a particle sometimes and a wave othertimes helps explain certain macroscopic properties
However, what about other types of radiation? For example, what constitutes a radio wave? Is it a photon with a longer wavelength? Surely then it is no longer a photon? Also what happens at boundaries of the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves become microwaves somewhere around 10^(-1)m in wavelength but what is about these types of radiation which are at this unclear boundaries?