Electromagnetic waves.

Aznclink

Sup guys,

What is an electromagnetic wave? Now i understand that its made of oscillating electric and magnectic fields perpendicular to each other, and is created when a charge is accelerated. But im having trouble imagining it, when a charge is accelerated, how would it produce the wave and what is drving the wave.

Examples would be great
Thanks

Hootenanny

FYI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation

Andy Resnick

Electromagnetic waves are not only produced by accelerating charges. Atomic/molecular transition and thermal radiation also produce light.

pzlded

Perhaps many quantized energy changes do not cause quantized mass changes (that would require infinite energy). Perhaps atomic energy changes are energy conversions, similar to converting voltage's energy to magnetic energy.

In other words, perhaps when instability causes an atom to release quantized energy and that energy cannot convert to another energy within the atom, the energy converts to a photon.