Light as an electromagnetic wave

[Aeronautic Freek]

light is electromagnetic wave ,so does it also have magnetic and electric field,like all others waves(micro,gama,xray,radio waves etc..)?
i never heard that some one talk about light in sense of magnetic and electric field..

if it has ,why than compass don't response to light?

 

[Ibix]

light is electromagnetic wave ,so does it also have magnetic and electric field,like all others waves(micro,gama,xray,radio waves etc..)?

Light is an electromagnetic wave, yes. I wouldn't say it "has" an electromagnetic field, so much as it is an electromagnetic field.

if it has ,why than compass don't response to light?

The magnetic component of a light wave flips direction 10¹⁵ times per second. If you can find a compass that'll flip direction 10¹⁵ times a second, it probably will react to the magnetic field of light.

 

[Milsomonk]

i never heard that some one talk about light in sense of magnetic and electric field..

In the field of classical optics the description of light as an electromagnetic wave is central, and hence its electric and magnetic components are very important. As an example many optical instruments are sensitive to the waves polarization state, which tells you the transverse behaviour of the electric (or magnetic) field vector. You can have plane polarized EM waves in which the electric field oscillates within a plane, circular polarization whereby the electric field vector rotates around the direction of travel amongst other states such as elliptical polarization.