Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In physics, a mechanical wave is a wave that is an oscillation of matter, and therefore transfers energy through a material medium. [1] (Vacuum is, from classical perspective, a non-material medium, where electromagnetic waves propagate.) While waves can move over long distances, the movement of the medium of transmission—the material—is ...
In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is the set of waves of an electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. [1] [2] Classically, electromagnetic radiation consists of electromagnetic waves, which are synchronized oscillations of electric and magnetic fields.
Other examples of mechanical waves are seismic waves, gravity waves, surface waves and string vibrations. In an electromagnetic wave (such as light), coupling between the electric and magnetic fields sustains propagation of waves involving these fields according to Maxwell's equations.
An electromagnetic wave, in contrast, must have a transverse component, but may also be partially longitudinal. Waves can be further classified by the oscillating species. In most plasmas of interest, the electron temperature is comparable to or larger than the ion temperature. This fact, coupled with the much smaller mass of the electron ...
Gamma-rays, x-rays, ultraviolet, visible, infrared radiation, microwaves and radio waves were all determined to be electromagnetic radiation differing only in their range of frequencies. In the modern era, scientists continue to refine the theory of electromagnetism to account for the effects of modern physics , including quantum mechanics and ...
Collective matter waves are used to model phenomena in solid state physics; standing matter waves are used in molecular chemistry. Matter wave concepts are widely used in the study of materials where different wavelength and interaction characteristics of electrons, neutrons, and atoms are leveraged for advanced microscopy and diffraction ...
In the late 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton had advocated that light was corpuscular (particulate), but Christiaan Huygens took an opposing wave description. While Newton had favored a particle approach, he was the first to attempt to reconcile both wave and particle theories of light, and the only one in his time to consider both, thereby anticipating modern wave-particle duality.
The wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves or standing wave fields such as mechanical waves (e.g. water waves, sound waves and seismic waves) or electromagnetic waves (including light waves). It arises in fields like acoustics, electromagnetism, and fluid dynamics.