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  2. Speed of electricity - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_electricity

    The speed at which energy or signals travel down a cable is actually the speed of the electromagnetic wave traveling along (guided by) the cable. I.e., a cable is a form of a waveguide. The propagation of the wave is affected by the interaction with the material(s) in and surrounding the cable, caused by the presence of electric charge carriers ...

  3. Speed of light - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_Light

    For example, for visible light, the refractive index of glass is typically around 1.5, meaning that light in glass travels at ⁠ c / 1.5 ⁠ ≈ 200 000 km/s (124 000 mi/s); the refractive index of air for visible light is about 1.0003, so the speed of light in air is about 90 km/s (56 mi/s) slower than c.

  4. Electromagnetic wave equation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_wave_equation

    is the speed of light (i.e. phase velocity) in a medium with permeability μ, and permittivity ε, and ∇ 2 is the Laplace operator. In a vacuum, v ph = c 0 = 299 792 458 m/s, a fundamental physical constant. [1] The electromagnetic wave equation derives from Maxwell's equations.

  5. Maxwell's equations - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell's_equations

    the total electric current density (total current per unit area), J. The universal constants appearing in the equations (the first two ones explicitly only in the SI formulation) are: the permittivity of free space, ε 0, and; the permeability of free space, μ 0, and; the speed of light, = /

  6. Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in air - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fizeau's_measurement_of_the...

    At 3 times the speed it was again eclipsed. [3] [4] Given the rotational speed of the wheel and the distance between the wheel and the mirror, Fizeau was able to calculate a value of 2 × 8633m × 720 × 25.2/s = 313,274,304 m/s for the speed of light. Fizeau's value for the speed of light was 4.5% too high. [5] The correct value is 299,792,458 ...

  7. Electromagnetic spectrum - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum

    By definition, visible light is the part of the EM spectrum the human eye is the most sensitive to. Visible light (and near-infrared light) is typically absorbed and emitted by electrons in molecules and atoms that move from one energy level to another. This action allows the chemical mechanisms that underlie human vision and plant photosynthesis.

  8. Electromagnetic radiation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation

    As a wave, light is characterized by a velocity (the speed of light), wavelength, and frequency. As particles, light is a stream of photons. Each has an energy related to the frequency of the wave given by Planck's relation E = hf, where E is the energy of the photon, h is the Planck constant, 6.626 × 10 −34 J·s, and f is the frequency of ...

  9. Radio wave - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_wave

    Air is tenuous enough that in the Earth's atmosphere radio waves travel at very nearly the speed of light. The wavelength λ {\displaystyle \lambda } is the distance from one peak (crest) of the wave's electric field to the next, and is inversely proportional to the frequency f {\displaystyle f} of the wave.