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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 ...
A diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum, showing various properties across the range of frequencies and wavelengths. The electromagnetic spectrum is the full range of electromagnetic radiation, organized by frequency or wavelength. The spectrum is divided into separate bands, with different names for the electromagnetic waves within each band.
Maxwell's equations may be combined to demonstrate how fluctuations in electromagnetic fields (waves) propagate at a constant speed in vacuum, c (299 792 458 m/s [2]). Known as electromagnetic radiation , these waves occur at various wavelengths to produce a spectrum of radiation from radio waves to gamma rays .
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.
A theory of electromagnetism, known as classical electromagnetism, was developed by several physicists during the period between 1820 and 1873, when James Clerk Maxwell's treatise was published, which unified previous developments into a single theory, proposing that light was an electromagnetic wave propagating in the luminiferous ether. [26]
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 .
Electromagnetic radiation is commonly referred to as "light", EM, EMR, or electromagnetic waves. [2] The position of an electromagnetic wave within the electromagnetic spectrum can be characterized by either its frequency of oscillation or its wavelength. Electromagnetic waves of different frequency are called by different names since they have ...
The concept that matter behaves like a wave was proposed by French physicist Louis de Broglie (/ d ə ˈ b r ɔɪ /) in 1924, and so matter waves are also known as de Broglie waves. The de Broglie wavelength is the wavelength , λ , associated with a particle with momentum p through the Planck constant , h : λ = h p . {\displaystyle \lambda ...