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Transverse wave
- Mathematics and experiments show that light is a transverse wave – the electric and magnetic field vectors point in directions that are perpendicular to the direction of motion of the light wave (and as it turns out, they also rare always perpendicular to each other).
Light is a transverse, electromagnetic wave that can be seen by the typical human. The wave nature of light was first illustrated through experiments on diffraction and interference. Like all electromagnetic waves, light can travel through a vacuum. The transverse nature of light can be demonstrated through polarization.
May 24, 2024 · We know that light is a wave based on how it behaves – it exhibits the same properties of other waves we have examined – it interferes with itself, it follows an inverse-square law for intensity (brightness), and so on.
Examples of light include radio and infrared waves, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, and X-rays. Interestingly, not all light phenomena can be explained by Maxwell’s theory. Experiments performed early in the twentieth century showed that light has corpuscular, or particle-like, properties.
Light is a transverse, electromagnetic wave that can be seen by the typical human. The wave nature of light was first illustrated through experiments on diffraction and interference. Like all electromagnetic waves, light can travel through a vacuum. The transverse nature of light can be demonstrated through polarization.
Light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation move through a vacuum with a constant speed, c, of 2.998 × 10 8 m s −1. This radiation shows wavelike behavior, which can be characterized by a frequency, ν, and a wavelength, λ, such that c = λν. Light is an example of a travelling wave.
Much like Aristotle, he believed that light was a disturbance that traveled through the plenum, like a wave that travels through water. Pierre Gassendi, a contemporary of Descartes, challenged this theory, asserting that light was made up of discrete particles.
Light is a transverse wave, which means the direction of motion of the light wave is at right angles to these fluctuations in the intensity of the electric and magnetic fields. Polarization is the property of transverse waves which allows them to have their electric field components oscillating in a single direction.
