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Light waves don’t
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- The energy of light travels through a medium called an electromagnetic field. This field exists everywhere in the universe. It oscillates when energy disturbs it, just like the rope moves up and down as someone shakes it. Unlike a wave in water or a sound wave in air, light waves don’t need a physical substance to travel through.
www.snexplores.org/article/explainer-understanding-waves-and-wavelengths
Apr 24, 2017 · The question of how light travels through space is one of the perennial mysteries of physics. In modern explanations, it is a wave phenomenon that doesn't need a medium through which to propagate. According to quantum theory, it also behaves as a collection of particles under certain circumstances.
Jun 8, 2022 · A rock flies through a vacuum just fine. Light, or electromagnetic waves, are just that, waves in the background electromagnetic fields. You could argue that they indeed have a medium, the EM field. This is similar to sound, which is pressure waves in a substance. Light is waves in an EM field.
Unlike a sound waves, light waves do not need a medium to pass through, they can travel through a vacuum. Light from the Sun reaches Earth through the vacuum of space. A short video...
- Reflection. Reflection is when incident light (incoming light) hits an object and bounces off. Very smooth surfaces such as mirrors reflect almost all incident light.
- Absorption. Absorption occurs when photons from incident light hit atoms and molecules and cause them to vibrate. The more an object's molecules move and vibrate, the hotter it becomes.
- Diffraction. Diffraction is the bending and spreading of waves around an obstacle. It is most pronounced when a light wave strikes an object with a size comparable to its own wavelength.
- Scatter. Scattering occurs when light bounces off an object in a variety of directions. The amount of scattering that takes place depends on the wavelength of the light and the size and structure of the object.
Light takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach the Earth from the Sun. When we see the Sun, we are seeing what it looked like over 8 minutes ago. Light can travel through empty space. Unlike sound, which needs a medium (like air or water) to travel through, light can travel in the vacuum of space. Light travels in straight lines
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Jul 7, 2021 · Light waves are similar, but while mechanical waves cause oscillations in matter, light waves consist of electric and magnetic fields oscillating perpendicular to each other. Mechanical waves need matter in order to propagate, but light waves can travel through completely empty space as well as through matter.
