Lab 11

Radio waves and gamma rays are the same thing

Every one of them is light: an electric and a magnetic field taking turns, travelling at 299,792,458 metres per second. The only difference along the whole spectrum is how long one wave is β€” and that single number decides whether it cooks your dinner, shows your bones, or lets you see.

The visible slice, magnified about 30,000 times
Visible
Band
β€”
β€”
Jump to
Two waves at once

Interference

When two waves meet they simply add. Line the crests up and you get a bigger wave; line a crest up with a trough and they cancel to nothing. Noise-cancelling headphones are exactly this, and so are the colours in a soap bubble.

1.00Γ—
0Β°
100%
The whole spectrum

Seven names for one thing