The Electromagnetic Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all types of EM radiation. Radiation is energy that travels and spreads out as it goes the visible light that comes from a lamp in your house and the radio waves that come from a radio station are two types of electromagnetic radiation. The other types of EM radiation that make up the electromagnetic spectrum are microwaves, Radio waves, infrared light, ultraviolet light, X-rays and Gamarays. Microwaves: The existence of radio waves was predicted by James Clerk Maxwell in 1864 from his equations. In 1888, Heinrich Hertz was the first to demonstrate the existence of radio waves by building a spark gap radio transmitter that produced 450 MHz microwaves. Microwaves are radio waves with wavelengths ranging from one meter to one millimeter with a frequency between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. Excitations from microwaves cause many molecules such as water to oscillate and heat up, which is how microwave ovens work. The primordial big bang radiation discovered by Penzias and Wilson in 1965 is in the microwave region. Also microwaves were used as radars in the war.

Radio Waves: Radio waves were first predicted by mathematical work done in 1867 by Scottish mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light discovered Heinrich hertz. Radio waves have frequencies from 300 GHz to as low as 3 KHz, and corresponding wavelengths ranging from 1 millimetre to 100 kilometres. Like all other electromagnetic waves, they travel at the speed of light

Infrared Rays: The astronomer William Herschel, discovered the infrared radiation. The discovery of the infrared radiation was in the early 19th century. William Herschel published his discovery in 1800 before the Royal Society of London. He used a prism to refract light from the sun and defected the infrared, beyond the red part of the spectrum, through an increase in the temperature recorded on a thermometer. He called his result Calorific Rays. Infrared didnt appear until late in the 19th century. Infrared light is used in industrial, scientific, and medical applications. Night-vision devices using active near-infrared illumination allow people or animals to be observed without the observer being detected

Ultraviolet Rays: Johann Ritter discovered the ultraviolet rays in 1801. He was conducting an experiment and he projected a beam of sunlight through a prism and the light split into the spectrum. Ultraviolet rays more known as UV rays. The Sun is a source of the full spectrum of ultraviolet radiation, which is commonly subdivided into UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. These are the classifications most often used in Earth sciences.
Ultraviolet rays are divided into five different sections: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Vacuum Uv: 40-190 nm Far UV: 190- 220 nm UVC: 220-290 nm UVB: 290-320 nm UVA: 320- 400 nm

Ultraviolet Rays can be found in mercury lamps and black lights, It can cause chemical reactions, and causes many substances to glow or fluoresce, also tanning beads use ultraviolet rays because it also increases the vitamin D making our skin darker.

X-Rays: W.C Roentgen discovered the X rays in 1895, as well he was doing some experiments with tubes and gases and in one of those it made a fluorescent glow. X rays are used for medical uses to create images of inside your body. Those images are presented by different shades of black and white. This is due the fact that different tissues of your body absorb different amounts of radiation. Calcium in bones absorbs X rays the most, thats why bones look white.

Gamma rays: Paul Villard discovered the gamma rays in 1900. One of the most important facts of Gamma Rays is that it has the smallest wavelengths and the most energy of any other wave in the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma Rays are generated by radioactive atoms and in nuclear explosions. Doctors use gamma rays to kill cancerous cells due to the fact that gamma rays can kill living cells.