Long Waves to Short Waves

The electromagnetic spectrum includes electromagnetic waves with all possible wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, ranging from low energy radio waves through visible light to high energy gamma rays.

• There are no precisely defined boundaries between the bands of electromagnetic radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum.
• The electromagnetic spectrum includes, in order of increasing frequency and decreasing wavelength: radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays.
• Visible light is only a very small part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The perception of colour by an observer results from properties of light that are visible to the human eye. The visual experience of colour is associated with terms like red, blue and yellow.

• The observation of colour depends on:
  • The range and intensity of wavelengths of visible light emitted by a light source, and the various media and materials it encounters on its journey to the retina of a human eye
  • Optical phenomena such as absorption, dispersion, diffraction, polarization, reflection, refraction, scattering and transmission.
  • Predispositions of an observer, such as their personal and social experience, health and state of mind.

Wavelength is a measurement from any point on the path of a wave to the same point on its next oscillation. The measurement is made parallel to the centre-line of the wave.

• The wavelength of an electromagnetic wave is measured in metres.
• Each type of electromagnetic radiation, such as radio waves, visible light and gamma waves,  forms a band of wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum.
• The visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum is composed of the range of wavelengths that correspond with all the different colours we see in the world.
• Human beings don’t see wavelengths of visible light, but they do see the spectral colours that correspond with each wavelength and the other colours produced when different wavelengths are combined.
• The wavelength of visible light is measured in nanometres. There are 1,000,000,000 nanometres to a metre.

An electromagnetic wave carries electromagnetic radiation.

• An electromagnetic wave is formed as electromagnetic radiation propagates from a light source, travels through space and encounters different materials.
• Electromagnetic waves can be imagined as synchronised oscillations of electric and magnetic fields that propagate at the speed of light in a vacuum.
• Electromagnetic waves are similar to other types of waves in so far as they can be measured in terms of wavelength, frequency and amplitude.
• We can feel electromagnetic waves release their energy when sunlight warms our skin.
• Remember that electromagnetic radiation can be described either as an oscillating wave or as a stream of particles, called photons, which also travel in a wave-like pattern.
• The notion of waves is often used to describe phenomena such as refraction or reflection whilst the particle analogy is used when dealing with phenomena such as diffraction and interference.

ROYGBV is an acronym for the sequence of hues (colours) commonly described as making up a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.

• A rainbow spans the continuous range of spectral colours that make up the visible spectrum.
• The human eye is tuned to the visible spectrum and so to spectral colours between red and violet.
• ROYGBV are colours associated with a range of wavelengths rather than with unique values.
• The visible spectrum is the small band of wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum that corresponds with all the different colours we see in the world.
• The fact that we see the distinct bands of colour in a rainbow is an artefact of human colour vision.