electromagnetic wave
Electromagnetic waves do not require a material medium. This topic is part of Physics within Science & Nature. This page currently draws on 10 supporting questions, with answers and bonus facts available below.
Play electromagnetic wave Trivia
electromagnetic wave trivia questions
An electromagnetic wave can travel through what that sound cannot?
Answer: Vacuum
Bonus fact: Electromagnetic waves do not require a material medium.
Visible light is what type of wave?
Answer: Electromagnetic wave
Bonus fact: Visible light is one band of the electromagnetic spectrum.
What two oscillating fields make up an electromagnetic wave?
Answer: Electric and magnetic fields
Bonus fact: The fields oscillate perpendicular to each other and the direction of travel.
Which electromagnetic waves have the longest wavelengths?
Answer: Radio waves
Bonus fact: Radio waves occupy the long-wavelength end of the spectrum.
Which electromagnetic waves have the highest frequencies?
Answer: Gamma rays
Bonus fact: Gamma rays have the shortest wavelengths and highest frequencies.
A radio antenna is designed primarily to transmit or receive what?
Answer: Electromagnetic waves
Bonus fact: Antennas convert electrical signals to electromagnetic waves and can perform the reverse process.
Radio waves are widely used for what?
Answer: Communication
Bonus fact: Radio, television, phones, and radar use electromagnetic waves.
A television antenna receives what?
Answer: Broadcast radio-frequency signals
Bonus fact: Antennas convert electromagnetic waves into electrical signals.
Which physicist's equations famously unified electricity, magnetism, and light?
Answer: James Clerk Maxwell
Bonus fact: Maxwell showed that light is an electromagnetic wave.
Radiation transfers heat using what?
Answer: Electromagnetic waves
Bonus fact: Radiation can travel through empty space.