electromagnetic waves


Waves composed of undulating electrical fields and magnetic fields. The different kinds of electromagnetic waves, such as light and radio waves, form the electromagnetic spectrum. All electromagnetic waves have the same speed in a vacuum, a speed expressed by the letter c (the speed of light) and equal to about 186,000 miles (or 300,000 kilometers) per second.

Words Nearby electromagnetic waves

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

How to use electromagnetic waves in a sentence

  • These electromagnetic waves produce oscillations in the antenn of a receiving station.

    Physics | Willis Eugene Tower
  • Physics tells us that certain electromagnetic waves start from the sun, and reach our eyes after about eight minutes.

  • Theory that light consists of electromagnetic waves—Clerk-Maxwell, England, 1873.

    The Story of Great Inventions | Elmer Ellsworth Burns
  • It absorbed and dissipated electromagnetic waves rather than reflecting them.

    The Lani People | J. F. Bone
  • This energy is transmitted through the free ether in waves, which are known as electromagnetic waves.

    Historic Inventions | Rupert S. Holland