electromagnetic radiation

See synonyms for electromagnetic radiation on Thesaurus.com

nounPhysics.

radiation consisting of electromagnetic waves, including radio waves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma rays.

Origin of electromagnetic radiation

First recorded in 1950–55

Words Nearby electromagnetic radiation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use electromagnetic radiation in a sentence

At even longer wavelengths, electromagnetic radiation can interact with electronic systems and can be used to disable computers and control systems.
Why ‘invisible’ electromagnetic weapons may be behind Havana syndrome | Iain Boyd/The Conversation | September 27, 2021 | Popular-Science
Unfortunately, this type of electromagnetic radiation does not leave a telltale trace like sunburn, which makes it difficult to be certain of the explanation.
Why ‘invisible’ electromagnetic weapons may be behind Havana syndrome | Iain Boyd/The Conversation | September 27, 2021 | Popular-Science
Unlike traditional telescopes, which use lenses or mirrors to focus visible light, this contraption used metal and circuitry to collect interstellar radio waves, low frequency ripples of electromagnetic radiation.
How radio astronomy put new eyes on the cosmos | Christopher Crockett | August 31, 2021 | Science News
The light you can see from a candle or light bulb is electromagnetic radiation.
Scientists Say: Radiation | Bethany Brookshire | March 29, 2021 | Science News For Students
You have no way to touch or feel or even suspect the existence of electromagnetic radiation, but that is where the voices are coming from.
Your Brain Makes You a Different Person Every Day - Issue 91: The Amazing Brain | Steve Paulson | October 14, 2020 | Nautilus

What it does say is that our brains are sensitive to this electromagnetic radiation, which is fascinating.
Study Finds Cellphone Radiation Changes Brain Activity | Claudia Kalb | February 22, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
Does this mean that the mental disturbances arise from some form of electromagnetic radiation?
Disturbing Sun | Robert Shirley Richardson
That will stop most electromagnetic radiation, but not this stuff!
Operation Terror | William Fitzgerald Jenkins

British Dictionary definitions for electromagnetic radiation

electromagnetic radiation

noun

radiation consisting of self-sustaining oscillating electric and magnetic fields at right angles to each other and to the direction of propagation. It does not require a supporting medium and travels through empty space at the speed of light: See also photon

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for electromagnetic radiation

electromagnetic radiation

Energy in the form of transverse magnetic and electric waves. In a vacuum, these waves travel at the speed of light (which is itself a form of electromagnetic radiation). The acceleration of electric charges (such as alternating current in a radio transmitter) gives rise to electromagnetic radiation. Other common examples of electromagnetic radiation are x-rays, microwaves, and radio waves. A single unit, or quantum, of electromagnetic radiation is called a photon. See also electromagnetism polarization.

a closer look

In the nineteenth century, physicists discovered that a changing electric field creates a magnetic field and vice versa. Thus a variation in an electric field (for example, the changing field created when a charged particle such as an electron moves up and down) will generate a magnetic field, which in turn induces an electric field. Equations formulated by James Clerk Maxwell predicted that these fields could potentially reinforce each other, creating an electromagnetic ripple that propagates through space. In fact, visible light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation consist exactly of such waves of mutually reinforcing electric and magnetic fields, traveling at the speed of light. The frequency of the radiation determines how it interacts with charged particles, especially with the electrons of atoms, which absorb and reemit the radiation. The energy of the electromagnetic radiation is proportional to its frequency: the greater the frequency of the waves, the greater their energy. Electromagnetic radiation can also be conceived of as streams of particles known as photons. The photon is the quantum (the smallest possible unit) of electromagnetic radiation. In quantum mechanics, all phenomena in which charged particles interact with one another, as in the binding of protons and electrons in an atom or the formation of chemical bonds between atoms in a molecule, can be understood as an exchange of photons by the charged particles.

Cultural definitions for electromagnetic radiation

electromagnetic radiation

Any type of electromagnetic wave.

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