. What is Electromagnetic waves

Best Answer

According to Maxwell’s equation, a changing magnetic field produces and electric field; while according to Ampere-Maxwell’s circuital law, a changing electric field produces a magnetic field. It means that a change in either field produces the other field. Maxwell worked out from his equations that variation in electric and magnetic fields would lead to a wave consisting of fluctuating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other and also perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave. Such waves which can actually propagate in space even without any material medium are called “electromagnetic waves”. 

Figure shows a graphical representation of an electromagnetic wave in which the electric field vector  and the magnetic field vector  are vibrating along Y and Z-directions respectively, and the wave is propagating along  -direction. Both   and   vary with time and space and have the same frequency. 

Maxwell predicted also that electromagnetic waves would travel in free space (vacuum) with the speed of light. He thus concluded that light itself is an electromagnetic wave which is transverse in nature. Other examples of electromagnetic waves are radio waves, microwaves, infrared rays, ultraviolet rays, X-rays and y-rays.