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What is the underlying principle that make light and all other electromagnetic waves travel at a fixed speed?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
The speed of light is a constant, 299 792 458m/s, usually rounded to 3.0 x 108m/s.
Their are three proportions involving the speed of light that are the underlying
principles that make electromagnetic radiation travel at a fixed speed.
c = ƒ• λ, means that the speed of light, c, is directly proportional to the frequency, f,
and wavelength, λ.
ƒ = λ/ c, means that the frequency, f, of a wave is directly proportional to the
wavelength, λ, and inversely proportional to the speed of light, c.
λ = ƒ/c, means that wavelength is directly proportional to the frequency, f, and
inversely proportional to the speed of light, c.
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The first line above is correct. That is indeed the speed of light in a vacuum.
And now, to try and answer the question:
The speed of electromagnetic waves is the result of the electrical characteristics of
whatever they're moving through, whether vacuum or something else. The Physicist
who developed the theory of electromagnetic waves ... James Clerk Maxwell ... worked
out all the math in the 1870s, and right there in his math was a number that had to be
the speed of these waves. That was one reason why so many scientists worked so hard
from that time on to measure the speed of light. If it turned out to be the same as the
number in Maxwell's math, then that outcome would strongly support two conjectures:
#1). That light is an electromagnetic wave, and #2). That Maxwell probably knew what
he was talking about, and his whole theory of electromagnetic waves could be depended on.
Ever since then, the more accurately the speed of light is measured, the closer the
measurement comes to Maxwell's prediction for it.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
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Which scientist said electrons travel around the nucleus in fixed energy levels?
Niels Bohr
Why is velocity of electromagnetic waves not measured?
Electromagnetic Waves all have constant velocity which are equal to the speed of light. It is only the frequency of the wave that differentiates ie between radio, gamma, X-ray. The velocity is always fixed at 3 x 10^8 ms^-1 which is equivalent to the speed of light.
Distance equals velocity x time.... the equation shows that velocity and time vary directly or inversely or neither?
You haven't entirely defined the problem, however, if distance is fixed, than velocity and time vary in an inverse relation to each other. How long does it take to travel one mile? The faster you travel, the less time it takes. So the relationship is inverse. More of one means less of the other. But only for a fixed distance. You could just as well imagine that you will travel for a fixed period of time. Then there is a direct relationship between speed and distance traveled. The faster you travel, the farther you will go.
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a standing wave
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the wind mills rotate and the electric generator fixed in the mill converts mechanic energy into electric energy by the principle of electromagnetic induction
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Electrical energy can travel along a simple electrical circuit or along a transmission line, or by electromagnetic radiation. AC power usually refers to power at a single frequency, for example 50 Hz or 14 MHz. Power travelling along a transmission line loses a fixed proportion of its intensity per unit length of the line. By contrast, power travelling by electromagnetic radiation loses three quarters of its power density every time the distance is doubled. Therefore of the two methods electromagnetic radiaton can travel a lot further.
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They do not travel - their position is fixed throughout the body. Nerve impulses travel.
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When a wave reflects from a fixed boundary the only change in the wave is the direction of travel?
true
When a wave reflects from a fixed boundary is the only change in the wave is the direction of travel?
true
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Sometimes we travel for the fun of travelling, and other times we travel because there is somewhere else that we need to be. Both are legitimate.
