electromagnetic spectrum

(noun)

the entire range of wavelengths of all known radiations consisting of oscillating electric and magnetic fields, including gamma rays, visible light, infrared, radio waves, and X-rays

Related Terms

Examples of electromagnetic spectrum in the following topics:

  • Introduction to Light Energy

    • The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of radiation .
    • The electromagnetic spectrum shows several types of electromagnetic radiation originating from the sun, including X-rays and ultraviolet (UV) rays.
    • Scientists differentiate the various types of radiant energy from the sun within the electromagnetic spectrum.The difference between wavelengths relates to the amount of energy carried by them.
    • Each type of electromagnetic radiation travels at a particular wavelength.
    • The sun emits energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation.

  • Light

    • Light is composed of photons that make up electromagnetic waves, which are characterized by wavelength, frequency, and amplitude.
    • While the compression waves that compose sound must travel in a medium (consisting of a gas, a liquid, or a solid), light is composed of electromagnetic waves and needs no medium.
    • The behavior of light can be described in terms of the behavior of waves and the behavior of the fundamental unit of light, the photon: a packet of electromagnetic radiation.
    • A glance at the electromagnetic spectrum shows that visible light for humans is just a small slice of the entire spectrum, which includes radiation that we cannot see as light because it is below the frequency of visible red light and above the frequency of visible violet light .
    • A glance at the electromagnetic spectrum shows that visible light for humans is just a small slice of the entire spectrum.

  • Absorption of Light

    • Pigments, like chlorophyll and carotenoids, absorb and reflect light at a certain region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
    • The visible light seen by humans as the color white light actually exists in a rainbow of colors in the electromagnetic spectrum, with violet and blue having shorter wavelengths and, thus, higher energy.
    • At the other end of the spectrum, toward red, the wavelengths are longer and have lower energy .
    • Each type of pigment can be identified by the specific pattern of wavelengths it absorbs from visible light, which is the absorption spectrum.
    • Each pigment has (d) a unique absorbance spectrum.

  • Homeostasis: Thermoregulation

    • Thermoregulation in organisms runs along a spectrum from endothermy to ectothermy.
    • Radiation is the emission of electromagnetic "heat" waves.

  • Plant Responses to Light

    • The red, far-red, and violet-blue regions of the visible light spectrum trigger structural development in plants.
    • Sensory photoreceptors absorb light in these particular regions of the visible light spectrum because of the quality of light available in the daylight spectrum.
    • In terrestrial habitats, light absorption by chlorophylls peaks in the blue and red regions of the spectrum.
    • As light filters through the canopy and the blue and red wavelengths are absorbed, the spectrum shifts to the far-red end, shifting the plant community to those plants better adapted to respond to far-red light.

  • Stabilizing, Directional, and Diversifying Selection

    • When the environment changes, populations will often undergo directional selection, which selects for phenotypes at one end of the spectrum of existing variation.
    • Diversifying selection can also occur when environmental changes favor individuals on either end of the phenotypic spectrum.
    • Different types of natural selection can impact the distribution of phenotypes within a population.In (a) stabilizing selection, an average phenotype is favored.In (b) directional selection, a change in the environment shifts the spectrum of phenotypes observed.In (c) diversifying selection, two or more extreme phenotypes are selected for, while the average phenotype is selected against.

  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Autism and ADHD

    • Some disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, have complex symptoms.
    • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD, sometimes just "autism") is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which severity differs from person to person.
    • Because it is a spectrum disorder, other ASD patients are very functional and have good-to-excellent language skills.

  • Types of Energy

    • A speeding bullet, a walking person, the rapid movement of molecules in the air that produces heat, and electromagnetic radiation, such as sunlight, all have kinetic energy.

  • Ions and Ionic Bonds

    • The attractive force holding the two atoms together is called the electromagnetic force and is responsible for the attraction between oppositely charged ions.

  • The First Law of Thermodynamics

    • Plants can convert electromagnetic radiation (light energy) from the sun into chemical energy.