Which of the following is a characteristic of electromagnetic waves?
2 answers:
Answer:
They have a dual wave-particle nature.
Explanation:
Electromagnetic waves consist of periodic oscillations of electric and magnetic field in a plane perpendicular to the direction of motion of the wave (in fact, they are also classified as transverse waves).
Electromagnetic waves have a wave nature, however they also have particle nature - in fact, it has been proved in some experiment (e.g. photoelectric effect) that in some conditions they act as packets of particles - called photons. Therefore, the option
They have a dual wave-particle nature.
is correct.
Other options are wrong because:
They are all invisible. --> False because visible light (which is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, so they are electromagnetic waves) is visible
They can only travel without a medium. --> False because they can also travel in a vacuum
They are slower than sound waves. --> False because they travel much faster (they travel at the speed of light in a vacuum, , while sound travels at 343 m/s in air, for instance)
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