Electromagnetic Spectrum

From tuning a radio to sending text messages or popping popcorn, people use electromagnetic energy all the time. What is the electromagnetic spectrum and how do people depend on it? This book offers a look into the discovery, history, and uses of microwave energy. You might be familiar with microwaves for their use in microwave ovens, but did you know microwaves are also used in astronomy? Complete with a glossary, color images, intriguing sidebars, and chapter notes, this book is a fascinating look at how electromagnetic radiation is affecting us every day.

Every day, we navigate the world using our sight. This is thanks to visible light, but what exactly is visible light, and how is it different from other forms of light? This book explores everything about visible light, from its discovery to its behavior as both a particle and a wave to its many uses, including in art, science, and communication. Readers discover how visible light is vital not only to humans and other animals with sight, but to all life on Earth.

What do a nuclear bomb, a mummy, a counterfeit bill, and a broken arm have in common? The answer is X-ray technology. Most people are probably familiar with the X-rays used in medicine, which can show organs within a body. This book explores the history of radiography and how it came to be one of the most useful tools in medicine. It also delves into the limits of radiography and the effects of ionizing radiation on living things. It further investigates many other uses of X-rays, including nuclear weaponry and counterfeit detection.

Every second of every day, the sun emits wave after wave of radiation hurling toward our planet. Even though we can't see most of this radiation with the naked eye, scientists have learned how to use these invisible waves to our advantage. From infrared systems to guide missiles to ultraviolet-sterilized laboratory work areas, visible light's closest neighbors on the electromagnetic spectrum have a lot to offer us. This book explores the science and discovery of infrared and ultraviolet radiation, as well as the ingenious ways scientists and engineers have used them, including in common household devices such as remote controls for our televisions and in cutting-edge medical treatments.

Although only a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum can be seen by the human eye, people depend on the energy from the waves in the electromagnetic spectrum every day. Gamma rays might be familiar from comic books and superhero movies, but few know that gamma ray bursts are the most spectacular explosions observed in the universe. This book gives readers a look into the discovery, history, and uses of gamma rays. It's a perfect complement to the Next Generation Science Standards in electromagnetic radiation, and a perfect glimpse into how electromagnetic radiation is affecting us every day.

When most people hear the term "radio waves," they think of the radio in their car or on their desk, but radio waves are so much more than a way of listening to music! Readers will discover how radio waves are similar to and different from light we can see. They'll learn how radio transmitters and receivers work and the difference between AM and FM frequencies. Readers will learn about the that roles that radio waves play in space exploration and how they might reveal life on other planets.