If electro-magnetic waves are really waves, what is the medium they travel through ?

Answer 1

Classically known as the Luminiferous Aether. Purportely it was disproven by Michelson/Morely mid last century. However, Miller's subsequent work basically disproved their disproof. But Shankland put the nail in Miller's coffin afterhe was dead and could no longer defend his results ('cause he was dead; he successfully defended his finding while he was alive).

Shankland attributed his finding to experimental error (he was fault-finding, not fact finding; Shankland never actually EXAMINED Miller's work as a whole, subsequent re-examination of the work shows a strong tie to a sidereal day; Miller was also extremely careful to rule out any and all variables that might have adversely influenced his results).

Also, Michelson/Morely were looking for a rigid aether (a false premise based on the thought that transverse waves only travel in a solid, which is untrue), More likely the "aether" (whatever it is composed of) is a fluid or similar structure, and miller's tests indicated it was likely an "entrained" aether (IE, the earth drags the aether along with it, whch does make it a bit harder to detect, since the experiment is inside of what it is the experiment is trying to detect). Basically, the tests need to be run again under a few different scenarios with more modern equipment and methodology (Miller was thorough, but we should be moreso). Also, Miller posited that we should try to do it at higher elevations and in as un-enlosed a space as is possible (while still attempting to rule out any physical process interference on the experiment).

The experiment should also be run longer and in different locales with different variables (heat, humidity, seasonality), in order to ensure that the same results are basically achieved in all frames of reference (IE, tie to the sidereal day, rather than the solar day, etc.). The results can all be cross-correlated for times, days, etc, and see the effects of elevation, pressure, temperature, etc. on the final results. If the final results all point to the same thing, we have a winner.

But we're so dogmatically entrained in relativity (even though einstein said basically that there had to be some material THING in which light vibrates, or all the math in the world simply doesn't make sense or have any tie to reality). In essence, even Einstein said there had to be some kind of aether for anything about light's wave nature to make sense. Ostensibly, billiard ball physics doesn't make sense in a wave model. light doesn't work in a vacuum. There has to be something physically there for it to cause a wave in.

Answer 2

I think people get mixed up with their understanding of the wave.

Ok you see a wave on the sea.you see a lump moving across the surface.

Now for a electromagnetic wave you are looking at a rise and fall of energy. The wave formation can be seen on an oscilloscope, but not physically on the electro magnetic energy.

Answer 3

Light waves do not travel in a medium like sound and water waves. They are the interaction of electric and magnetic fields as described by Maxwell's equations. These equations show that a time-varying magnetic field creates an electric field, and conversely, a time-varying electric field creates a magnetic field. The equations can be solved to derive the case in which the electric fields and magnetic fields vary in such a way that each creates the other in a self-sustaining interaction. When this is done, the result is an equation of a travelling wave that moves at the speed of 1/sqrt(e0*m0) in free space. e0 and m0 are electrical properties of space called permitivity and permeability. it turns out that the speed of light in a vacuum is exactly that value. This result was the convincing proof that light was electromagnetic waves.

Answer 4

Electro-magnetic waves don't need any medium.

Answer 5

Since they have no mass, they're not physical waves and do not propagate through any medium.

Electromagnetic radiation is a form of light. The famous Michelson-Morley Experiment established that there is no medium (called the "ether") that light proagates through.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson-Morley

Answer 6

Magnetic force is one of the fundamental force. Magnetics doesn't need any media to travel.
So as the magnetic waves.

Answer 7

Electromagnetic waves travel through any medium and even through vacuum.

Answer 8

air, electro magnetic waves are a transmissive force.

Answer 9

They are their own medium, a standing wave of electromagnetic energy, also known as a photon. Wave-particle duality, nobody said it was simple.

Answer 10

They travel through the Ether, which is a posh word for space and anything in space