How Does Electromagnetic Waves Travel In Outer Space?

Question

OR What Are The Constituents Of Electromagnetic Waves In Outer Space

Answer 1

That's still largely a mystery. There has been an age old debate, that while no longer vogue, still interests some scientists, known as the Ether or Aether.

It does potentially exist.

We also aren't exactly sure if electromagnetic waves don't also consist of particles.

It is possible all things must consist of particles.

Particles, therefore, can travel in space.

One of the postulates for the expansion of the universe came from a problem in fluids.

Thus, scientists tend to think of the universe in terms of it being a type of fluid.

Hence the Ether concept.

All of our concepts and explainations come from what we know and can prove. We think of space has having a minimal amount of enery or mass per cubic foot, but if it contains something we have to yet to discover then there might be more out there and waves can affect that or propegate through that.

The term "space" itself is often a misnomer when you take all the theories and such.

Space can be bent. Gravity does this, according to Einstein. It's something Newton never considered.

Space around the Earth and the Sun is bent due to gravity.

If space is nothing, how can you bend nothing. So, space must be something.

Or there are principals of things like gravity we just don't fully understand. Some field effect.

Radio waves also cause a field effect.

See, this keeps getting us back to the Ether concept.

People think of space as being a void. Devoid of anything. Space in context is a proper noun used to describe that which is between planets, stars and galaxies. Exactly what kind of something we don't quite know.

You also have to remember that one view of electromagnetic waves is also viewed or known as radiation.

Some waves are reflected off the upper layers of the air, others are not.

Light is a part of the electro magnet wave medium and at a given frequency it glows and emits visible light. AT other points it emits heat.

Light generates what we think are photons and we have methods of proving this to a degree. If one such particle can be manifiested, then other such particles can be manifested but yet unknown.

Particles like Neutrinos go through us all the time and we never notice it. They go through the Earth.

If we take the Big Bang as the truth, the expending universe was a type of nebulocity. A hot plasma expanding at great speeds preceeded by gamma radiation.

This is basically a fluid of one type of another.

It is possible there is enough mass between things to allow for electromagnetic wave propegation, with or without particles.

Once again we get back to the Ether theory.

Answer 2

Electromagnetic radiation is a bombardment of electrically charged particles, and thus doesn't need a medium to travel through. While traveling in a vacuum such as outer space, it should not be though of like a sound wave, which does require a medium to propagate.

Answer 3

Electromagnetic waves have long been assumed to "travel" ever since the "velocity of light" was first measured as uniform a little over a century ago.

that doesn't mean they're actually moving through anything. Physicists have considered EM radiation to be like both particles and like waves depending on which is more convenient to what they're trying to understand about them.

consider that a wave occurs in a medium. Something becomes energized and oscillates. The ocean is energized with waves by wind. Air oscillates with sound waves. Just what oscillates with EM waves? Space itself? Hard to say, but it can be fun to think about if you have an imagination.

One thing's probable based on all observation so far. Insofar as EM radiation "travels," it will go at the same "velocity" between its source and destination regardless of their relative velocities. That is, if I'm 10 light years away, moving away from you at 50% of the "velocity"of light, and you turn on a star-powered flashlight, I'll see that flashlight in 10 years, not 20, even though I'll be 20 light-years away when it reaches me. I think that's a good reason to doubt the light is actually "traveling" the way an object does.

also, when light is considered as particles, or photons, they don't behave like normal matter either, so it's not safe to assume they "travel" either. For instance, read about the 2-slit experiment in which photons passed randomly through 2 slits produced different patterns on a plate, depending on whether it was observed which slit each photon passed through.

Answer 4

Propagation of waves in free-space is different from that in cable or waveguides. With respect to signal propagation, these latter are one-dimensional systems, and a wave does not lose energy as it travels, except that due to absorption or scattering. In three-dimensions waves radiate spherically. As they travel, the surface area they occupy increases as the square of the distance traveled. However, since energy is conserved, the energy per unit surface area must decrease as the square of the distance. Thus the power of free-space waves obey an inverse square law. For each doubling of the distance between the source and receiver, a 6dB loss is experienced. For all frequencies up to millimetre-wave frequencies, this free-space loss is the most important source of loss. Because of it, free-space systems usually require much more power than cable or fibre systems.
When waves traveling in free-space are obstructed, new waves result from the interaction. There are four types of interaction:

Reflection. This occurs when a wave meets a plane object. The wave is reflected back without distortion.

Refraction. This occurs when a wave encounters a medium with a different wave speed. The direction and speed of the wave is altered.

Diffraction. This occurs when the wave encounters an edge. The wave has the ability to turn the corner of the edge. This ability of waves to turn corners is called diffraction. It is markedly dependent on frequency -- the higher the frequency, the less diffraction. Very high frequencies (light) hardly diffract at all; "light travels in straight lines."

Scattering. Catch-all description of wave interactions that are too complex to be described as reflection, refraction or diffraction. Typically the result of scattering is to remove radiation of the wave, and re-radiate it over a wide range of directions. Scattering too is strongly frequency dependent. Usually it will increase with frequency.

The use of the atmosphere as a transmission medium means that control over the noise environment is not possible. There are a number of sources of noise. Natural noise is classified by its source. Atmospheric noise dominates the low frequencies, up to 2MHz. The primary cause of this noise is electrical discharges in the atmosphere: lightning. So-called galactic noise is radio noise from outside the solar system. It is important up to 200GHz. The sun also generates a small noise contribution at these frequencies

Answer 5

EM waves travel in space like they do everywhere else. A changing magnetic field creates a changing electric field which in turn creates a changing magnetic field ... etc etc etc

Answer 6

this is the easiest way to think about it. elctromagnetic waves are alternating waves of electricity and magnetism. electricity and magnetism affect eachother. so when one goes forward the other follows behind it. kinda of like a game of dragging magnets next to eachother. electromagnetic waves is just a fancy word for light!!!!!!

Answer 7

Space is a vacuum, meaning there is nothing there to stop the waves. At least until they hit a planet or something.

Answer 8

The wave does not allow anything to dance but they have to dance up and down like a wave to go ahead.

Answer 9

In a space ship, perhaps.
They're just bits of stuff that fly through space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_waves

Answer 10

electromagnetic waves can travel in outerspace because of the outerspace molecules like the molecules in your head.