Light Waves

Open the Radio Waves and Electromagnetic Fields Simulation to the right by clicking on the image. Your simulation screen should look similar to the one shown. This screen shows a radio station transmitting antenna on the left and a receiving antenna on the right.

1. Wiggle the electron and describe what you see.
2. Now set the Transmitter Movement to “Oscillate” and the Field Sense to “Electric Field”
3. Observe how the moving charge creates a change in the field that travels through space as a wave until it reaches the receiver, forcing the charges there to move. Describe this process in terms of changing electric and magnetic fields.

As you can see from these activities, electricity and magnetism are directly related. Moving charges create magnetic fields and changing magnetic fields create electric fields. It is this interaction between electricity and magnetism that allows electromagnetic waves to travel without a medium. The changing electric field creates a changing magnetic field, which in turn creates an electric field. The combined oscillating field travels through space.”