Life

So, I'm creating a blog to send out some messages to the world.  This is for the wandering people on the internet looking around for some more entertainment.  Even though I haven't been alive long enough to fully understand the whole world, or have gone through enough things to say I'll understand any problem.  But I've gone through a few things in my time and I think I've learned a few things that I feel everyone should know.  It's always possible that I'm just this pessimist full of shit that needs to get over it and carry on.  But maybe I actually know a few things.  I have a dream to change the world, to make it at least a little better.  I don't want to become the president and change America, but rather create a slow wave motion that travels through word and turns different ideas.  I'm a very open minded person.  Sometimes this shoots me down with other people, but I invite other people just to try it; to question our lives and see for ourselves what we believe in.  And this isn't just about religion, this is about everything: morals, views on life, attitudes, because they're the basis of life.  If you see this blog, and find some interest in it, the only thing I can ask of you is to try it and tell someone else about it.

Simple Definition

The electromagnetic spectrum is made up of different sizes of light. A small part that we can see, which lets us see and the majority we can't. All light contains energy and depending on how much energy that type of light has that is where it is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum.

Use in My Career

I will use this in my career because I use it to see but I would also use it to communicate with other people, while using a computer and using technology.

How it Has Changed

Over time the electromagnetic spectrum hasn't changed; but technologies that use it and how it is used has changed. Now x-rays are commonly used to find and treat diseases. Infrared light is used in computers to read disks. Radio waves are an important in radio communication and telescopes and satellites use the different types of light to explore space.

Why This is Important to Learn

It is important to learn about the electromagnetic spectrum as a high school student and as a person because it explains why we don't see x-rays and how the forms of light that we don't see are important. It is also important to learn because we use the electromagnetic spectrum widely in computers, medicine, communication, and other technology

Inquiry

To use this inquiry you will need a prism, a source of light, and a thermometer.  Place the prism in the source of light until you have a clear view of the color spectrum.  Record temperatures of the spectrum at the purple end, in the middle, the red end, and slightly past the red end so that there is no color on the thermometer. 

The temperature should increase as you move towards and past the red side.  The farther into the infared waves, the higher temperature it will produce.

Contributors

From the time of the early Greeks to the time of Issac Newton people thought that light was made up of a stream of particles. During the 18th century a scientist named Thomas Young discovered that light is made up of waves, he discovered this because certain colors of light sometimes canceled each other out. Thomas Young also discovered that light waves that were about 0.000001m in length, small enough not to be visible but larger than atoms and molecules. Another thing that Young discovered was that wavelengths of visible light differed. He saw that red had the longest, followed by orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.



William Hersche, a famous astronomer at his time, made important advancements to parts of the invisible part of the spectrum known as infrared. After an experiment that he conducted where he tried to measure the temperature of different colors he discovered that the hottest part of the spectrum was where there was no color at all. The hottest part of the spectrum was under the red part of the spectrum (infrared) where the wavelengths become invisible.

Infrared and Ultraviolet have all of the same properties of visible light, but have have shorter and longer wavelengths which the human eye can't detect.

William Roentgen discovered a glow coming from a chemical called barium platinocyanide that was sitting nearby a cathode ray tube. He noticed that when the tube was on a glow was emitted from the chemical. he tried to put a piece of cardboard between the tube and the chemical but the chemical still glowed. Roentgen discovered the first x-rays he later found out that they would pass through paper, thin sheets of metal, and flesh. He later won the first Nobel peace prize in physics for his discovery.

Why This is Important

The electromagnetic spectrum is important because it is used in many forms of science such as biology, astronomy and others.  It is also very important because we use the electromagnetic spectrum in computers, for comunication and many other technologies. 

Electromagnetic Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is "the full range of electromagnetic radiation."

We only see a small part of the spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum consists of radio waves, x-rays, visible light, gamma rays, and other rays, waves, and frequencies.

• Frequency- number of cycles per oscillation

• Wave- characterized by their wavelength frequency

• Ray- a beam of light or energy

As you progress through the different wavelengths the waves do different things.
The longest waves are used for radio communication, these waves are hundreds of kilometers long to about one meter.





As you progress the next waves, microwaves and infrared light, are used. Microwaves are used for cooking and communication. Infrared light is used in computers, CD players and game consoles to read disks.
Farther down the spectrum there is visible light. Visible light has the only wavelengths that our eyes can receive. Other than seeing plants use it for photosynthesis, and scientists have created lasers that take certain colors from visible light and project only that color.
After visible light in the spectrum there is ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet part of the spectrum is divided into three parts.

1. Near Ultraviolet
2. Far Ultraviolet
3. Extreme Ultraviolet

These divisions are determined by the wavelength and how energetic the activity in that area is. We can't see ultraviolet light but some insects, like the bumblebee, can see it. Ultraviolet light that comes from the sun is responsible for sunburns that we get.

An ultraviolet picture of the sun

The next part of the spectrum is x-rays. X-rays were discovered by William Roentgen in Germany in 1895; he discovered them by accident. The "X" stands for unknown. X-rays are used for photographing insides of bodies, and in satellites to see things in space like black holes and neutron stars which emit x-rays.

The last part of the spectrum are gamma rays. Gamma rays have the shortest wavelength and contain the most energy. They are generated in nuclear explosions and radioactive atoms. They are produced in the hottest regions in the universe. To see anything with a gamma ray telescope gamma rays have to be hit with electrons to slow them down so they don't pass through the matter in the telescope.

Careers Involving Electromagnetic Spectrum

There are multiple jobs that use the electromagnetic spectrum.  One of the jobs that uses the electromagnetic spectrum is a computer technician.  They make an average of $37,00 a year and use the electromagnetic spectrum to send signals through computers and to make the computers work like they should.  Another job is being a field engineer.  There are multiple types of field engineers but many use the electromagnetic spectrum to locate problems and communicate.  Their average salary is $84,000.  A thrid job that uses electromagnetic spectrum is a doctor.  All types of doctors use gamma rays and the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum to help patients.  Depending on the type of doctor, they can make anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000 a year.