Which of the following statements comparing X-rays and radio signals is INCORRECT?
Which of the following statements comparing X-rays and radio signals is INCORRECT? Correct Answer X-rays have higher speed than radio waves.
Explanation:
- Electromagnetic spectrum: It is a collection of a range of different waves in sequential order from radio to gamma electromagnetic waves.
- Frequency (ν) = speed of light (c)/wavelength (λ)
- Radio waves: The lowest frequency portion comes in radio waves generally, have wavelengths range between 1 mm to 100 km or frequencies between 300 GHz to 3 kHz.
- X-Rays: They come in the range of 10-13 m – 10-8 m and of the frequency range between 1016 to 1020 Hz.
All electromagnetic radiation, of which radio waves and X-rays are examples, travels at the speed c in a vacuum. The only difference between the two is that the frequency of X-rays is very much higher than radio waves. Hence statement (1) is incorrect.
If, on the other hand, the radio waves or X-rays are propagating through a medium other than the vacuum, their speed will generally be less than c and will depend upon the specific properties of the medium. Thus, in principle, neither can be said definitely to travel faster than the other if the medium is other than the vacuum.
Additional Information
|
Radiation |
Range of wavelengths |
Typical wavelength |
↓ |
Increasing wavelength
Decreasing Energy
Decreasing frequency |
|
Gamma |
10-16 m – 10-10 m |
10-15 m |
||
|
X-Rays |
10-13 m – 10-8 m |
10-10 m |
||
|
UV |
10-8 m – 400 nm |
10-8 m |
||
|
Visible Light |
400 nm – 700 nm |
|
||
|
Infra-red |
700 nm – 10-3 m |
10-5 m |
||
|
Microwaves |
10-3 m – 10-1 m |
10-2 m |
||
|
Radio waves |
10-1 m – 106 m |
102 m |
