Electromagnetic radiation

Light and other types of electromagnetic radiation

You're most familiar with visible light - ROYGBV. This is a tiny sliver of the huge variety of electromagnetic waves given off by things that emit light naturally (stars) and those that generally absorb and reflect or re-emit light (planets, us, etc.)

All forms of these "waves" are called electromagnetic waves, since the wave consists of an electric component and a magnetic component. These waves can be represented on a chart of electromagnetic radiation (waves being emitted) that goes from low frequency waves (with long wavelengths) to high frequency waves (with short wavelength).

All of these waves travel at that same speed in a vacuum (or near vacuum like space) - the speed of light (c).

The product of frequency and wavelength is always the same value - the speed of light.

Speed of light = frequency (f) x wavelength (l)

c = f l