Is Light a Transverse Wave: Why, How and Detailed Facts

by

Is light a transverse wave? Certainly yes, because visible light comes under the category of electromagnetic waves sowing that all are transverse waves.

Electromagnetic waves are all transverse waves because they vibrate in a direction that is generally right angles to the medium of transmission. The waves do not follow the direction of the medium and they always moves up and down inside the medium.

We know that visible light is the only wave of the electromagnetic spectrum that is actually seen by the naked eye. The wavelength of visible light is between the values of 400 to 700 nanometres, making this answer to the question is light a transverse wave.

Transverse waves are the ones which will propagate in horizontal wave which moves up and down in a medium. The waves are always perpendicular to the medium so happens is that there is no contact with the particle that usually comes in the way of propagating path.

But the longitudinal waves are the ones which follow the same path as the medium and does not divert in any way. A sound wave is one of the best examples for longitudinal waves and they will make the other particles vibrate as well.

The process that happens in a transverse wave is that, when the light waves propagates in the path of the medium it will always travel in the direction perpendicular to the medium and does not have a straight path at all.

The air particles present in the way of propagation will also vibrate in the direction along with the transverse wave propagation. So when the light wave acts in such a way the propagation is also in the same and spreads in all directions.

The transverse waves generally acts in two different dimensions and the medium of propagation will always be in right angles to it making the waves jump up and down and also in a different direction to that of the longitudinal waves.

Is light a transverse wave
“Humanly Visible Spectrum” by entirelysubjective is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Why is light a transverse wave?

When light is spread all over the space and the earth it will definitely be a polarised one, that is, the light is polarised in all ways.

What we mean by polarising of light is, it being divided into parts in order for it to propagate into different paths of the medium. The direction and the magnitude of the electric field present are basically connected to the vibrating particles in the surroundings.

The visible light of the electromagnetic spectrum is a polarised one so it is connected to the vibrating particles. The light waves are basically regarded to be the transverse waves because of the waves being a perpendicular one to the medium of propagation.

In nature visible light is by default a polarised light and is a transverse wave. But in the light used in experiment is usually the unpolarised one, so we make use of a polariser so that when the light is passed through the polariser, the unpolarised light will now come out as a polarised light.

Visible light is the only quantity that is visible to the naked eyes. It is transverse because of the vibrations it goes through the medium. Electromagnetic waves are the waves which come under the transverse waves and they will move up and down in repeated motions.

Since the electromagnetic waves are the ones that comes under the transverse waves and will travel in the direction which is perpendicular to the direction of the medium. In the propagation of the light wave frequency is the only factor that does not change when it moves from one medium to another medium.

Light is a transverse because it will travel vertical to the medium and be right angles to it. Also light has both the electrical and magnetically components to it. So the vibrations of the particles in the light waves have the ability to travel even in the vacuum.

How does light act as a wave?

There are so many factors that affect the propagation of light wave, before that we need to understand how light acts as a wave.

The light entering any surface will undergo all types of phenomenon that light will go through, namely reflection, refraction, diffraction and polarisation. These entire phenomenon will aid light act as a wave in general.

When light enters a medium and it bounces back in to the same medium but in different direction then we call it as a reflection process. When the target surface is a glass or any other smooth surface the light will instantly travel back in to the same medium as the original.

Next is when light enters from one medium to another and it moves away from the normal or towards the normal and this process is regarded to be the refraction process of light. The speed of the light changes once it enters another medium then there will be a change in the direction.

When the direction changes the beam of light depending upon the refractive index of the medium it will either moves towards the normal or away from the normal. The refractive index of the medium is simply the ratio of the angle of incidence and angle of refraction.

Next is the diffraction process of the light wave. The process behind this is, when light enters another medium from one medium. The light will refract first and then diffract at different angles.

The target surface is an influence in the light wave propagation. If the target is curved then the light wave has to bend in the corners in order to pass through. So this bending of light wave at different angles mainly depends on the angle of incidence.

Then comes the polarisation, if the light is an unpolarised one, we make use of a polariser wherever needed. The light wave passes through the polariser, gets polarised and then comes out as the polarised visible light.

The polarised light wave is connected to the transverse wave form. The wave will move up and down in the medium of propagation which is perpendicular to the light waves.

1 8
“falling light waves” by Creativity103 is licensed under

Is red light a transverse wave?

The red light is a part of the visible light which comes under the category of electromagnetic wave.

Generally all the light waves which of whichever wavelength it belongs to, it will be a transverse wave. The red light is another spectrum of the while light. When we know that all the monochromatic belongs to the white spectrum, then it will be a transverse wave for sure.

Red light has a wavelength that ranges between the values 620 and 750 nanometres. So this is has a wavelength of larger value and will be spread put largely in the spectrum. Transverse wave will surely be aiding to the electromagnetic wave as well.

All the waves that come under the electromagnetic waves will be a transverse wave. Since it will always jump in direction of up and down and act right angles to the medium of propagation.

Since the transverse wave is vertical in motion it will always moves here and there and not in a straight line as the longitudinal one.

2 12
“Red Light” by mripp is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Is blue light a transverse wave?

Blue light is a transverse wave since it is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum will be a transverse wave in nature.

The wavelength of the blue light differs from the value 450 and 495 nanometres. The white spectrum is spread out in space. If the blue light is visible to us then this light is been absorbed by the space.

The blue light is one of the visible light too because we are able to see it through our naked eyes. Therefore all of this comes under the category of electromagnetic spectrum. We know that the electromagnetic spectrum is the one which will always be transverse in nature.

Unlike the sound waves the light waves will always be a transverse wave since it is vertical in nature and does not travel in a straight line as we all are aware of the properties of the transverse waves.

3 7
“Blue Light District” by e³°°° is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Is visible light a transverse wave?

It is evident form the explanation form the above topics that visible light is the only part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is seen by the naked eye.

The visible is the quantity which directly comes under the category of electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum is the one that is generally transverse in nature. So the wave here will not be in a straight direction that is in phase with medium.

Unlike the longitudinal waves that is the sound waves; the transverse wave will travel in different directions and has two dimensions in it. This wave is one such that can be made of form the solid and liquid surfaces.

A light wave is the one that can be produced from any type of source. Transverse wave is basically made up of quantities such as the crest and trough. But the longitudinal waves are made up of rarefactions and compressions.

So the light waves are basically made up of two nodes one top and the other bottom, so they are also called as the crest and trough. And this very property proves that the visible light is always a transverse wave.

Also Read: