Ranges and types of electromagnetic waves table
Table shows common classification of electromagnetic waves based on frequency (wavelength). Also, example methods of producing/generating and applications for given wavelengths are presented.

# General wave classification

 Common name Frequency range Wavelength range Sources and methods of production Example usage Low fequency radiation < 10 kHz > 30 km acoustic transducers, LC and RC generators electroacoustics, energy industry, telephony Radio waves 10 kHz - 3 THz 100 µm - 30 km LC, RC generators, masers radio, television, telecommunications, radiolocation, radioastronomy, medicine Infrared 300 GHz - 395 THz 759 nm - 1 mm heated bodies, lasers, radiant lamps, the sun telecommunications, medicine, heating, material processing, IR spectroscopy Visible range 395 THz - 790 THz 380 nm - 759 nm mercury lamps, heated bodies, lasers, the sun, luminescence telecommunications, photography, optics, quantitative analysis Ultraviolet (UV) 790 THz - 30 PHz 10 nm - 380 nm lasers, mercury lamps, sun, gas discharge, quartz lamps telecommunications, photography, optics, quantitative analysis X-ray 30 PHz - 30 EHz 10 pm - 10 nm X-ray tube, decay of radioactive elements telecommunications, photography, optics Gamma radiation > 3 EHz < 100 pm cosmic rays, accelerators, X-ray tubes, decay of radioactive elements medicine, defectoscopy, nuclear physics

# Visible range

 Color Frequency range Wavelength range Red 389 THz - 491 THz 611 nm - 771 nm Yellow 517 THz - 535 THz 561 nm - 580 nm Green 535 THz - 612 THz 490 nm - 561 nm Blue 612 THz - 625 THz 480 nm - 490 nm Violet 652 THz - 789 THz 380 nm - 460 nm

# Micro-wave bands (IEEE)

 Band symbol Frequency range Wavelength range 1 GHz - 2 GHz 1 dm - 3 dm 2 GHz - 4 GHz 8 cm - 1 dm 4 GHz - 8 GHz 4 cm - 8 cm 8 GHz - 12 GHz 3 cm - 4 cm 12 GHz - 18 GHz 2 cm - 3 cm 18 GHz - 26 GHz 1 cm - 2 cm 26 GHz - 40 GHz 8 mm - 1 cm 300 GHz - 300 GHz 1 mm - 1 mm

# Micro-wave bands (NATO)

 Band symbol Frequency range Wavelength range < 250 MHz > 1 m 250 MHz - 500 MHz 6 dm - 1 m 500 MHz - 1 GHz 3 dm - 6 dm 1 GHz - 2 GHz 1 dm - 3 dm 2 GHz - 3 GHz 10 cm - 1 dm 3 GHz - 4 GHz 8 cm - 10 cm 4 GHz - 6 GHz 5 cm - 8 cm 6 GHz - 8 GHz 4 cm - 5 cm 8 GHz - 10 GHz 3 cm - 4 cm 10 GHz - 20 GHz 2 cm - 3 cm 20 GHz - 40 GHz 8 mm - 2 cm 40 GHz - 60 GHz 5 mm - 8 mm 60 GHz - 100 GHz 3 mm - 5 mm

# Some facts

• Electromagnetic waves are disturbances of electromagnetic field displaced in space.
• Electromagnetic waves propagate at the speed of light.
• One of the most basic parameters describing a wave (not only electromagnetic) is its frequency.
• Since the frequency of the wave is directly related to its length, we can equally determine the wave by giving its length. The relationship between the length and the frequency of the electromagnetic wave is as follows:
$\lambda = \frac{c}{\nu}$

where:
• $\lambda$ - wavelength,
• $\nu$ - wave frequency,
• $c$ - speed of light.
• The waves classification based on the wavelength or frequency is conventional and has the practical meaning. This means that individual sources may deliver slightly different bands.
• The classification based on wavelength does not have to be strictly consistent with frequency based one. Often for convenience (i.e. to avoid fractional values), we round speed of light to 300,000 km/s when converting one classification to another.
• The properties of electromagnetic waves are described by Maxwell's equations:
\begin{aligned} & \nabla \times \vec{E} = -\frac{\partial \vec{B}} {\partial {t}} \\ & \nabla \times \vec{B} = \mu \vec{j} +\mu \varepsilon \frac{\partial \vec{E}} {\partial {t}} \\ & \varepsilon \nabla \cdot \vec{E} = \rho \\ & \nabla \cdot \vec{B} = 0 \end{aligned}

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• Historically, phenomena related to electricity and magnetism (and therefore the electric and magnetic field and their changes) were two separate branches of science. Maxwell's equations gave a coherent description joining both fields into one. Thanks to this, there is no need to speak separately about the magnetic and electric field anymore. We can simply use the term electromagnetic field instead.
• Electric and magnetic fields are special cases of the electromagnetic field. Despite a coherent mathematical apparatus, which eliminates the need to distinguish between these two types of fields, sometimes the concepts of magnetic or electric field are used separately if it's handful.