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

Radio waves#

Common name	Frequency range	Wavelength range	Sources and methods of production	Example usage
Radio waves (long)	10 kHz - 300 kHz	1 km - 30 km	LC, RC generators, masers	radio in ITU I region (Europa, Africa)
Radio waves (medium)	300 kHz - 3 MHz	100 m - 1 km	LC, RC generators, masers	radio, non-directional radio beacons, DGPS reference stations, meteorological reports
Radio waves (short)	3 MHz - 30 MHz	10 m - 100 m	LC, RC generators, masers	amateur radio (ham radio)
Radio waves (ultra-short, VHF)	30 MHz - 300 MHz	10 dm - 10 m	LC, RC generators, masers	terrestrial television, radio broadcasting, pager network
Radio waves (UHF)	300 MHz - 3 GHz	10 cm - 10 dm	LC, RC generators, masers	television, mobile telephony, Wi-Fi networks, bluetooth
Micro-waves	3 GHz - 3 THz	100 µm - 10 cm	vacuum tubes, field-effect transistor (FET), tunnel diodes, Gunn diodes, IMPATT diodes	microwave radars, radar speed measurement, inter-satellite communication, microwave oven

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
L	1 GHz - 2 GHz	1 dm - 3 dm
S	2 GHz - 4 GHz	8 cm - 1 dm
C	4 GHz - 8 GHz	4 cm - 8 cm
X	8 GHz - 12 GHz	3 cm - 4 cm
K_u	12 GHz - 18 GHz	2 cm - 3 cm
K	18 GHz - 26 GHz	1 cm - 2 cm
K_a	26 GHz - 40 GHz	8 mm - 1 cm
Z	299.9 GHz - 300 GHz	1 mm - 1 mm

Micro-wave bands (NATO)#

Band symbol	Frequency range	Wavelength range
A	< 250 MHz	> 1 m
B	250 MHz - 500 MHz	6 dm - 1 m
C	500 MHz - 1 GHz	3 dm - 6 dm
D	1 GHz - 2 GHz	1 dm - 3 dm
E	2 GHz - 3 GHz	10 cm - 1 dm
F	3 GHz - 4 GHz	8 cm - 10 cm
G	4 GHz - 6 GHz	5 cm - 8 cm
H	6 GHz - 8 GHz	4 cm - 5 cm
I	8 GHz - 10 GHz	3 cm - 4 cm
J	10 GHz - 20 GHz	2 cm - 3 cm
K	20 GHz - 40 GHz	8 mm - 2 cm
L	40 GHz - 60 GHz	5 mm - 8 mm
M	60 GHz - 100 GHz	3 mm - 5 mm

WiFi standards#

Network standard	Frequency range
802.11b/g/n	2.412 GHz - 2.484 GHz
802.11y	3.6575 GHz - 3.6925 GHz
802.11j	4.94 GHz - 4.99 GHz
802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax	5.03 GHz - 4.99 GHz
802.11p	5.85 GHz - 5.925 GHz
802.11ad/ay	60 GHz - 60 GHz

ISM (Industrial, Scientific, Medical)#

Frequency range	Example usage
6.765 MHz - 6.795 MHz	FIXED SERVICE & Mobile service
13.553 MHz - 13.567 MHz	FIXED & Mobile services except Aeronautical mobile (R) service
26.957 MHz - 27.283 MHz	FIXED & MOBILE SERVICE except Aeronautical mobile service, CB Radio
40.66 MHz - 40.7 MHz	Fixed, Mobile services & Earth exploration-satellite service
433.05 MHz - 434.79 MHz	AMATEUR SERVICE & RADIOLOCATION SERVICE
902 MHz - 928 MHz	FIXED, Mobile except aeronautical mobile & Radiolocation service; in Region 2 additional Amateur service
2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz	FIXED, MOBILE, RADIOLOCATION, Amateur & Amateur-satellite service
5.725 GHz - 5.875 GHz	FIXED-SATELLITE, RADIOLOCATION, MOBILE, Amateur & Amateur-satellite service
24 GHz - 24.25 GHz	AMATEUR, AMATEUR-SATELLITE, RADIOLOCATION & Earth exploration-satellite service (active)
61 GHz - 61.5 GHz	FIXED, INTER-SATELLITE, MOBILE & RADIOLOCATION SERVICE
122 GHz - 123 GHz	EARTH EXPLORATION-SATELLITE (passive), FIXED, INTER-SATELLITE, MOBILE, SPACE RESEARCH (passive) & Amateur service
244 GHz - 246 GHz	RADIOLOCATION, RADIO ASTRONOMY, Amateur & Amateur-satellite service

GSM frequencies defined by 3GPP#

System	Frequency band	Uplink frequency [MHz]	Downlink frequency [MHz]	ARFC channels
GSM 400	GSM 450 Band	450,4 - 457,7	460,4 - 467,6	259 - 293
GSM 400	GSM 480 Band	478,8 - 486,0	488,8 - 496,0	306 - 340
GSM 700	GSM 750 Band	747 - 762	777 - 792	438 - 511
GSM 850	GSM 850 Band	824 - 849	869 - 894	128 - 251
GSM 900	Primary GSM 900 Band	890 - 915	935 - 960	1 - 124
GSM 900	Extended GSM 900 Band	880 - 915	925 - 960	1 - 124 975 - 1023
GSM 1800	DSC 1 800 Band	1710 - 1785	1805 - 1880	512 - 885
GSM 1900	PCS 1 900 Band	1850 - 1910	1930 - 1990	512 - 810
R-GSM	Railways GSM 900 Band	876 - 915	921 - 960	1 - 124 955 - 1023

GSM channels in Poland#

ARFC channels	System	Number of channels	GSM operator	Uplink frequency [MHz]	Downlink frequency [MHz]	Notes
975 - 999	EGSM 900	25	P4 (Play)	880,1 - 885,1	925,1 - 930,1	GSM900, UMTS900
1000 -1023	EGSM 900	25	Aero2	885,1 - 890,1	930,1 - 935,1	UMTS900
0 - 0	EGSM 900	25	Aero2	885,1 - 890,1	930,1 - 935,1	UMTS900
1 - 14	GSM 900	14	Polkomtel (Plus)	890,1 - 892,9	935,1 - 937,9	GSM900
15 - 36	GSM 900	22	T-Mobile Polska (T-mobile)	892,9 - 897,3	937,9 - 942,3	GSM900
37 - 67	GSM 900	31	Polkomtel (Plus)	897,3 - 903,5	942,3 - 948,5	GSM900
68 - 90	GSM 900	23	T-Mobile Polska (T-mobile)	903,5 - 908,1	948,5 - 953,1	GSM900, UMTS900 (channels 79 - 90 within Networks!)
91 - 124	GSM 900	34	Orange Polska (Orange)	908,1 - 914,9	953,1 - 959,9	GSM900, UMTS900 (channels 91 - 99 within Networks!)
512 - 560	GSM 1800	49	CenterNet	1710,1 - 1719,9	1805,1 - 1814,9	LTE1800 / Mobyland
561 - 561	GSM 1800	1	CenterNet/Mobyland	1719,9 - 1720,1	1814,9 - 1815,1	LTE1800 with CenterNet/Mobyland with the conspect of UKE
562 - 610	GSM 1800	49	Mobyland	1720,1 - 1729,9	1815,1 - 1824,9	LTE1800 / CenterNet
611 - 685	GSM 1800	75	P4 (Play)	1729,9 - 1744,9	1824,9 - 1839,9	-
686 - 735	GSM 1800	50	T-Mobile Polska (T-mobile)	1744,9 - 1754,9	1839,9 - 1849,9	GSM1800 / Orange Polska
736 - 747	GSM 1800	12	T-Mobile Polska (T-mobile)	1754,9 - 1757,3	1849,9 - 1852,3	GSM1800
748 - 748	GSM 1800	1	-	1757,3 - 1757,5	1852,3 - 1852,5	-
749 - 760	GSM 1800	12	Polkomtel (Plus)	1757,5 - 1759,9	1852,5 - 1854,9	GSM1800
761 - 762	GSM 1800	2	-	1759,9 - 1760,3	1854,9 - 1855,3	-
763 - 810	GSM 1800	48	Orange Polska (Orange)	1760,3 - 1769,9	1855,3 - 1864,9	GSM1800, LTE 1800(channels 772 - 846 within Networks!)
811 - 811	GSM 1800	1	-	1769,9 - 1770,1	1864,9 - 1865,1	LTE 1800(channels 772 - 846 within Networks!)
812 - 847	GSM 1800	36	T-Mobile Polska (T-mobile)	1770,1 - 1777,3	1865,1 - 1872,3	LTE 1800(channels 772 - 846 within Networks!)
848 - 849	GSM 1800	2	-	1777,3 - 1777,7	1872,3 - 1872,7	-
850 - 885	GSM 1800	36	Polkomtel (Plus)	1777,7 - 1784,9	1872,7 - 1879,9	GSM1800

LTE bands over the World#

LTE band [MHz]	Used in region(s)
700	North America
800	North America, Europe
900	Europe
1700	North America
1800	Europe, Asia, Australia
1900	North America
2100	North America, Europe
2500	South America
2600	Europe, Asia
3400	Europe
3600	Europe

LTE operators in the Poland#

LTE band [MHz]	LTE operator
800	Play, Orange, T-Mobile, Midas
1800	Cyfrowy Polsat, Plus, Play, Orange, T-Mobile, Midas
2100	T-Mobile
2600	Plus, Play, Orange, T-Mobile

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:

$\lambda = \dfrac{c}{\nu}$
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 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:

$\begin{aligned} & \nabla \times \vec{E} = -\dfrac{\partial \vec{B}} {\partial {t}} \\ & \nabla \times \vec{B} = \mu \vec{j} +\mu \varepsilon \dfrac{\partial \vec{E}} {\partial {t}} \\ & \varepsilon \nabla \cdot \vec{E} = \rho \\ & \nabla \cdot \vec{B} = 0 \end{aligned}$
gdzie:
- $\nabla$ - Nabla's operator (del),
- $\vec{B}$ - magnetic induction,
- $\vec{E}$ - electric field,
- $\varepsilon$ - medium permittivity,
- $\mu$ - medium permeability.
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.

Tags and links to this website#

Tags:

electromagnetic_waves · waves_classification · radio_waves_bands · microwaves · light_spectrum · color_frequencies · color_wavelengths

Tags to Polish version:

fale_elektromagnetyczne · podzial_fal_elektromagnetycznych · zakresy_fal_radiowych · mikrofale · widmo_widzialne · czestotliwosci_kolorow · dlugosci_fal_kolorow

What tags this calculator has#

TABLE · PHYSICS · ELECTRONICS · A -> Z (all)

Permalink#

This is permalink. Permalink is the link containing your input data. Just copy it and share your work with friends:

https://calculla.com/electromagnetic_waves

Links to external sites (leaving Calculla?)#