Light is a very broad subject. Light covers eight areas: Power & Telephone, Radio Waves, Microwaves, Infrared, Ultra Violet, X-rays, Gamma Rays and Visible Light. All eight of these waves are light waves but not all are visible to the human eye. Visible light is the only one seen by humans. The other seven waves exist but are not visible to humans. All eight waves are known as the Electromagnetic Spectrum. In these eight areas, we will look at four behaviors: reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference. These behaviors are similar in all eight waves. This site will also explore four properties: wavelength, frequency, period and amplitude.

Waves can be visualized as a sine wave. The height of a wave is called the amplitude. The wave has a high and low point. The high point is the crust of the wave and the low point is the trough. The point where a wave completes one cycle is known as the period. It is the length of time it takes to complete one phase of the wave. The length of the wave is called the wavelength. The wavelength is a very important factor of waves. Each wave in the electromagnetic spectrum has different wavelengths. The length of the wave determines each wave. The speed of the wave is the frequency. Some terms to know about waves is amplitude, period, crust, and trough. The amplitude of the a wave is the height of the wave; it is the distance from rest, called the trough, to the highest peak of the wave, known as the crest.

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