What exactly does the term “wave” imply? A wave is a disturbance that moves or spreads from its source. Waves transfer energy, but they do not necessarily carry any mass along with them.
Waves are a form of longitudinal motion. Sound and water waves are mechanical waves, which means they need a medium to travel through. A solid, liquid, or gas may be the medium, and the speed of the wave is determined by the physical characteristics of the medium in which it is traveling.
However, light and radio are not mechanical waves; they can propagate through a vacuum, such as the voids in outer space.
Why Can’t Sound Travel in Space?
Sound waves are caused by air vibrations. We humans hear them when the frequencies range from 20 to 20,000 Hz.
Sound waves are produced when particles in a medium vibrate. These vibrations are transmitted to the following molecules in the medium, thus sound waves cannot travel through space without a medium. The reason we can’t hear anything in outer space is because there isn’t any such thing as a sufficient medium.
We may debate about gases serving as media in space, but gases are unevenly distributed throughout the space. Furthermore, gases are generally less dense in space, so there is too much of a gap between the particles for vibrations to travel effectively.
In basic terms, sound cannot travel in space.
Why Do Sound Waves Require a Medium to Travel?
The water wave is a familiar phenomenon that you can readily picture. The disturbance in water waves occurs at the surface of the water, as evidenced by a rock thrown into a pond or a swimmer splashing the water’s surface repeatedly.
The disturbance in sound waves is caused by a variation in air pressure, as demonstrated by the following: When a speaker’s oscillating cone creates an uproar. There are several types of disturbances associated with earthquakes, some of which are the surface disturbance and pressure changes beneath the surface.
Water waves are one of the most well-known types of waves, and for good reason. Water waves are often and readily observable, so thinking about water waves might help you understand other sorts of waves that aren’t as apparent.
Do Radio Waves Require a Medium to Travel?
No, radio waves are electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic waves differ from mechanical waves in that they do not need a medium to travel. This implies that electromagnetic radiation may propagate through both air and solid materials as well as vacuum space.
The wave is the oscillation of some variable within a body in many types of waves, such as sound waves or water waves. The pressure of the air is responsible for sound waves, while the height of the water in a lake or ocean causes water waves.
However, the electric and magnetic fields in space are oscillating which are electromagnetic waves . The electric and magnetic fields are force fields that exist without a medium. They’re simply there. Electric charges and currents give rise to them, and they span the vacuum from their origins through the cosmos.
When an electric charge or current fluctuates, the accompanying magnetic and electric fields likewise fluctuate. However, these waves don’t appear instantly everywhere; instead, they spread at the speed of light from the original source.
Why Doesn’t Light Need a Medium to Travel?
A light wave is an electromagnetic wave. It does not require any medium because it travels through space without relying on medium particles. Light, in a nutshell, is an electromagnetic radiation caused by the disruption of electric and magnetic fields.
The direction of propagation of the electric and magnetic fields which are mutually perpendicular supports each other to travel in a perpendicular direction. Light is capable of traveling without medium because it may be generated and propagated through vacuum (or no medium).
The concept of light’s particles, originally developed by German philosopher and physicist Ernst Mach in the 19th century, implies that light is made up of tiny energy bundle packets known as “photons.” Because light follows the principles of wave-particle duality, it exists in two states: particle and wave. From this perspective, these energized photons travel alone without the assistance of a medium.
Also, it’s from these photons that color is visible to us humans.
Think of it another way.
We understand that light does not require a medium to travel since the speed of light is experimentally constant: it does not vary regardless of the source, detector, or direction in which it travels.
Light and sound clash, the latter which is transmitted through the air (or some other material medium). The speed of sound in all directions is the same if you’re stationary with respect to the air. But if you’re moving with respect to the air, the speed of sound will be the same in all directions relative to the air—which means that sound coming up ahead of you will seem faster, and sounds catching up from behind will appear slower.
Light would act in the same way if it were a disturbance in a medium. However, light’s speed will always be constant under all circumstances. It is a the universal constant after all.
