Electromagnetic Spectrum Physics Example 3

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Example 3

medium
A cell phone operates at 800 MHz800 \text{ MHz} and an X-ray machine at 3×1018 Hz3 \times 10^{18} \text{ Hz}. By what factor is the X-ray frequency greater than the cell phone frequency?

Solution

  1. 1
    Cell phone frequency: 800 MHz=8×108 Hz800 \text{ MHz} = 8 \times 10^8 \text{ Hz}.
  2. 2
    Ratio: fX-rayfphone=3×10188×108=3.75×109\frac{f_{\text{X-ray}}}{f_{\text{phone}}} = \frac{3 \times 10^{18}}{8 \times 10^8} = 3.75 \times 10^9

Answer

X-ray frequency is about 3.75×109 times greater\text{X-ray frequency is about } 3.75 \times 10^9 \text{ times greater}
The electromagnetic spectrum spans an enormous range of frequencies — over 20 orders of magnitude from radio waves to gamma rays. X-rays are billions of times higher in frequency than radio waves.

About Electromagnetic Spectrum

The complete continuum of all electromagnetic waves, organized in order of increasing frequency (or decreasing wavelength).

Learn more about Electromagnetic Spectrum →

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Example 4 hard

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