4 ms·
Edit: As several have pointed out... I'm wrong. I was confusing energy with power. > microwave energy—an electromagnetic wave just like Marconi’s radio waves,
by packet_nerd 6y ago
Edit: As several have pointed out... I'm wrong. I was confusing energy with power.
> microwave energy—an electromagnetic wave just like Marconi’s radio waves, only a bit more energetic
Sorry for the nitpick, but, the difference between microwave and longer wavelength radio waves is frequency, not energy! I see this all the time in popular science reporting and it drives me nuts... Microwaves are electromagnetic waves, just like UHF, VHF, etc., except that they are a higher frequency (and thus, shorter wavelength). In fact, in general, longer wavelength radio waves are often transmitted at higher power than shorter.
Unless they mean that this microwave energy transfer scheme itself is using more energetic radio waves than other types of radio systems... but it doesn't read that way to me.
- dmitrygr 6y agoWell, technically, every photon at microwave wavelengths does have more energy than a photon at longer wavelengths.
- packet_nerd 6y agoHow so? If you feed 1 watt of power into a 10Mhz isotropic antenna you get a photons of a certain energy spreading out in all directions. If you feed 1 watt of 10Ghz into a isotropic antenna, are you saying that the photons have more energy than the 10Mhz version? Where does the extra energy come from? I'll admit it's been way to long since physics class, so forgive me.
- mhh__ 6y agoE = hf = h c / λ Power != Energy
- Metacelsus 6y agoThere are fewer photons emitted, but each is more energetic.
- bananabreakfast 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_energy
- SigmundA 6y agoHigher frequency means more energy per photon. You seem to be referring to power not energy. You see it reported all over as energy because that is the correct term for what is being discussed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon_energy
- packet_nerd 6y agoThanks for the link.. yes, I had energy and power confused.
- thorioulus6788 6y agoFrequency and energy are directly related, the way this is communicated makes sense. Microwaves have a shorter wavelength, higher frequency and are therefore more energetic than the other light mentioned. You're going back and forth between energy and power which aren't the same thing.