Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
radio wave
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images & Videos
radio waves
How does a radio convert waves into sound?
Figure 1: The electromagnetic spectrum. Schematic diagram showing the propagation of high-frequency (shortwave) radio waves by reflection off the ionosphereSpecific ionization conditions vary greatly between day (left) and night (right), causing radio waves to reflect off different layers of the ionosphere or transmit through them, depending upon their frequency and their angle of transmission. Under certain conditions of location, ionization, frequency, and angle, multiple “skips,” or reflections between ionosphere and Earth, are possible. At night, with no intervening layers of the ionosphere present, reflection off the F layer can yield extremely long transmission ranges. ionospheric reflection Electromagnetic radiation
Learn how a radar works
Understand how the electromagnetic spectrum helps study the celestial bodies
Quizzes
Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Physics and Natural Law
Read Next
Businessman using tablet phone on airplane
Why Do You Have to Turn Off Electronic Devices on an Airplane?
Discover
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.
Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?
Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
Woman tied to a ducking stool, a method of punishment by means of humiliation, beating, or death. (cucking stool)
8 Unusual Punishments Inflicted on Women Throughout History
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that
America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)

radio wave: Facts & Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/radio-wave
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Did You Know?

  • The Very Large Array (VLA) is a radio telescope in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and is comprised of 27 antennas arranged in a Y-shape stretching approximately 22.4 mi (36 km) wide, 1.5 times the width of Washington, D.C., United States.
  • A radio works by converting a specific wavelength (which can be adjusted by the user by changing the station) into vibrations, generating sound from the speakers.
  • If an object is not a receiver for radio waves, any approaching wave will simply bounce off that object and travel away.
  • Radio waves have the longest wavelengths out of all known waves in the electromagnetic spectrum, and can range from the length of a football to more than the diameter of Earth.

Photos and Videos

radio waves
Figure 1: The electromagnetic spectrum.
Schematic diagram showing the propagation of high-frequency (shortwave) radio waves by reflection off the ionosphereSpecific ionization conditions vary greatly between day (left) and night (right), causing radio waves to reflect off different layers of the ionosphere or transmit through them, depending upon their frequency and their angle of transmission. Under certain conditions of location, ionization, frequency, and angle, multiple “skips,” or reflections between ionosphere and Earth, are possible. At night, with no intervening layers of the ionosphere present, reflection off the F layer can yield extremely long transmission ranges.
ionospheric reflection
Electromagnetic radiation
How does a radio convert waves into sound?
Learn how a radar works
Understand how the electromagnetic spectrum helps study the celestial bodies
See All Videos and Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Vitaly Ginzburg
Russian physicist
Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge.
Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge
British physicist
Heinrich Hertz
Heinrich Hertz
German physicist
George Francis FitzGerald
Irish physicist

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Physics and Natural Law
Demystified
Businessman using tablet phone on airplane
Why Do You Have to Turn Off Electronic Devices on an Airplane?