All types of electromagnetic radiation can travel through empty space, move at the speed of light in a vacuum, and can be characterized by their wavelengths or frequencies. Different types of electromagnetic waves on the spectrum vary in energy based on their wavelengths, with shorter wavelengths carrying more energy.
All types of electromagnetic radiation, despite their differences, share common characteristics. Firstly, they can all travel through empty space, which means they do not require a medium to propagate. This includes gamma rays, X-rays, UV rays, visible light, IR radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. Another shared attribute is that they all travel at the speed of light in a vacuum, which is approximately 299,792 kilometers per second (186,282 miles per second).
When considering the characteristics of specific types of electromagnetic radiation such as the different colors of light, they mainly differ in their frequencies or wavelengths. For instance, blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light, which means blue light also has a higher frequency.
Conversely, yellow light has a lower frequency than blue light. In terms of energy, green light has a higher energy than red light because shorter wavelengths correspond to higher energies. The relationship between wavelength and energy is inverse; as the wavelength increases, the energy decreases, which is why long wavelength radio waves carry less energy than short wavelength gamma rays.