Question

Which of the following is a difference between electromagnetic waves and sound waves?

A.
Sound waves can travel through water, while electromagnetic waves cannot.
B.
Sound waves are low energy, while electromagnetic waves are high energy.
C.
Sound waves have high frequencies, while electromagnetic waves have low frequencies.
D.
Sound waves are longitudinal, while electromagnetic waves are transverse.

Answer 1

D

Step-by-step explanation:

A is wrong as otherwise the ocean would be black as light could not pass through it to create images.

B is wrong. This is a weird one as the electromagnetic spectrum attached below shows that radio waves have the least amount of energy vs gamma which has the highest and you can't really compare this to sound waves.

C just straight up false.

D is correct, no way to remember this, just learn it. a couple of facts about transverse waves of google. Electromagnetic waves are a type of transverse waves. These waves do not require a medium to travel. As the name of the waves imply, these waves show electrical and magnetic properties. No any charge occur in the waves. Electromagnetic waves work by the laws of reflection and refraction. They travel as straight lines in a vacuum at a speed of 3 x 10 8 ms -1.

Extra info:

As gamma waves have the highest energy it means that the waves are closer together (the wavelength is smaller) and they create more heat. Also gamma waves go through everything, X-ray only through skin and bounces of dense things like bones, which creates images. These eventually weaken more and more until radio waves do not pass through anything and just bounces around and everywhere which allows you to gain more coverage on a radio then on a cell phone.