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III. Long Answer Questions · Q7

Q.Discuss the source of electromagnetic waves.

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Step 1. A stationary charge produces only a static electric field around it and radiates no wave at all.

Step 2. A charge moving with uniform (constant) velocity produces a steady current, which gives rise to a magnetic field around the conductor it flows in -- but this field is not time-dependent (it only varies with position, i.e. it is purely space-dependent), so it cannot regenerate any further field and still no wave is radiated.

Step 3. Only when the charged particle accelerates does it produce a magnetic field in addition to its electric field, with both fields now genuinely time-varying; since electromagnetic waves are transverse, the wave's direction of propagation is perpendicular to the plane containing these oscillating E⃗\vec E and B⃗\vec B vectors.

Step 4. Because any oscillatory motion about a mean position is itself a continuous form of accelerated motion, an oscillating charge -- such as an oscillating molecular dipole, or the discharging spark in Hertz's apparatus -- is a genuine source of electromagnetic waves. …

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