Which form of electromagnetic radiation has the shortest wavelength

Which of the following electromagnetic radiation has the shortest wavelength?

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All of them have the same wavelength.

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Solution

The correct option is C

Ultraviolet

As we know that:
λinfrared>λvisible>λultraviolet
So, Ultraviolet have least wavelength among the others.

Video Transcript

What is the name of the type of electromagnetic radiation that has the shortest wavelengths?

We see from our question that indeed there are various types of electromagnetic radiation. The type we’re most familiar with is visible light, light that our eyes are sensitive to. But then if we set up an axis so that larger wavelengths are to the right and correspondingly shorter wavelengths are to the left, we’ve seen through various scientific experiments that visible light is not the only kind of light there is. Another type of radiation with wavelengths just longer than that of visible light is called infrared radiation. Then, even beyond that, there are microwaves and then finally radio waves. This is the type of electromagnetic radiation with the longest wavelengths of all.

There are also more types of electromagnetic radiation if we move to the left of visible light, to shorter wavelength. There is ultraviolet radiation, invisible to our eyes but nonetheless very real. Then, at even shorter wavelengths, there are X-rays. And finally, with the shortest wavelengths of all, there are gamma rays. Something good to know about electromagnetic radiation is that wavelength 𝜆 and energy 𝐸 are inversely related. That is, radiation with a shorter wavelength possesses greater energy. In this case, we just want to identify the name of the type of electromagnetic radiation that has the shortest of all wavelengths. We can see that that type is gamma rays. Note that there’s actually no lower limit to the wavelength of gamma rays. This is the type of electromagnetic radiation that has the shortest wavelengths.