Chapter 34

Electromagnetic Waves
Multiple Choice
1.

The Earth is 1.49 1011 meters from the sun. If the solar radiation at the top of the
Earths atmosphere is 1340 W/m2, what is the total power output of the sun?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

2.

If the radiant energy from the sun comes in as a plane EM wave of intensity
1340 W/m2, calculate the peak values of E and B.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

3.

300 V/m, 104 T

1000 V/m, 3.35 106 T
225 V/m, 1.6 103 T
111 V/m, 3 105 T
711 V/m, 2.37 106 T

If the maximum E-component of an electromagnetic wave is 600 V/m, what is

the maximum B-component?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

4.

7.10 1027 W
2.20 1030 W
6.62 1026 W
3.74 1026 W
2.98 1025 W

1.4 T
1.8 105 T
2.0 106 T
1.0 103 T
1.6 1010 T

Find the force exerted by reflecting sunlight off a reflecting aluminum sheet in
space if the area normal to the sunlight is 10 000 m2 and the solar intensity is
1350 W/m2.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

0.72 N
0.09 N
9N
45 N
0.18 N

237

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5.

CHAPTER 34

What is the average value of the magnitude of the Poynting vector S at 1 meter
from a 100-watt lightbulb radiating in all directions?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

6.

A 100-kW radio station emits EM waves in all directions from an antenna on top
of a mountain. What is the intensity of the signal at a distance of 10 km?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

7.

3.3 106 J
3.3 J
0.003 J
104 J
3.0 105 J

At a distance of 10 km from a radio transmitter, the amplitude of the E-field is

0.20 volts/meter. What is the total power emitted by the radio transmitter?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

9.

8 105 W/m2
8 106 W/m2
3 103 W/m2
0.8 W/m2
2.5 105 W/m2

How much electromagnetic energy is contained in each cubic meter near the
Earths surface if the intensity of sunlight under clear skies is 1000 W/m2?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

8.

1 W/m2
4 W/m2
2 W/m2
8 W/m2
12 W/m2

10 kW
67 kW
140 kW
245 kW
21 kW

What is the maximum radiation pressure exerted by sunlight in space

(S = 1350 W/m2) on a flat black surface?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

2.25 105 Pa
0.06 Pa
7 104 Pa
4.5 106 Pa
9.0 106 Pa

Electromagnetic Waves

10.

What is the maximum radiation pressure exerted by sunlight in space

(S = 1350 W/m2) on a highly polished silver surface?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

11.

5.55 1014 Hz
6.00 1011 Hz
9.00 108 Hz
3.00 1010 MHz
1.80 1015 Hz

An FM radio station broadcasts at 98.6 MHz. What is the wavelength of the

radiowaves?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

14.

3 1018 Hz
3 1010 MHz
6 109 Hz
3 108 Hz
3 1020 Hz

Green light has a wavelength of 5.4 107 m. What is the frequency of this
EM-wave in air?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

13.

1.4 102 Pa
0.12 Pa
9.0 106 Pa
4.5 105 Pa
2.3 106 Pa

Find the frequency of X-rays of wavelength 1 = 1010 m.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

12.

239

60.8 m
6.08 m
3.04 m
0.314 m
0.33 cm

What should be the height of a dipole antenna (of dimensions 1/4 wavelength) if
it is to transmit 1200 kHz radiowaves?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

11.4 m
60 cm
1.12 m
62.5 m
250 m

240

15.

CHAPTER 34

The magnetic field of a plane-polarized electromagnetic wave moving in the

z
t 107
in SI units. What is
z-direction is given by B = 1.2 106 sin 2

8
240
the maximum E-field?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

16.

The magnetic field of a plane-polarized electromagnetic wave moving in the

z
t 10 7
in SI units. What is
z-direction is given by B = 1.2 106 sin 2

8
240
the frequency of the wave?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

17.

500 MHz
250 kHz
1.25 MHz
10 mHz
300 MHz

The magnetic field of a plane-polarized electromagnetic wave moving in the

z
t 10 7
in SI units. What is

z-direction is given by B = 1.2 106 sin 2

8
240
the wavelength of the EM wave?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

18.

1000 V/m
180 V/m
81 V/m
360 V/m
0.40 V/m

120 m
240 m
60 m
100 m
360 m

The magnetic field of a plane-polarized electromagnetic wave moving in the

z
t 107
in SI units. What is
z-direction is given by B = 1.2 106 sin 2

8
240
the speed of the EM wave?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

3 108 m/s
100 m/s
106 m/s
2 107 m/s
2 108 m/s

Electromagnetic Waves

19.

The magnetic field of a plane-polarized electromagnetic wave moving in the

z
t 107
in SI units. Find the
z-direction is given by B = 1.2 106 sin 2

8
240
average power per square meter carried by the EM wave.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

20.

16%
7%
23%
4%
32%

High frequency alternating current is passed through a solenoid that contains a

solid copper core insulated from the coils of the solenoid. Which statement is
correct?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

22.

720 W
172 W
500 W
2 107 W
86 W

A solar cell has a light-gathering area of 10 cm2 and produces 0.2 A at 0.8 V (DC)
when illuminated with S = 1000 W/m2 sunlight. What is the efficiency of the
solar cell?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

21.

241

A copper core remains cool no matter what the frequency of the current in
the solenoid is.
The copper core remains cool because the induced emf is parallel to the
solenoid axis and fluctuates rapidly.
The copper core heats up because an emf parallel to the solenoid axis is
induced in the core.
The copper core heats up because circular currents around its axis are
induced in the core.
The copper core heats up because the electric field induced in the copper is
parallel to the magnetic field produced by the solenoid.

In an electromagnetic wave, 1) how are the electric and magnetic field directions
related and 2) how is the direction of travel determined from their directions?
(c is the velocity of the light wave.)
a.

b.
c.
d.
e.

c
EB
=
.
c
EB
c
BE
E || B; =
.
c
BE
c
EB
E B; =
.
c
EB
c
BE
E B; =
.
c
BE
c
BE
E = B/c; =
.
c
BE
E || B;

242

23.

CHAPTER 34

The intensity of radiation reaching the earth from the sun is 1350 W/m2. The
earths radius is 6.4 106 m. How big a force does this radiation exert on the
earth? (Assume it is all absorbed.)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

24.

The speed of light is given by the value of

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

25.

0 0 .

0 0 .
1

0 0
1

0 0

0
.
0

The magnetic field amplitude in an electromagnetic wave in vacuum is related to

the electric field amplitude by B =
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

26.

5.8 108 N
1.2 109 N
2.3 109 N
4.6 109 N
1.7 1017 N

E
.
c
E
.
c
E.
E c.
cE .

Since 0 = 8.85 10 12 C 2 / N m 2 , the units of 0 E 2 are

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

J
.
s m3
N
.
s m3
J
.
m3
N
.
m3
W
.
m3

Electromagnetic Waves

27.

When E and B are the amplitudes of the electric and magnetic fields in an
electromagnetic wave in vacuum, the total average energy density in the wave is
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

28.

0
EB

.
.

microwaves.
infrared waves.
ultraviolet waves.
X-rays.
gamma rays.

0.25.
0.50.
1.0.
2.0.
4.0.

Two identical silver spheres of mass m and radius r are placed a distance R
(sphere 1) and 2R (sphere 2) from the sun respectively. The ratio of the
gravitational force exerted by the sun on sphere 1 to the pressure of solar
radiation on sphere 1 is T1; the ratio for sphere 2 is T2. The ratio of T2 to T1 is
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

31.

B2

Two identical silver spheres of mass m and radius r are placed a distance R
(sphere 1) and 2R (sphere 2) from the sun respectively. The ratio of the pressure
of solar radiation on sphere 2 to that on sphere 1 is
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

30.

1
0E2 .
4
1
0E2 .
2
0E2 .

In the atmosphere, the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves are called

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

29.

243

0.25.
0.50.
1.0.
2.0.
4.0.

Magnetic fields are produced by

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

constant electric currents.

electric currents that vary sinusoidally with time.
time-varying electric fields.
all of the above.
only (a) and (b) above.

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32.

CHAPTER 34

At every instant the ratio of the magnitude of the electric to the magnetic field in
an electromagnetic wave in vacuum is equal to
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

33.

the speed of radio waves.

the speed of light.
the speed of gamma rays.
all of the above.
only (a) and (b) above.

g
and 2.00 mm radius is located at the
cm 2
same distance from the Sun as the Earth. RSE = 1.50 1011 m .

A spherical particle of density = 5.00

Nm 2
W
. S = 1300 2 . MS = 1.99 1030 kg . If the particle absorbs
2
kg
m
100 percent of the sunlight reaching it, the ratio of the force exerted by the solar
radiation to the force of gravity exerted on the particle by the Sun is
G = 6.67 1011

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
34.

You can raise the temperature of an object with

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

35.

5.8 105 .
0.58.
1.0.
1.7.
1.7 10 4 .

microwaves.
infrared waves.
ultraviolet rays.
all of the above.
only (a) and (b) above.

An open circuit consists of a 12 F parallel plate capacitor charged to 200 V and

a 10 resistor. At the instant when a switch closes the circuit (with no battery in
it) the displacement current between the plates of the capacitor is
a.

1.2 A .

b.
c.
d.
e.

2.4 104 A .
2.4 mA.
10 A.
20 A.

Electromagnetic Waves

245

Open-Ended Problems
36.

Near the surface of the planet, the Earths magnetic field is about 0.5 104 T.
How much energy is stored in 1 m3 of the atmosphere because of this field?

37.

The sun radiates energy at a rate of 3.86 1026 W. Its radius is 7.0 108 m. If the
distance from the Earth to the sun is 1.5 1011 m, what is the intensity of solar
radiation at the top of the Earths atmosphere?

38.

A possible means of spaceflight is to place a perfectly reflecting aluminized sheet

into Earth orbit and use the light from the sun to push this solar sail. If a huge
sail of area 6 105 m2 and mass 6000 kg were placed into orbit and turned toward
the sun, what would be the force exerted on the sail? (Assume a solar intensity of
1380 W/m2.)

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CHAPTER 34

Electromagnetic Waves

Chapter 34
Electromagnetic Waves
1.

20.

2.

21.

3.

22.

4.

23.

5.

24.

6.

25.

7.

26.

8.

27.

9.

28.

10.

29.

11.

30.

12.

31.

13.

32.

14.

33.

15.

34.

16.

35.

17.

36.

9.9 104 J

18.

37.

1400 W/m2

19.

38.

5.52 N

247

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CHAPTER 34