ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does electromagnetic spectrum mean? 

• ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (noun)
  The noun ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM has 1 sense:

1. the entire frequency range of electromagnetic waves

  Familiarity information: ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The entire frequency range of electromagnetic waves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("electromagnetic spectrum" is a kind of...):

spectrum (an ordered array of the components of an emission or wave)

Meronyms (parts of "electromagnetic spectrum"):

color spectrum; visible spectrum (the distribution of colors produced when light is dispersed by a prism)

radio frequency (an electromagnetic wave frequency between audio and infrared)

ultraviolet spectrum (the spectrum of ultraviolet radiation)

radio-frequency spectrum; radio spectrum (the entire spectrum of electromagnetic frequencies used for communications; includes frequencies used for radio and radar and television)

microwave spectrum (the part of the electromagnetic spectrum corresponding to microwaves)

microwave (a short electromagnetic wave (longer than infrared but shorter than radio waves); used for radar and microwave ovens and for transmitting telephone, facsimile, video and data)

line (a single frequency (or very narrow band) of radiation in a spectrum)

light; visible light; visible radiation ((physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation)

infrared spectrum (the spectrum of infrared radiation)

gamma radiation; gamma ray (electromagnetic radiation emitted during radioactive decay and having an extremely short wavelength)

actinic radiation; actinic ray (electromagnetic radiation that can produce photochemical reactions)

EHF; extremely high frequency (30 to 300 gigahertz)

SHF; superhigh frequency (3 to 30 gigahertz)

UHF; ultrahigh frequency (300 to 3000 megahertz)

very high frequency; VHF (30 to 300 megahertz)

HF; high frequency (3 to 30 megahertz)

medium frequency; MF (300 to 3000 kilohertz)

LF; low frequency (30 to 300 kilohertz)

very low frequency; VLF (3 to 30 kilohertz)

ELF; extremely low frequency (below 3 kilohertz)

 Context examples 

Analysis of the absorption or transmittance of light in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum by a specific compound.

(Photometry/Spectrum Analysis, Visible Light, NCI Thesaurus)

This portion of the electromagnetic spectrum can usually be sensed as heat.

(Infrared Radiation, NCI Thesaurus)

Phenomena across the Universe emit radiation spanning the entire electromagnetic spectrum — from high-energy gamma rays, which stream out from the most energetic events in the cosmos, to lower-energy microwaves and radio waves.

(Hubble's Megamaser Galaxy, ESA/NASA)