| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"rozniy" |
| Date: |
17 Jan 2008 07:45:13 PM |
| Object: |
Why is it called "microwave"? |
I have been wondering for a while why microwave radiation, whose
wavelength is in the range of centimeters, is called "microwave".
Shorter wavelengths are millimeter waves, longer ones are shortwave...
Radiation in micron wavelength (which I thought was the microwave
range before I started studying it a bit) is roughly IR...
Can someone tell me?
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Why is it called "microwave"? |
17 Jan 2008 08:15:04 PM |
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rozniy <rozniy@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been wondering for a while why microwave radiation, whose
wavelength is in the range of centimeters, is called "microwave".
Shorter wavelengths are millimeter waves, longer ones are shortwave...
Radiation in micron wavelength (which I thought was the microwave
range before I started studying it a bit) is roughly IR...
Can someone tell me?
Well, when the names were established there was practical longwave and
shortwave.
The tubes at the time were pretty much dead above a hundred or two of
megahertz until you got to microwaves out of klystrons and magnetrons.
So there was a big hole in the practical, working spectrum between
where conventional tubes worked and the cavity/field tubes worked.
Not much need for a lot of names if you can't do anything with the
spectrum.
At the time the name suggested wavelengths much smaller than those
used in radio broadcasting.
What you have called it?
shorterwave?
tinywave?
ittybittywave?
At the time there was probably as much whimsy in "microwave" as there
was in calling 10^-28 square meters a "barn".
--
Jim Pennino
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