How to Use electromagnetic wave in a Sentence

electromagnetic wave

noun
  • The first thing to understand is that light is an electromagnetic wave.
    — Wired, 13 Aug. 2022
  • Time crystals behave in strange ways when they’re hit with electromagnetic waves.
    — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, 4 May 2018
  • That’s the signal strength loss that occurs when an electromagnetic wave travels over a line of sight path in free space.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 26 June 2018
  • Both visible light and radio waves are types of electromagnetic wave.
    — Rhett Allain, Wired, 26 Sep. 2020
  • Other kinds of electromagnetic waves include heat, light and X-rays.
    — Shreyas Sen, The Conversation, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Radio waves are electromagnetic waves, which are a type of energy that moves from one place to another.
    — Shreyas Sen, The Conversation, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Can electromagnetic waves increase the risk of injury?
    — Alex Valdes, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2026
  • The radiation given off by an object takes the form of light, or electromagnetic waves.
    — Joseph Howlett, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Those sensors emit electromagnetic waves that pick up on motion, then translate it into data.
    — Wired, 30 July 2019
  • Ripples in the field can be treated as electromagnetic waves or radiation or light.
    — Peter Byrne, Quanta Magazine, 24 May 2013
  • Light is describable as an electromagnetic wave and as a particle, a photon.
    — Peter Byrne, Quanta Magazine, 3 July 2014
  • The electromagnetic wave that is the sunlight interacts with comet dust in essentially the same way.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2019
  • However, the electromagnetic wave from the atoms will be at a different frequency than that of the light that entered the glass.
    — Wired, 13 Aug. 2022
  • Heat can be lost directly, through radiation, in the form of electromagnetic waves.
    — Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2023
  • Since freshwater is not as good of a conductor of electromagnetic waves as salt water, the freshwater stood out.
    — Doug Criss, CNN, 26 June 2019
  • Plasmons propagate in unison with the electromagnetic wave that generates them, which is the speed of light in the medium.
    — Dina Genkina, IEEE Spectrum, 22 Jan. 2026
  • In the case of radio, each station is assigned a unique electromagnetic wave that oscillates at its own frequency.
    — Scott Coyle, The Conversation, 31 May 2024
  • This disturbance at the electron level means that those atoms also produce an electromagnetic wave.
    — Wired, 13 Aug. 2022
  • If the transmitters all emit electromagnetic waves in sync, the beam will be sent out straight ahead—that is, perpendicular to the array.
    — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 11 Oct. 2017
  • The changing electric and magnetic fields are an electromagnetic wave.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2019
  • Often, they are used to guide waves along desirable paths, whether that means electromagnetic waves or physical waves caused by vibration.
    — Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 8 June 2023
  • The programming shapes a unique, electromagnetic wave that rises and falls abruptly and pulses rapidly.
    — Scott Pelley, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026
  • By measuring the way electromagnetic waves traveled through fresh and saline water, researchers mapped out fresh-water reservoirs for the first time.
    — Michael J. Coren, Quartz, 22 June 2019
  • The most common topic linked to Maxwell's Equations is that of an electromagnetic wave.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 6 Aug. 2019
  • The decoys emit electromagnetic waves and generate heat.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2025
  • The reason is that when an electromagnetic wave encounters tiny particles in the atmosphere, some of it is scattered.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 11 Oct. 2024
  • Light, as Maxwell first realized, is an electromagnetic wave.
    — Big Think, 5 Nov. 2025
  • The power settings on a microwave control exactly how many (and when) electromagnetic waves are released into your food.
    — Audrey Bruno, SELF, 14 Oct. 2024
  • Maxwell used his math to describe the propagation of electromagnetic waves which travel at the same speed as light, Vaudo notes.
    — Bruce Dorminey, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
  • The name comes from the luminiferous ether that was at one point thought to be the medium through which electromagnetic waves propagate, like sound waves propagate through air.
    — Iljitsch Van Beijnum, Ars Technica, 29 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'electromagnetic wave.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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