Questions to consider:
How do we know that lightning
produces sferics?
Could you design an experiment
to test the idea? Describe the experiment.
What does a magnet have to do
with space noise and radio noise?
Glossary
Sferics: a naturally occurring,
low-frequency radio signal.
Frequency: a term associated
with a wave (sound wave, light wave, ocean wave). All waves have frequency
and wavelength. If the wave travels at a constant speed (light travels
at the ěspeedî of light), the wavelength and frequency are very simply
(inversely) related.
Electromagnetic radiation: visible
light is one type of electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Other types of
EM radiation are: radio, microwave, infrared, ultraviolet, X ray,
and Gamma ray. All of these types of EM radiation can be described
by their energy, which is related to the wavelength and frequency
of the radiation. Radio waves are the least energetic and gamma rays
are the most. Wavelength is the inverse of frequency. If
wavelength is high, frequency is low. If wavelength is low, frequency
is high.
Scientific Notation: a shorthand
way of writing very large or very small numbers. For instance, 175,000,000,000,000
may be written as 1.74 x 1015. The number 0.00000000000010 is 1.0
x 10-13.
Magnetic Field: a field is a
region of space in which every point has some sort of quantity assigned
to it. For instance, within a room, every point has a specific temperature,
so that room contains a temperature field. Temperature is a measure
of the speed of the air particles. A magnetic field is created by
a magnet and affects points within a specific distance from the magnet.
The magnetic field has a specific shape, which can be visualized by
placing iron filings on top of a piece of paper that is placed over
the magnet.
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