What Is The Difference Between Mechanical Waves And Electromagnetic Waves

Electromagnetic waves do not require any medium to travel whereas mechanical waves must have a medium to propagate.

What are mechanical waves mechanical waves consist of disturbances that can only travel through a medium. All known electromagnetic waves are also known as forms of light. Mechanical waves can be classified into two categories based on the motion of the particles longitudinal and transverse. What is the difference between mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves.

The major differences between mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves given the above the differences between mechanical waves like sound and electromagnetic waves like light are. The main difference between mechanical and electromagnetic waves is that electromagnetic waves do not require a medium to propagate whereas mechanical waves require a medium in order to propagate. Electromagnetic and mechanical waves differ in that electromagnetic waves are always longitudinal and do not require a known medium while mechanical waves are either longitudinal or compression waves and require a medium. The difference between mechanical and electromagnetic waves is that mechanical waves are the oscillation of physical matters in which energy transfers through a medium and must need physical matters for propagation while electromagnetic waves is the wave of the electromagnetic field which carries electromagnetic radiant energy and propagates through space and does not require physical matters for propagation.

Electromagnetic waves travel in a vacuum whereas mechanical waves do not. In longitudinal waves the vibration or periodic disturbance takes place in the same direction as that of the propagation of the wave. The main difference between mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves is that mechanical waves require a medium air or water for their propagation whereas electromagnetic waves do not require a medium for their propagation can travel through space. The main difference between mechanical and electromagnetic waves is that mechanical waves cannot travel without a medium and can harbor speed that is limited to the speed of the medium whereas electromagnetic waves can travel through a vacuum with the help of any medium and can travel at the speed of light.

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Mechanical waves have to travel through something electromagnetic and waves don t. The energy of electromagnetic waves is quantized but the energy of mechanical waves is continuous.