Waveforms Explained
This animation shows the magnetic fields rotating so that you can get a better idea of their structure in nature. The naturally occurring magnetic fields have a slightly different shape than our human-built magnetic arrays, but their function is the same.
You more than likely have seen this diagram of electromagnetic radiation. But what do the red and blue waveforms actually represent as far as the physical shape of the electric and magnetic fields? Where would the bowl-shaped magnetic fields we see above fit in this diagram? The answer is just below if you haven’t already figured it out.
The waveforms of light from 420 nm for violet to 700 nm for Red
The longer the wavelength the larger the fields around a photon. Every concentration of energy (photons in this case) must have fields to confine and energize it.
These waveforms represent the frequency of light, or in other words, the distance between the photons of the same color in each row. In addition, you now know that these waveforms also represent the size of the fields that contain and energize the photons. Although waveforms are useful in helping us visualize frequencies and the size of the fields involved, we need to remember that waveforms are just representations. Light does not wiggle like the waveforms wiggle.
Now we see rows of the fields that confine and energize photons of different colors. The longer the wavelength the larger the fields and the wider the fields. Obviously, the field size also determines the distance between photons and therefore the frequency of that color of light.
The magnetic fields around the green photon are one wavelength in length as shown in this diagram and the photon is at the crossover point between the electric field waveform and the magnetic field waveform. Where ever there are photons there are fields that confine and energize them. Notice the end view of the rotating fields and the green energy flowing back to the photon itself. This recirculating energy flow keeps the photon emitting light. When that energy flow stops circulating within a photons fields, it goes dark.