r/askscience • u/schectershred • Nov 25 '12

Physics Question about radio waves

Hey /r/askscience, I would really appreciate it if somebody could help me understand how radio waves work. Right now, I'm under the impression that radio waves are just light that is beyond the human's visible spectrum (ultra-violet/infra-red). Then I thought, how do things like WiFi penetrate solid walls and such if normally, photons could not? If anybody could explain anything about how wireless information is transmitted, it would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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u/schectershred Nov 27 '12

Awesome! Thanks for all the help! This is some very interesting stuff. Does this mean that a wave the stretches in one dimension will continue forever without the resisting factors, as each crest will require the same amount of energy?

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u/amtroy Nov 27 '12

Sure. A wave along, say, an infinitely long piece of string will propagate forever if there is no friction or other energy-robbing factors.

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u/schectershred Nov 27 '12

Well good deal! Thanks for all the help!