Question

Solar radiation is ?
A. Transverse electromagnetic wave
B. Longitudinal electromagnetic wave
C. Stationary wave
D. None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: The process of transferring the heat from one medium to another without heating intervening medium.

Complete step by step answer:
The process of transmission of heat from one place to another without a material medium is called radiation.
In this process heat transmits in the form of electromagnetic radiation.

Example: Heat energy transmits from the sun to the earth by the process of radiation.
Everybody emits electromagnetic waves at the expense of different kinds of energy. The emission of electromagnetic waves at the expense of the internal energy (which is the function of temperature only) of the bodies is known as thermal radiation.
Properties of thermal radiation: The properties exhibited by the heat energy(solar) that transmits by radiation can be listed as below:
It travels in a straight line like light.
It can travel through vacuum.
Thermal radiations travel from one place to the other with the velocity of light. They are electromagnetic waves having wavelengths ranging from $7800\mathop {\text{A}}\limits^{\text{0}} $ to about 1mm.
Like light, heat radiation also obeys inverse square law. The intensity of heat at a point varies inversely as the square of the distance of that point from the source. $I\alpha \dfrac{1}{{{r^2}}}$ (inverse square law).
It undergoes reflection, refraction and total internal reflection similar to light.
It exhibits the phenomenon of interference, diffraction and polarization.
They travel equally, in all directions in a homogenous medium.
A transverse wave is one in which the particle of the medium vibrates at right angles to the direction of propagation of the wave. The velocity of the particle is maximum at the mean position and zero at the extreme position. When a transverse wave travels through a medium, crests and troughs are formed. The distance between two adjacent crests or troughs represents the wavelength of the transverse wave.
Correct option is (A).

Note: The solar radiation is a form of electromagnetic waves; the radiation from the sun is the mixture of ultraviolet and infrared rays.