Exams › JEE Advanced › Physics

An electromagnetic wave consists of periodically oscillating electric and magnetic field vectors. How are these vectors oriented relative to each other and what is their phase relationship?

1. in randomly oriented planes but vibrating in phase.
2. in mutually perpendicular planes but vibrating in phase.
3. in mutually perpendicular planes but vibrating with a phase difference of pi.
4. in mutually perpendicular planes but vibrating with a phase difference of pi/2.

Correct answer: in mutually perpendicular planes but vibrating in phase.

Solution

In a plane electromagnetic wave, the electric field E and magnetic field B are mutually perpendicular to each other and to the direction of propagation. From Maxwell's equations, both fields vary as sin(kx - omega*t) — they are always in phase (phase difference = 0).

Related JEE Advanced Physics questions

• A pulse of light of duration 100 ns is absorbed completely by a small object initially at rest. Power of the pulse is 30 mW and the speed of light is 3 × 10⁸ m/s. The final momentum of object is
• A floodlight filtered to pass only red light produces a sinusoidal plane electromagnetic wave whose electric field component is given by Eₓ = 36 sin(1.20 * 10⁷ * z - 3.6 * 10¹⁵ * t) V/m. The average intensity of this beam is closest to sqrt(n) W/m², where n is an integer. Find n.
• The electric field of an electromagnetic wave is E = 20 sin(w*(t - x/c)) j V/m, where w is the angular frequency and c is the speed of light. Calculate the total electromagnetic energy stored in a volume of 5 * 10^(-4) m³. (Given: epsilon₀ = 8.85 * 10^(-12) C²/(N*m²))
• A plane electromagnetic wave of frequency 25 GHz propagates in vacuum along the +z direction. At a particular point in space and time, the magnetic field is B = 5 * 10^(-8) T in the +x direction. What is the corresponding electric field vector E? (Speed of light c = 3 * 10⁸ m/s)
• The electric field component of an electromagnetic wave in vacuum is given by E = (j-hat + b*k-hat) * 10⁻³ * sin[10⁷(x + 2y + 3z - beta*t)] in SI units. Using c = 3 * 10⁸ m/s, which of the following statements are correct?
• The magnetic field of a plane electromagnetic wave is given by B = 3 * 10^(-8) * sin[200*pi*(y + c*t)] * i_hat T, where c = 3 * 10⁸ m/s. What is the corresponding electric field?

⚔️ Practice JEE Advanced Physics free + battle 1v1 →