The Uses of Radio Waves in the Media.

By Ashling Adams

Sunday, 29 January 2012

How do Radio Waves Work?• Radio waves are basically frequencies that travel at the speed of light and deliver information to transmitters and

receivers.

• Radio Waves have been around since the dawn of time and are caused by a disturbance in atmosphere, such as lightening.

• Radio waves can easily suffer from interference due to natural causes, such as stars and gases that emit radio waves.

• Radio Waves have the longest wavelengths n the electromagnetic spectrum. They can travel from centimetres to thousands of miles.

• They can range from the frequency 3Khz to 300Ghz.

• Radio waves can travel through many different ways, such as being bounced between earth and the ionosphere or being reflected.

• Radio waves are mostly used for communication purposes, however they do perform a number of different jobs in the world.

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Why are Radio Waves Important?

• Radio waves were first discovered in the 1800’s, and were thought to be an amazing discovery, as people could communicate with each other from far distances. However, as time went on, people started to take radio waves for granted, and now, hardly anyone realises how much we actually use radio waves as part of our every day lives. The biggest use for radio waves are communication, such as phones, texts, emails and instant messaging. However, surprisingly, there are many other uses for radio waves, that we use every day. Such as-

• Television

• Wireless networks

• Mobile phones

• GPS systems

• Garage Door openers

• Wireless clocks

• Police radios

• Radio controlled toys

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Uses of Radio Waves.Mobile Phones-

Mobile phones first originated from Alexander Bell’s invention of the telephone in 1875. Over the years, people found a way to make the telephone wireless, making it like a sophisticated version of the radio.When using a mobile phone, radio waves are used to transmit your voice to a base station tower, by the use of turning the signal into a code, which then transmits the information to the persons phone who you are talking to. Each base station can receive signals from most phones in the area, from as little as 30 kilometres away to, 500 kilometres away. Although, as you travel, interference can happen as the signals change from base station to base station which may cause loss of contact or a buzzing noise.This makes it possible for you to communicate from thousands of miles away to people, without radio waves, this would not be possible.The radio waves that are transmitted from mobile phones are much smaller then television and FM waves and have the frequency range of 824.040 to 858.970 MHZ.

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Uses of Radio Waves.Television-

In todays world, most people own a television, to be entertained, informed and communicative. However, most people do not understand the use of radio waves to receive signals to the television set to be able to watch T.V. Televisions use many different radio signals to transmit a particular channel and then block out the rest of the channels without interference. This means that each channel uses different frequencies for the television to receive the information of images and sound. This works by sending electromagnetic waves and converting pixels and audio into recognisable images and sounds.Television receive most of the channels by the use of antennas. The radio waves are transmitted to the antennas by high a frequency of 470-582MHZ from T.V stations, allowing the viewer to watch programmes without interference. The signal is the sent through a cable into the television.

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Uses of Radio Waves.WiFi-

WiFi can be used to connect to the internet which means you can learn information, communicate to others, to play games E.C.T. This makes WiFi a big part of todays society as it is used in every day life in a very easy, quick, handsfree way without hesitation to how it works. WiFi uses radio waves to transmit and receive information from one device to another, either from mobile phones or computers. A computer’s wireless modem translates radio signals into data to receive the information and transmits it using an antenna or cable.WiFi’s way of receiving and transmitting radio waves is very similar to mobile phones and radio’s way of getting and sending information. All of these devices can convert 1’s and 0’s into radio waves and then convert radio waves into 1’s and 0’s. WiFi is transmitted at a frequency of 5GHZ, as this is a high frequency and means that the information can be sent quickly and without interference.

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Conclusion.In conclusion, Radio waves can be used for many different uses in a quick and effective way. Without Radio waves, the media would be a lot more sparse and

information would travel a lot slower.

As most radio waves are caused naturally, it ensures that radio waves are a reliable source to use, since radio waves have been around since the Earth. People may not realise it, but radio waves are in fact used in every day life without hesitation. From remotes, walkie talkies, internet, mobile phones,

microwaves E.C.T

However, the use of radio waves for AM/FM radio and television could soon be on the decline due to the digitalisation of radio and television, also, with the help of online radio and television, people are using the original formats of

these devices less and less.

Sunday, 29 January 2012

References.

• http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wireless-network1.htm

• http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4564078_a-television-work.html

• http://www.howstuffworks.com/tv.htm

• http://www.abc.net.au/spark/scienceof/phones.htm

• http://www.howstuffworks.com/radio.htm

• http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0860617.html

• http://www.nrao.edu/index.php/learn/radioastronomy/radiowaves

• http://www.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-radiation.htm

Sunday, 29 January 2012