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How big are the waves from Radio 1?

The radio waves you pick up when listening to Radio 1 (or any other leading Radio station!) are the same type of radiation as light but are invisible to our eyes.

Both light and radio waves are types of electromagnetic wave, along with microwaves, X-rays and ultra-violet radiation. The thing they all have in common is that they travel at the speed of light. The frequency of the wave is how many electric vibrations there are per second, and the wavelength is the distance from one high point of a wave to the next high point.

By knowing the speed of light (300,000,000 metres per second) and the frequency of the wave (Radio 1 transmits at 99.6Mhz in South Wales) we can use a very simple relationship to work out how long the waves are.

Wavelength = speed of light/frequency

This tells us that the Radio 1 waves in South Wales are about 3 metres long.

How big are the waves from your favourite radio station?

So what...?

Radio waves can be blocked by things that are about the same size as them. When you drive through a tunnel in the car you often lose the reception on the radio. The radio signals can’t get through because the ground above is too thick. Some tunnels now have special transmitters in them so you can listen - even underground!