Hertzian Wave (Noun)
Meaning
A former name for a radio wave; an electromagnetic wave of radio frequency generated by oscillations in an electric circuit.
Classification
Nouns denoting natural phenomena.
Examples
- Hertzian waves are electromagnetic waves that propagate through space in a linear or transverse manner, which allows them to be modulated with sound information.
- Radio waves were formerly called hertzian waves in honor of Heinrich Hertz who discovered them.
- Guglielmo Marconi demonstrated that hertzian waves could be transmitted across great distances.
- When Marconi's system used radio waves to transmit messages over a long distance it relied on the fact that hertzian waves have certain unique properties.
- Before they were more widely known as radio waves the same kind of waves were sometimes referred to as hertzian waves after the physicist Heinrich Hertz.