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Radiation, Microwave

THE EXISTENCE OF microwaves was first postulated by James Clerk Maxwell in 1864 and confirmed by the experiments of Heinrich Hertz some 20 years later. Microwaves are subdivided into categories as listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Microwave frequency bands as defined by the Radio Association of Great Britain
DesignationWavelength
Lband15 cm–30 cm
S band8 cm–15 cm
C band3.75 cm–8 cm
Xband2.50 cm–3.76 cm
Ku band1.7 cm–2.50 cm
K band1.1cm–1.7 cm
Ka band0.75 cm–1.1 cm
Qband0.6 cm–1 cm
Uband0.5 cm–0.75 cm
Vband0.4 cm–0.6 cm
E band0.33 cm–0.5 cm
Wband0.3 cm–0.4 cm
F band0.2 cm–0.33 cm
Dband0.27 cm–0.18 cm
∗ Note the definition is originally in units of GHz and has been converted here to cm for comparison to the other measurements. This has inevitably led to some rounding.

Microwaves are most well known in popular culture for their role in heating food (in ...

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