Then the attraction and repulsion behavior of charged particles is similar to those of magnetic fields. The electric field and the magnetic field in an EM wave are positioned at right angles to each other and to the direction of the motion of the wave. Let's look at a diagram to help us understand this idea. As you can see, electromagnetic waves are transverse waves . Now observe that the electric and magnetic fields are at right angles to each other.
Electrons are tiny charged particles that are part of an atom .
They can create electric and magnetic fields. Of course, we know that to get that energy flowing, there must be some movement. When a charged particle starts moving back and forth, the electric and magnetic fields that it created begins to vibrate. We can think of the source of all electromagnetic waves is charges that are changing speed and direction . Much of what you will be doing in this lab will be thinking about that question.