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BookmarkRadiant energy is the energy of electromagnetic waves.
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The term is most commonly used in the fields of radiometry, solar energy, heating and lighting, but is also used less frequently in other fields (such as telecommunications).
The quantity of radiant energy may be calculated by integrating radiant flux (or power) with respect to time and, like all forms of energy, its SI unit is the joule.
In applications involving transmission of power from one location to another, "radiant energy" is sometimes used to refer to the electromagnetic waves themselves, rather than their energy (a property of the waves).
Because electromagnetic (EM) radiation can be considered to be a stream of photons, radiant energy can be viewed as the energy carried by these photons.
Alternatively, EM radiation can be viewed as an electromagnetic wave, which carries energy in its oscillating electric and magnetic fields.
These two views are completely equivalent, and are reconciled to one another in quantum field theory..
For more information about the topic Radiant energy, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Electromagnetic radiation — Electromagnetic radiation is a propagating wave in space with electric and magnetic components. These components oscillate at right angles to each ... > read more
Electromagnetic spectrum — The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible electromagnetic radiation. Above infrared in frequency comes visible light. This is the ... > read more
Light — Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light) or, in a technical or scientific context, ... > read more
Solar radiation — Solar radiation is radiant energy emitted by the sun, particularly electromagnetic energy. About half of the radiation is in the visible short-wave ... > read more
