Question

Which lists the waves in order of wavelength, from longest to shortest?

X-rays, infrared, radio waves
infrared, visible light, gamma rays
ultraviolet, microwaves, visible light
radio waves, gamma rays, visible light

Answer 1

To list the waves in order of wavelength from longest to shortest, we need to understand the general order of the electromagnetic spectrum:

1. **Radio waves** - longest wavelength
2. **Microwaves**
3. **Infrared**
4. **Visible light**
5. **Ultraviolet**
6. **X-rays**
7. **Gamma rays** - shortest wavelength

From your options, the correct order of wavelengths from longest to shortest is:

- **radio waves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays**

However, since none of the provided options exactly matches this sequence, let's analyze the options you provided:

1. **X-rays, infrared, radio waves** - Incorrect order (longest is radio waves).
2. **infrared, visible light, gamma rays** - Incorrect order (gamma rays have shorter wavelengths than infrared and visible light).
3. **ultraviolet, microwaves, visible light** - Incorrect order (microwaves have longer wavelengths than ultraviolet).
4. **radio waves, gamma rays, visible light** - Incorrect order (gamma rays have much shorter wavelengths than visible light).

None of the given options correctly lists the electromagnetic waves from longest to shortest wavelength. However, the closest elements incorporated in your options are the radio waves (which should come first), visible light (which comes before gamma rays).

Hence, I recommend checking the context of your question or the provided options as there seems to be a discrepancy. If you were to list them correctly from longest to shortest in terms of the categories generally accepted in physics, it would be:

- Radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays.