- #36
DaveE
Science Advisor
Gold Member
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I'm getting the feeling that you're missing the impedance concept that @tech99 referred to earlier. Yes the energy is split equally. But the field strengths E, H (i.e. amplitudes) are related by the impedance of the medium they are traveling through. Free space is 377Ω, which is nearly always the practical value. But it doesn't have to be, for example ground penetrating radar, where the waves travel through "stuff". Your question, to me, is a question about the materials the wave is traveling through (primarily permittivity, permeability, and thus speed). In classical physics, it's a bit more of a definition than an explanation.
The antenna is an EM structure to launch or receive those waves and is a pretty complex situation near the antenna, but doesn't matter once the waves are created and traveling through the medium in question.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_impedance
The antenna is an EM structure to launch or receive those waves and is a pretty complex situation near the antenna, but doesn't matter once the waves are created and traveling through the medium in question.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_impedance