the.com/frequency band
a slice of the invisible spectrum that nations auction for billions and wars are won inside.
means A defined range of frequencies within the electromagnetic spectrum, treated as a single unit for purposes like radio transmission, communication, or regulation.
from A marriage of two old words. 'Frequency' comes from Latin 'frequentia' (a crowding, a thronging), from 'frequens' meaning crowded or repeated — the same root that gives us 'frequent.' By the 1800s scientists had borrowed it to mean how often a wave repeats per second. 'Band' is the older, earthier word, from a Germanic root tied to binding and tying (a cousin of 'bind' and 'bond') — a band was literally a strip or strap. Stretch that strip across a spectrum and you get a 'band' of frequencies: a bounded slice of the invisible, named for the humble idea of something tied off at both ends.
- sold sky
- Governments auction airwaves for tens of billions
- submarine talk
- Ultra-low frequencies penetrate ocean to reach subs
- crowded real estate
- Wi-Fi and microwaves share the same 2.4 GHz
- named by size
- Bands measured by wavelength, from kilometers to millimeters
fm radio band — 88-108 mhz in most countries, used by commercial radio stations since the 1930s