Are light waves longitudinal waves?

Transverse and longitudinal waves. You should be able to describe the characteristics of transverse and longitudinal waves. Transverse and longitudinal waves. Light and other types of electromagnetic radiation are transverse waves. Water waves and S waves (a type of seismic wave) are also transverse waves. read more

In an imaginary world, if the equivalent of light was a longitudinal wave, probably we would see sounds rather than lights. This is already possible in biomedics with ultrasounds to see through the tissues by echoes; moreover raising up with frequency, about some Th, the wavelength of ultrasound becomes comparable to the light one. read more

In longitudinal waves, the displacement of the medium is parallel to the propagation of the wave, and waves can be either straight or round. A wave along the length of a stretched Slinky toy, where the distance between coils increases and decreases, is a good visualization. read more

Although it is true that light in a homogeneous isotropic non-attenuating medium is a transverse wave, under certain circumstances electromagnetic waves can have a longitudinal component. This can happen in an anisotropic medium such as a birefringent crystal. read more