Why are electromagnetic waves only transversal?

in sound waves, wave transfer takes place due to physical vibration of the medium (in a rude sense)... read more

In vacuum,the fact that EM waves are transverse (i.e. the E and B field components are perpendicular to the direction of propagation) is a fundamental constraint of Maxwell’s equations. The direction of propagation of a plane wave is specified by the vector k→ in E→(r→,t)=E0→ei(k→⋅r→−ωt). read more

Back in the days when scientists believed in a frictionless aether fluid in order to explain propagation of light through space, one of the arguments against the existence of aether was the fact that transverse waves can only be propagated though a solid medium. read more

A transverse wave is a moving wave that consists of oscillations occurring perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer. If a transverse wave is moving in the positive x-direction, its oscillations are in up and down directions that lie in the y–z plane. Light is an example of a transverse wave, while sound is a longitudinal wave. A ripple in a pond and a wave on a string are easily visualized as transverse waves. read more