What is light?

Light: An Electromagnetic Wave

Elctromagnetic Wave- A wave that consists of electric and magnetic fields that vibrate at right angles to each other.

Light is different from other kinds of waves: like sound and water waves must travel trought matter. That is not required of light to travel through matter. An electromagnetic wave is a type of wave that can travel through an empty space or matter and consists of changing elctric and magnetic fields.

Figure 1 Shows waves that are made of vibrating electric and magnetic fields.