Do You Know What AM and FM Means?

You've heard the two terms growing up...AM and FM, but do you know what they mean? 

AM stands for amplitude modulation. AM radio ranges from 535 to 1705 kHz (kilohertz, or thousands of cycles per-second of electromagnetic energy). These are the numbers you see on your AM radio dial.  

FM stands for frequency modulation. The FM radio band goes from 88 to 108 MHz (megahertz, or millions of cycles per second). Again, you can see these numbers on your FM radio dial.

FM waves go in a straight line and don't bend around the earth as AM ground waves do. Thus, they can quickly disappear into space.

So, the farther away from the FM station you are, the higher you have to have an antenna to receive the FM.

So that boys and girls is your explanation so when someone asks the age- old question, "I wonder what AM and FM stands for?, you can give them an answer that would make your high school science teacher proud.