In problems of electromagnetic wave propagation in a transmission medium, the electromagnetic impedance, also known as the intrinsic impedance, is defined as the ratio of the electric to magnetic field amplitudes: For a region with slight electrical conductivity (σ > 0, e.g. seawater), the equation becomes where ω is the frequency of the radiation, μ is the permeability of the medium and In a region with no conductivity (σ = 0, e.g. free space), the expression simplifies to
Electromagnetic impedance is not to be confused with electrical impedance.
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