What type of radiation includes visible light, radio waves, and X-rays?

The correct choice, electromagnetic radiation, encompasses a wide spectrum of waves that travel through space. This category includes not only visible light, which is the range of electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye, but also radio waves, which are commonly used for communication in broadcasting and mobile technology, and X-rays, which are employed in medical imaging due to their ability to penetrate soft tissue while being absorbed by denser structures like bones.

Electromagnetic radiation is characterized by oscillating electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space, and it spans a vast range of wavelengths and frequencies, from the long wavelengths of radio waves to the very short wavelengths of gamma rays, including everything in between such as microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, and X-rays. This is governed by the electromagnetic spectrum, which organizes these radiation types according to their wavelength and frequency.

Understanding that the other types of radiation listed in the question, such as sound radiation and particle radiation, do not fit into this framework—sound requires a medium to travel through and is a mechanical wave, while particle radiation refers to the emission of particles (like alpha and beta particles) rather than waves—clarifies why electromagnetic radiation is the correct and most comprehensive answer to this question.