# Does EMR emanate in all directions? Does the wave expand like a sphere surface whose radius grows at $c$?

I made a commitment to understand special relativity. Right now I'd like to understand Electro-Magnetic Radiation. What would it "look like"if I could see it emanate. From a book (Simply Einstein) I'm told any movement of an electric charge (e.g. an electron) can start an electromagnetic wave. Now that is cool. So, finally, my question - once a wave is started does it emanate in all directions (a rock thrown in a lake goes in all directions in 2 dimensional lake surface, so would shaking an election start an emf wave that expands as an ever-growing surface of a sphere. That is, a sphere whose radius is growing at the speed of light? If so, where is the photon on this sphere?

• Yes light radiates in all directions but it’s best to think of it in terms of photons. Billions and billions of individual photons Radiate outward in every direction from the source. – Bill Alsept May 3 '18 at 4:51
• Electromagnetism is based on special relativity. You should understand special relativity first before moving to electromagnetism. – safesphere May 3 '18 at 6:08
• To safesphere: Linear learning may work for some, but not for all. There are many ways to learn. Linear learning can sometimes make it harder to see the big picture or concept. – Lambda May 3 '18 at 16:11
• @Lambda OK, fine. May he learn electromagnetism first. I don't mind. I'm not sure what sense he'd make of 4-tensor Maxwell equations, but it's none of my business. – safesphere May 4 '18 at 5:42