Intensity of Transmitted Polarized Light We now consider the intensity of light transmitted by a polarizing sheet. We start with unpolarized light, whose electric field oscillations we can resolve into y and: components as represented in Fig. 34-1 lb. Further. we can arrange for the y axis to be parallel to the polarizing direction of the sheet. […]
Polarization VHF (very high frequency) television antennas in England are oriented vertically, but those in North America are horizontal. The difference is due to the direction of oscillation of the electromagnetic waves carrying the TV signal. In England, the transmitting equipment is designed to produce waves that are polarized vertically;that is, their electric field oscillates vertically. Thus, […]
Radiation Pressure Electromagnetic waves have linear momentum as well as energy: This means that we can exert a pressure-a radiation pressure-on an object by shining light on it. However, the pressure must be very small because, for example, you do not feel a camera flash when it is used to take your photograph.To find an expression for […]
Energy Transport and the Poynting Vector All sunbathers know that an electromagnetic wave can transport energy and deliver it to a body on which it falls. The rate of energy transport per unit area in such a wave is described by a vector S, called the Pointing vector after physicist JohnHenry Poynting (1852 – 1914), who first […]
The Traveling Electromagnetic Wave Quantitatively We shall now derive and, even more important, explore the dual induction of electric and magnetic fields that gives us light.The dashed rectangle of dimensions dx and h in Fig. 34-6 is fixed at point P on the x axis and in the .l)’ plane (it is shown on the right in […]
A Most Curious Wave The waves we discussed in Chapters 17 and 18 require a medium (some material) . through which or along which to travel. We had waves traveling along a string, through Earth, and through the air. However, an electromagnetic wave (let’s use the term light wave or light) is curiously different in that it requires […]
The Traveling Electromagnetic Wave. Qua Qualitatile Some electromagnetic waves, including x rays, gamma rays, and visible light, are radiated (emitted) from sources that are of atomic or nuclear size, where quantum/ physics rules. Here we discuss how other electromagnetic waves are generated. To simplify matters, we restrict ourselves to that region of […]
Maxwell’s Rainbow James Clerk Maxwell’s crowning achievement was to show that a beam of light is a traveling wave of electric and magnetic fields-an electromagnetic wave-and thus that optics, the study of visible light. is a branch of electromagnetism. In this chapter we move from one to the other: we conclude our discussion […]
Electromagnetic Waves As a comet swings around the Sun, ice on its surface vaporizes, releasing trapped dust and charged particles. The electrically charged “solar wind” forces the charged particles into a straight “tail” that point radially away from the Sun. However, the dust is unaffected by the solar wind and seemingly should continue to travel along the comet’s […]