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Mathematics and experiments show that light is a transverse wave – the electric and magnetic field vectors point in directions that are perpendicular to the direction of motion of the light wave (and as it turns out, they also rare always perpendicular to each other). Figure 3.1.1 – Electromagnetic Wave
Sep 14, 2020 · In the case of the bending of light by a massive body like the sun, you can express the frequency shift approximately (but very accurately) as a product of shifts due to the emitter's and receiver's motion relative to the sun, and the quasi-Newtonian gravitational potential at the emitter's and receiver's locations.
1 day ago · Rather than absorbing light continuously from a wave, atoms actually receive energy in packets of light called photons, explaining odd observations such as the existence of a cutoff frequency.
- Reflection. Reflection is when incident light (incoming light) hits an object and bounces off. Very smooth surfaces such as mirrors reflect almost all incident light.
- Absorption. Absorption occurs when photons from incident light hit atoms and molecules and cause them to vibrate. The more an object's molecules move and vibrate, the hotter it becomes.
- Diffraction. Diffraction is the bending and spreading of waves around an obstacle. It is most pronounced when a light wave strikes an object with a size comparable to its own wavelength.
- Scatter. Scattering occurs when light bounces off an object in a variety of directions. The amount of scattering that takes place depends on the wavelength of the light and the size and structure of the object.
Jan 23, 2011 · That includes waves, and so, waves can be bent and can follow different paths if you change the geometric properties of the space they live in. Diana - Gravity can effectively bend space and time. Meaning that anything in its field is also distorted and that includes light...
A wave will bend one way when it passes from a medium in which it travels slowly into a medium in which it travels fast; and if moving from a fast medium to a slow medium, the wavefront will bend in the opposite direction. Second, the amount of bending is dependent upon the actual speeds of the two media on each side of the boundary.
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The tendency of a ray of light to bend one direction or another is dependent upon whether the light wave speeds up or slows down upon crossing the boundary. The speed of a light wave is dependent upon the optical density of the material through which it moves. For this reason, the direction that the path of a light wave bends depends on whether ...
