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Emwavespidy PDF
Emwavespidy PDF
physics 112N
electromagnetic waves?
➜ with this we can have disturbances in the electric and magnetic fields that
propagate across space
➜ ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
unlike the waves we met last semester, such as sound waves or waves on a string,
no medium is required - it is not atoms moving around, but instead the electric and
magnetic fields and these can exist even in a vacuum
physics 112N 2
electromagnetic waves?
➜ just need a source to get the thing started
physics 112N 3
speed of electromagnetic waves
➜ a very simple em wave:
electric field in the y-direction
magnetic field in the z-direction
propagation in the x-direction,
with unknown speed, c
where
physics 112N 4
general properties of electromagnetic waves
➜ we considered a very simple em wave, there are
many more possibilities, but they all have certain
common properties:
physics 112N 5
how fast is c ?
➜ looks like a big number
physics 112N 6
sinusoidal waves
➜a very important type of wave is one whose time and
space dependence is like that of the sine function
physics 112N 7
a circularly polarized wave
➜a very important type of wave is one whose time and
space dependence is like that of the sine function
physics 112N 9
the electromagnetic spectrum
➜ remember that sinusoidal waves are described by a
wavelength, λ, and a frequency, f
physics 112N 10
the electromagnetic spectrum
reference
manYs height
paperclip cells viruses atom
Size
thickness
bacteria subatomic
paper water molecule particles
football field baseball
thickness
wavelength 1 ft 1 cm 1 mm 1 mil 1µ 1 nm 1Å 1 pm
(m)
103 102 10 1 10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-9 10-10 10-11 10-12
wavenumber
(cm-1)
10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 1 10 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 1010
electron volt
(eV) 10-9 10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 1 10 102 103 104 105 106
1 MHz 1 GHz 1 THz 1 PHz 1 EHz 1 ZHz
frequency
(Hz)
105 106 107 108 109 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021
Bands
optics
electronics
Visible wavelengths (nm)
625
575
540
470
700
440
Fiber telecom Dental Curing
0.7-1.4 µ 200-350nm
Sources and Uses of
Medical X-rays
Frequency Bands
FM radio 10-0.1 Å
AM radio Mobile Phones
88-108 MHz
600kHz-1.6MHz 900MHz-2.4GHz Radar Cosmic ray
1-100 GHz Visible Light observations
Bio imaging 425-750THz <<1 Å
1-10 THz 700-400nm
➜ defined as the surface on which the phase of a wave is the same, i.e. where the
wave is at the same bit of the vibration
➜ e.g. a plane-wave
physics 112N 12
wave fronts
➜ a wave-front is a handy concept in understanding waves
➜ defined as the surface on which the phase of a wave is the same, i.e. where the
wave is at the same bit of the vibration
point source
physics 112N 13
rays and wave fronts
➜ can also define rays which are imaginary lines at right angles to the wavefronts
physics 112N 14
describing light using rays
➜ self-luminous object emit light rays
physics 112N 15
describing light by rays
physics 112N 16
describing light by rays
➜ when light moves from one medium to
another (say from air to glass) two things can
happen
physics 112N 17
describing light by rays
➜ when light moves from one medium to
another (say from air to glass) two things can
happen
physics 112N 18
reflection of light
physics 112N 19
refraction of light
➜ the amount the light bends is determined by optical properties of the two materials
physics 112N 20
refractive index
➜ we can define a quantity, the index of refraction, that is the ratio of the
speed of light in a vacuum to the speed in a material
physics 112N 21
refraction of light
➜ the amount the light bends is determined by optical properties of the two materials
physics 112N 23
refraction of light
➜ the angle of refraction is determined using Snell’s law
physics 112N 24
total internal reflection
smaller n
larger n
➜ when
i.e. refracted ray smaller n
doesn’t leave larger n
physics 112N 27
refractive index
➜ light travels slower in materials, according to the refractive index
➜ and we recall that wave speed, frequency and wavelength are related
physics 112N 29
dispersion
physics 112N 31