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Classical Mechanics (0th Edition)

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Chapter 6, Problem 3P 13 Bookmarks Show all steps: ON

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Step 1 of 10

Use the relation between the speed, distance, and the time to calculate the time taken for the Continue to post
light to traverse the path . 20 questions remaining

The relation between the speed, distance, and the time is given by,

Here, d is the distance travelled by the light, c is the speed of the light, and t is the time taken for Snap a photo from your
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the light.

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My Textbook Solutions

Step 2 of 10

Consider a light is travelling from point to the point . The point lies on the y-axis at
and the point lies on the -plane at . Let Q be the point on the plane Classical Classical Classical
Mechanics Dynamics... Dynamics...
mirror and lies on the -plane at . This situation can be seen in the following figure. 0th Edition 5th Edition 4th Edition

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Step 3 of 10

From the figure, the distance travelled by light from the point to the point Q is,

Similarly, the distance travelled by light from the point Q to the point is,

Thus, the total distance travelled by light from points to is,

Here, d is the total distance travelled by light from points to .

Substitute for , and for in .

Rearrange the equation for t.

The time taken by the light to travel from points to is,

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Step 4 of 10

Substitute for d in .

…… (1)

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Step 5 of 10

Therefore, the time taken by the light to travels the path is

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Step 6 of 10

Differentiate the equation (1) on both sides with respect to z.

From the Fermat’s principle, to find the position of must differentiate with respect to
z and x and the following derivatives are zero. Because the point Q must lie in the same vertical
plane as . So, the necessary condition for a maximum or minimum is given below:

and .

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Step 7 of 10

To prove , we could use the necessary condition for a maximum or minimum that is

The term in the above equation is not equal to zero. This

implies . Therefore, the time taken by the light to travels the path is minimum when
Q has .

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Step 8 of 10

Differentiate the equation (1) on both sides with respect to x.

…… (2)

Substitute for in the equation (2).

To prove that , we could use the necessary condition for a maximum or minimum that is

…… (3)

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Step 9 of 10

From the figure, we have , and . Rewrite the equation

as follows.

Substitute for .

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Step 10 of 10

We can take the point on the x-axis at .

The distance between the points Q and R is,

From the figure, we have .

Substitute for , and for in .

Substitute for .

Substitute for and for in the equation (3).

In this case, the total angle is . Then the above equation becomes as follows.

Therefore, the Fermat’s principle obeys the law of reflection, that is .

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