Questions tagged [wavelength]
The wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats, and the inverse of the spatial frequency or wavenumber. Determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests. Use for wavenumber, wavelength, frequency.
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How was Fizeau able to measure interference fringes in his experiment of 1851?
I am wondering how Fizeau, in the famous experiment of 1851, was able to measure changes in the interference fringes given that he used Sun light.
Sun light consists of all kinds of wave lengths and ...
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Why do water surfaces have persistent "average wavelength" patches?
Have you ever stood above a river or lake and noticed that the surface has visible "patches"? It looks like the surface has different average wavelengths in some areas, leading to the light ...
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Upper limit for de Broglie wavelength due to zero-point energy?
We know that the lower the momentum a particle has, the higher its de Broglie wavelength, so is there any upper limit to the de Broglie wavelength of electron or any other particle due to the zero-...
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Optics: finding total power of a system, including wavelength
Specifically I need to create an ABCD matrix given 2 radii of curvatures, the thickness of the lens, type of glass (BK7) and a given wavelength. I will have to figure this out eventually, so help ...
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At which wavelengths do photons behave like X-ray?
Hard X-rays of wavelengths of about an angstrom are very different than regular lights in a way that they can’t be reflected or refracted, which means their refractive index is always close to 1 ...
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Interpretations of wave numbers between open and periodic boundary conditions
I'm curious about the difference in physical interpretation between open and periodic boundary conditions (OBC and PBC) although they are identical in the thermodynamic limit.
For simplicity, let's ...
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How did Kurlbaum and others measure the intensity of each wavelength to get blackbody radiation curve?
In 1900 Plank was faced with data that didn't agree with the Plank-Wien law. This data that plots different temperature curves - wavelength on the horizontal and intensity on the vertical (or rather ...
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What happens with natural frequency on a rope which length is changing?
I was watching violin concerto, and I thought of two scenarios of sliding on the string and taking finger off the string as shown in the image:
Define $v = \sqrt{\frac{T}{\mu}} = f\lambda$, $T, \mu, ...
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Young's double slit experiment with two wavelengths of light
I know that a double-slit experiment pattern for blue, and red light individually gives the intensity patterns easily found in textbooks. But I fail to understand the exact pattern produced by a ...
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Would slowing down a beam of light change its wavelength and frequency?
I confess that I have little knowledge of physics, so this kind of thing really often goes over my head. However, I did read somewhere that the speed of a beam of light is the product of its ...
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In inelastic scattering between photons and electrons, how does light only partially transfer energy?
In the case of elastic scattering or absorption between photons and electrons, the incident light is either fully reflected or fully absorbed and hence it either retains its wavelength or ceases to ...
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When does the bright fringes of two rays of different wavelengths coincide in a double slit?
Two light rays of different wavelengths are allowed to pass through double slit. What is the least distance for which the two bright fringes coincide. I have seen a example where a ray makes a bright ...
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Is there a name for this type of wavevector?
When we say wavevector we often mean a vector $\mathbf k$ that is related to the direction and wavelength of a plane wave, given by $e^{i\,\mathbf k\cdot\mathbf x}$. I have to write something about ...
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Are longer wavelength flash "fuzzy" ? (Feynman lecture Vol 3 chap 1)
I am reading Feynman lecture volume 3 , Chapter 1.
https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/III_01.html#Ch1-S8
(search "fuzzy" in page to find the concerning paragraph.)
I'll quote the ...
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Do Goldstone modes, by definition, have to be low-energy or long wavelength?
For a spontaneously broken continuous global symmetry, there exist Goldstone modes for which the dispersion relation is such that as the momentum or the wavenumber goes to zero the energy or frequency ...
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