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Understanding Light and Electromagnetic Radiation

This document discusses three topics related to light and electromagnetic radiation: 1) It describes measurements of the speed of light, from early observations of eclipses of Jupiter's moons to modern definitions of c = 299,792,458 m/s. 2) It outlines Maxwell's unified theory of electricity and magnetism, which predicted electromagnetic waves that travel at the speed of light and explained the wave-like properties of light. 3) It introduces the particle-wave duality of light, where photons behave as both waves and discrete particles, carrying energy and momentum in quanta proportional to their frequency via Planck's constant.

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Syed Muhammad Kaleem Uddin
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101 views10 pages

Understanding Light and Electromagnetic Radiation

This document discusses three topics related to light and electromagnetic radiation: 1) It describes measurements of the speed of light, from early observations of eclipses of Jupiter's moons to modern definitions of c = 299,792,458 m/s. 2) It outlines Maxwell's unified theory of electricity and magnetism, which predicted electromagnetic waves that travel at the speed of light and explained the wave-like properties of light. 3) It introduces the particle-wave duality of light, where photons behave as both waves and discrete particles, carrying energy and momentum in quanta proportional to their frequency via Planck's constant.

Uploaded by

Syed Muhammad Kaleem Uddin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Class 11

Light / Electromagnetic radiation

 Speed of light

 Basics of electromagnetic radiation

 Particle/wave duality

I : The speed of light


 Light travels through a vacuum at a finite (but
very fast) speed
 First evidence obtained by Romer who was carefully
timing when the moons of Jupiter entered the
shadow of Jupiter
 Found that these eclipses were 16.6mins “late” when
Jupiter was on the far side of the Sun
 Interpreted as the extra time it takes for light to
cross the diameter of the Earth’s orbit

 One way to obtain accurate measurement in


the laboratory is to use rapidly rotating
mirrors

1
Modern viewpoint… speed of light defined to be
c=299 792 458 m/s

2
II : Basic nature of light

 Maxwell (1870)
 Starting from two important experimental results
(Ampere’s Law and Faraday’s law of induction),
Maxwell developed a unified theory of electricity and
magnetism (Maxwell’s equations).
 Electric and magnetic fields are just facets of a
unified electromagnetic field
 Immediate prediction of Maxwell’s equation… waves
of electromagnetic energy can travel through
vacuum with a speed of 3.0x108m/s.
 He realized that he had just “discovered” light
 These waves were characterized by their wavelength
or frequency.

Wavelength λ is the distance between two peaks


Speed c is the speed at which a peak moves through space
Frequency ν (greek “nu”) is the number of peaks passing a
particular location per unit time

3
 We already knew that light was a wave from experiments
of Thomas Young (1803; the “Young’s slit” experiment)
 Wavelength determines color

4
 Young’s slit formula… bright peaks are
at angles given by

Maxwell’s equations put


no restriction on
wavelength of radiation…
so e/m waves exist
outside of the visible
band!

5
The Andromeda galaxy (M31)

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The Andromeda galaxy (M31)

7
IR

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III : Particle-wave duality

 We have seen that light can be understood as


electromagnetic waves… they undergo diffraction and
produce interference patterns
 BUT, light/electromagnetic-radiation can also behave as
a stream of particles…
 Carries energy and momentum in discrete packets
 Can create a blip on a CCD chip

 This strange double-behavior is referred to as particle-


wave duality
 The “light particles” are called photons - they are
quanta of the electromagnetic field

 Properties of photons : Suppose that the


corresponding electromagnetic wave has
frequency ν. Then…
 Photons has energy

 Photon has momentum h is called “Planck’s


constant”…

h=6.62x10-34m2kg/s
 Photon has angular momentum

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