Light reflects off the surface of Lake Superior. What phase shift dies it undergo?
Whenever light (or any wave in general) goes from one medium to another, some of the energy of the wave is 'reflected' back through the first medium (at the same angle as the incident wave) and some of the energy (may be) refracted (bent) through the second medium.
When light goes from a low refractive index medium to a high refractive index medium (such as air to water), the reflection undergoes a 180 degree phase change.
Conversely, when light goes from a high refractive index medium to a low refractive index medium (such as water to air) it DOES NOT undergo a phase change.
This is a general property of waves. If you have waves reflecting off a clamped point (like waves running on a string that you pinch hard at one point), the waves get phase inverted. The reason is the principle of superposition and the condition that the amplitude at the clamped point is zero. The sum of the reflected and transmitted wave must be the amplitude of oscillation at all points, so that the reflected wave must be phase inverted to cancel the incoming wave.
This property is continuous with the behavior of waves going from a less massive string to a more massive string. The reflection in this case has opposite phase, because the more massive string doesn't respond as quickly to the tension force, and the amplitude of oscillation at the contact point is less than the amplitude of the incoming wave. This means (by superposition) that the reflected wave must cancel part of the incoming wave, and it is phase reflected.
Light reflects off the surface of Lake Superior. What phase shift dies it undergo?
Light in a frozen block of ice reflects off the ice-air interface at the surface of the block. What phase shift does it undergo
What minimum path length is needed to introduce a phase shift of 185° in light of wavelength 516 nm? (Give your answer in nm.) What phase shift will that path difference you calculated in part (a) introduce in light of wavelength 750 nm? (Give you answer in degree.)
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Light in the air (n1= 1) strikes the surface of a lake (n2= 1.33 for water), making an angle of 37orelative to vertical. The RMS value of the magnetic field in the incident light is 1.65x10-7T. a) What is the angle (relative to vertical) of the reflected beam? b) What is the angle (relative to vertical) of the refracted beam? c) What is the average intensity of the incident light?
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9) (15 pts) Light in air (n = 1) strikes the surface of a lake (n2 = 1.33 for water), making an angle of 37º relative to vertical. The rms value of the magnetic field in the incident light is 1.65x10-?T. a) (5 pts) What is the angle (relative to vertical) of the reflected beam? b) (5 pts) What is the angle (relative to vertical) of the refracted beam? c) (5 pts) What is the average intensity of the incident...
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