《能量技术导论》72课程PPT第一部分.ppt

Knowledge of Light By Prof. Larry Zhongxin Shen Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences July 02, 2012 Newton’s Corpuscular Theory Newton did not specifically say that light had to be particles. He did describe many of the properties of light in terms of particles including refraction, and reflection. He did not see evidence for wave properties such as interference, and as in this quote, diffraction. This lead him to favor particles. Newton’s reputation kept the physics community from seriously considering light as waves for about 100 years. It seems that very little research was done during that time to actually resolve the issue. Young’s Experiment Young first experimented with a pinhole and sunlight and saw interference fringes. In 1816 Fresnel wrote a paper looking at light in terms of waves and predicting such effects as diffraction and interference. He was disappointed to hear that Young had already reported these effects. In 1818 the French Academy’s annual competition concerned diffraction and interference effects and hoped to obtain convincing evidence for a corpuscular theory. In response to the challenge Fresnel showed that the shadow behind a small sphere would have a bright spot at its center. Young’s original double slit experiment was done with double pin holes. The sketch of the production of the interference pattern was done by Young. This is a good time to get out the ripple tank if you have not already done so. I also like to demonstrate interference with microwaves and sound. Conceptual Description Conceptually, Maxwells equations describe how electric charges and electric currents act as sources for the electric and magnetic fields. Further, it describes how a time varying electric field generates a time varying magnetic field and vice versa. (See below for a mathematical description of these laws.) Of the four equations, two of them, Gausss law and Gausss law for magnetism, describe how the fields emanate from ch