I am puzzled with something which probably does not affect the reality,
if you look at the java applet at;
http://wigner.byu.edu/RefractionofLight/LightRefract.html
selecting VACUUM first, you will see the bars representing light waves
do not change in spacing as it enters and moves through the VACUUM.
However, if you set it for DIAMOND, not only does the angle change
significantly when it enters the medium but so does the distance between
the lines become much closer.
Now if those lines are representing the zero crossing point of a wave,
then that means the waves are getting closer together which means higher
frequencies while it is traversing the medium of the diamond (or
anything denser than vacuum).
Keely said you would not be able to 'see' light in space, that the sun
is DARK and that the only way that light MANIFESTS is when it PERCUSSES
AGAINST THE AIR, apparently to be downshifted to what we see as visible
light.
Tom Brown (ex director of Borderland Sciences who is now living in New
Zealand) also says this (that space is dark except where there is
atmosphere) based on his research with Goethe and discussions he had
where I can't recall the exact details....I need to look those up to
build a URL to reference in future.
I guess I am confused about what is actually going on....are waves
SLOWED inside mass or do they SPEED UP?
-------------------
http://www.jmlopt.com/index_refraction.html
In a vacuum, light travels at a velocity of c = 2.998 × 108m/sec; in
more dense media, the velocity of light is lower.
-------------------
http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~rwithrow/lab2theory.html
The index if refraction of a transparent substance can be found
accurately through a prism. The index of refraction encountered by light
in anything but a vacuum depends on the wavelength of the light. This
implies that light of different wavelengths is refracted by different
angles when it crosses a
surface. A spectrometer set up with a prism can be used to find the
different angles of the refracted light.
--------------------
Aaaahhhh....so the index of refraction has NOTHING to do with the speed
of the light through the medium, ONLY the angle of incidence.....ok,
have to discard using that as any kind of valid reference since the
topic is SPEED OF LIGHT.
So the velocity of light passing through matter is lower than in a
vacuum. I think this all gets into group velocity and wave packets and
all that mess so I think I'll cogitate on this a bit more as I can't
find the answers I am looking for....just yet....
-- Jerry Wayne Decker / jdecker@keelynet.com http://keelynet.com / "From an Art to a Science" Voice : (214) 324-8741 / FAX : (214) 324-3501KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187------------------------------------------------------------- To leave this list, email <listserver@keelynet.com> with the body text: leave Interact list archives and on line subscription forms are at http://keelynet.com/interact/ -------------------------------------------------------------