- #1
Simons
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argh hello guys, I've been trying to find out a simple answer to this question but all the resources I've looked at seem to skim over it or contradict each other, but simply:
Do electromagnetic waves have a variable amplitude? "Intensity" is not necisarilly the same, if you're using the photon model, because "brighter" can just be "more". I understand EM waves are oscillations in 2 fields...surely there is some specific amplitude to a wave, but as the formula for the energy of a photon has only wavelength and a constant, how can there be variable amplitude? (I assume a greater amplitude vibration would have more energy)
If the amplitude can vary, what happens when the waves interfere, such as destructive interference, where does the energy go when the wave is canceled out?
Do electromagnetic waves have a variable amplitude? "Intensity" is not necisarilly the same, if you're using the photon model, because "brighter" can just be "more". I understand EM waves are oscillations in 2 fields...surely there is some specific amplitude to a wave, but as the formula for the energy of a photon has only wavelength and a constant, how can there be variable amplitude? (I assume a greater amplitude vibration would have more energy)
If the amplitude can vary, what happens when the waves interfere, such as destructive interference, where does the energy go when the wave is canceled out?