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Graduate What is the mathematical explanation for Fresnel lenses?

  • Lucas Olivio
  • · Replies 5 ·
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5

Graduate Calculating Light Intensity on a Target Using Lamp Setup

  • MrTy
  • · Replies 7 ·
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7

High School Understanding Rayleigh Scattering and Changing Sky Colors

  • Rainbows_
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

High School UV detection by fluorescent goggles

  • Xforce
  • · Replies 6 ·
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6

High School Metal in Microwave: Heating Up Water and Spoons?

  • Yoni
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate How do polarizing filters work with oscillating light waves?

  • kdm06d
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate Polarization Problem: Estimating Voltage Needed to Ionize Hydrogen Atom

  • pt176900
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

High School Do car windows and windshields block ultraviolet light?

  • stoky
  • · Replies 16 ·
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16

Undergrad What Color Will NIR Laser Goggles Be?

  • lucas_
  • · Replies 8 ·
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8

High School What is distance and time in light speed calculations?

  • Dorky0
  • · Replies 4 ·
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4

Graduate Why use rotating unit vectors in polar coordinates

  • torito_verdejo
  • · Replies 7 ·
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7

Graduate Why do atoms reflect photons at the same angle of incidence?

  • Manasan3010
  • · Replies 15 ·
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15

Undergrad Huygen’s Principle in 2 Dimensions

  • FAS1998
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad Why sin(φ/2) uses degrees while (φ/2) uses radians

  • DottZakapa
  • · Replies 5 ·
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5

Undergrad Optic Fiber Project Ideas for Amateur Physics Student

  • Ann Par
  • · Replies 2 ·
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2

High School A strange phenomenon occuring when viewing the moon through window screens

  • YoungPhysicist
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

High School Is the Speed of Light Really 3000 km/s?

  • Rabinow23
  • · Replies 4 ·
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4

Graduate Is Snell's law incompatible with interface conditions? What went wrong?

  • Ngineer
  • · Replies 8 ·
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8

High School Why does it take thousands of years for light to reach the surface of the Sun?

  • kent davidge
  • · Replies 12 ·
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12

High School Why does a CD shadow show the ruler bulging instead of the CD?

  • tom_
  • · Replies 5 ·
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5

Graduate Are Photons Vibrations or a Separate Entity in Light Transmission?

  • itallcomestoenergy
  • · Replies 63 ·
3
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63

Undergrad Is a particle beam or laser beam conductive?

  • lucas_
  • · Replies 4 ·
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4

Graduate Permeability of copper in the microwave frequency range

  • AlexVI
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Undergrad Why does this inverse square calculation fail to predict actual data?

  • JimLub
  • · Replies 2 ·
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2

Graduate Curl of Polarization in a bar electret

  • Telis
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Undergrad Air Wedge Experiment: Conditions for Bigger Scale?

  • VVS2000
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

High School What can be used to change the direction of the laser beam?

  • MrsDalloway
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Ball Lightning Discussions/Anecdotes?

  • Michelle Spalding
  • · Replies 31 ·
2
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31

Undergrad Glasses and problems with chromatic aberration

  • woody123
  • · Replies 12 ·
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12

Undergrad Detectable wavelengths of light at the surface of the Earth

  • CRuff
  • · Replies 6 ·
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6

Graduate Why does autocorrelation of two 800nm beams show 800nm instead of 400nm?

  • Ted goldmund lee
  • · Replies 2 ·
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2

High School Noisy Wave Pattern Between Round Objects Behind a Light

  • Jarvis323
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad How does a massless photon impart force?

  • dev_c0t0d0s0
  • · Replies 2 ·
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2

Undergrad Interference Pattern from two coherent light sources

  • VVS2000
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate Speed of the outside of a wheel faster than the speed of light

  • Sciencepoo
  • · Replies 12 ·
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12

Graduate Spacecraft path with polar coordinates

  • joeblow
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate Modes and Q-factor(s) of a random laser

  • samchan
  • · Replies 2 ·
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2

Undergrad Focusing a 1W LED from 130° to 30° using angled reflective surfaces

  • jason3w
  • · Replies 10 ·
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10

Graduate Curious optical effect related to light passing through a mesh

  • mikenw
  • · Replies 19 ·
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19

Graduate Pinhole Diffraction of a Spherical Wave

  • Juliana Abrantes
  • · Replies 6 ·
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6

Graduate Do photons attract each other more than they're attracted to matter?

  • Pauljamestill
  • · Replies 5 ·
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5

Graduate Why light slows in transparent media

  • Sophrosyne
  • · Replies 4 ·
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4

Undergrad Beam-splitter transformation matrix

  • roam
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Undergrad Number of interference fringes based on n open slits

  • sqljunkey
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad I Want to Remove a KTP Crystal's Coating

  • Strange_matter
  • · Replies 7 ·
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7

Undergrad Interferometry (testing of optics)

  • Doc
  • · Replies 5 ·
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5

Graduate Laser rangefinder by phase-shift

  • DariusP
  • · Replies 10 ·
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10

Undergrad How does a laser rangefinder measure distances up to 20 km?

  • DariusP
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Graduate New Optics Toy: A 'Varicolor' filter

  • Andy Resnick
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad How does a laser rangefinder work?

  • DariusP
  • · Replies 8 ·
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8

Undergrad What do these submaxima represent - Interference Pattern

  • APUGYael
  • · Replies 30 ·
2
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30

Undergrad Deriving total phase shift formula for a waveplate stack

  • AwesomeTrains
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate Focusing of a 2D Parabolic Mirror

  • DonLumpo
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Graduate Effects of Lens Element Aberrations on a Fully Corrected Lens Image

  • Mustafa Umut
  • · Replies 10 ·
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10

High School Beamsplitter in a Michelson interferometer

  • Julian Phillips
  • · Replies 9 ·
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9

Undergrad When do two waves interfere completely constructively or destructively?

  • PainterGuy
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Undergrad Will Headlights Work If My Car Travels Near the Speed of Light?

  • gary350
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad Several questions about the speed of light

  • GreatCucumber
  • · Replies 12 ·
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12

Graduate Difference between O and E rays to S and P polarizations

  • CGandC
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad Which Is Better for Visualizing Jet Flow: Schlieren or BOS Photography?

  • Ahsman
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Graduate Reflection and transparency in solids involve collective effects, not single atoms

  • ZapperZ
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate If photons can't escape a black hole, how come gravitons can?

  • swampwiz
  • · Replies 18 ·
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18

High School Double Slit Experiment with a Medium in front of the slits

  • sqljunkey
  • · Replies 2 ·
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2

High School What Would Happen if the Sun Suddenly Disappeared?

  • Wraithious
  • · Replies 14 ·
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14

Undergrad Why does optical power drop to 44D when viewing at the eye's near point?

  • fog37
  • · Replies 8 ·
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8

Undergrad Is it possible to use a DSLR as a cost effective spectrometer?

  • Anand Sivaram
  • · Replies 9 ·
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9

High School What is a 1-dimensional mirror?

  • David Elkins
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad Red laser beam deflection off osmium cube surface

  • Peter Hodgson
  • · Replies 4 ·
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4

Graduate Can light always be treated as a physical object?

  • FAS1998
  • · Replies 15 ·
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15

Graduate How precisely can we measure photon wavelength?

  • liroj
  • · Replies 35 ·
2
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35

Graduate Speed of Light when not in a vacuum?

  • Orwell1984
  • · Replies 5 ·
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5

Graduate Why does higher temperature increase photon emission in blackbody radiation?

  • iamconfused
  • · Replies 7 ·
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7

Undergrad Understanding Counts in Spectrometer

  • Fpmagnani
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad Is diffraction caused by interference or vice versa in double slits?

  • Josielle Abdilla
  • · Replies 7 ·
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7

Graduate Intensities from the Michelson Beamsplitter

  • Identity
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate Photon wavelength probability distribution for blackbody

  • Orthoptera
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate Phase shift from reflection at beam splitter vs mirror

  • condorino
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate Diffraction through a sub-wavelength aperture

  • Claude Bile
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate Verify definition of circular polarization in Balanis.

  • yungman
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad Can a Red Plastic Cover Improve an IR Sensor Performance?

  • Firefox123
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

High School How is a Photon being created?

  • rickyyeungyeung
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Graduate Controlling light diffraction angle with a holographic "lens"

  • Mike Gaffer
  • · Replies 15 ·
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15

Undergrad Michelson-Morley Experiment: the importance of the laser position

  • mk9898
  • · Replies 6 ·
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6

Undergrad How can I find the width of the central diffraction maximum.

  • MattDutra123
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad Irradiance from this infrared light source after a diffuser

  • Maker21538
  • · Replies 6 ·
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6

Graduate Rayleigh criterion when light phase is known

  • Adgorn
  • · Replies 4 ·
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4

High School Light Beam fired 1 AU into space

  • Molloy
  • · Replies 18 ·
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18

Graduate Why does it not work to carry a laser and shine it on a light sail?

  • Cato
  • · Replies 13 ·
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13

High School Seeing Merging Shadows in the Sunlight

  • Vibhu
  • · Replies 5 ·
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5

High School Trivial questions regarding parallax and measurement of distances.

  • JC2000
  • · Replies 7 ·
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7

Undergrad What does the term "Typical Wavelength" mean in this context?

  • math04
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

High School Can electric and magnetic fields exist in the same space?

  • Janez
  • · Replies 18 ·
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18

Undergrad How Newton's reflecting sundial works and how to build one

  • Jadaav
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Graduate Scattering direction and probability

  • dRic2
  • · Replies 6 ·
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6

Graduate Are there still open problems in classical wave optics?

  • Seanskahn
  • · Replies 2 ·
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2

Undergrad Does a Polarizer Alter the Shape of Airy Disks in Optical Systems?

  • zincshow
  • · Replies 3 ·
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3

Undergrad Focusing light with a light sail

  • beek
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Graduate How can the electric field of optical fibers be visualized?

  • EmilyRuck
  • · Replies 1 ·
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1

Undergrad In what direction does a light wave vibrate?

  • Jordan Regan
  • · Replies 9 ·
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9

Graduate Are focal length and image focus point the same thing in convex lenses?

  • supermankid
  • · Replies 12 ·
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12