Recent content by Particle-Wave

This might be more of a simple engineering question, but does work hardening (cold worked) of say a metal create smaller, more numerous crystal grains (and thus, more grain boundaries)? or does it just create dislocations in the crystal?

Oh, I was referring to what happens after the e-wave and o-wave exit from an anisotropic sample at the stage area of a polarized light microscope. From what I understand (probably incorrectly), the individual wavelengths of light in each wave are retarded at different rates. When the two waves...

I'm not a physics whiz, so please be patient with me! I understand that when polarized light passes through an anisotropic sample, it bifurcates into the o-ray and the e-eay. The two rays emerge out of phase to each other and when they hit the polarizer, they recombine. Due to the fact that...

I think I get it now. Their perpendicular components make it through, while their parallel components are absorbed/reflected.

Please let me know if I'm even making sense! :redface:

Hi, I'm new to this forum, and am not a genius in any way, so I hope you'll be patient with me. I've been reading up on petrographic microscopes and understand that unpolarized light is filtered through a polarizer in order to get the EM wave electric fields to oscillate in the same...