Recent content by PeterPeter

Are you saying that the energy is proportional to the SQRT of the dialectic constant, K?

I am interested in the physics of ground penetrating radar. 1) Does anyone know where I can find a derivation of the formula in the attached jpg for the energy reflected? K=the dialectic constant. 2) An intuitive explanation of why the dialectic constant is important in determining the energy...

Does this FermiLab video help? "Why can't you go faster than light?" by Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln

I read on the Internet that the work done by a (rigid) body = the change in Kinetic energy. What if I lift a rigid body slowly and vertically by 1 meter above the Earth's surface so that the initial velocity = final velocity =0? According to the Work Energy theorem as stated on many sites on...

In a vacuum, the plane wave solutions to Maxwell's Equations are... E=E0*cos(wt-kr) B=B0*cos(wt-kr) ie they are in phase. (See for example https://www.physics.wisc.edu/undergrads/courses/spring08/208/Lectures/lect20.pdf http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/waves/emwv.html ) I don't...

Does the Heisenberg Uncertainity Principle mean: 1) If a particle is confined within a length x then it must jiggle around with a momentum given by p ~ h/2x PI OR 2) If we measure the position of a particle to an accuracy of x then its momentum will be uncertain by ~ h/2x PI

Does all this mean that a plasma is opaque to light of all wave lengths?

Thanks. I'm trying to understand why light reacts with charged particles much more than with neutral atoms.

Can someone please tell me the name of the theory describing the interaction of photons with charged particles eg electrons, protons? Can you also suggest a good introductory web page describing that theory at First Year University level for self study? Better still, a good VIDEO lecture on...

I find it hard to believe that the only factor important in computing aircraft lift is Bernoulli's principle. Doesn't good old Newton's Second Law play an effect? In other words simply deflecting the airflow downwards. Does anyone know the relative importance of these factors? (EG for a...

Apparently the early universe was opaque because the atoms were ionized. I'm wondering, why do electrons scatter photons but atoms don't? I'm presuming it's the electrons that do the scattering.

Thanks to you all. I think I'm starting to get the basics of SR!

I have reworked using a ruler length of L instead of 1m. I get: 1. The right end of the ruler passes the observer (in the observer's frame) (0,0) 2. The left end of the ruler passes the observer (in the observer's frame) (0,L/(u*gamma)) 3. The observer passes the right end of the ruler (in...

Thanks. I was expecting to get something like length/gamma ie length contraction!

Homework Statement A meter ruler moves at velocity u to the right past a stationary observer. The observer is at (0,0) in his rest frame. Give the (x,t) co-ordinates of the following events. 1. The right end of the ruler passes the observer (in the observer's frame) 2. The left end of the...