Dispersion Definition and 261 Threads

Hi I'm studying for a test, and in the suggested reading book review has a few equations that they talk about but I'm not don't really understand how it jumps from one thing to another? the book is very vauge... I've broken the parts i don't understand into A,B,C (I used w = omega) A)IT shows...

I'm having extreme difficulties finding understandable informations on the why and how on the topic of wave paquets, dispersion, phase and group velocity. My question is this. The motion of waves of small wavelenght at the surface of water is governed by the surface tension. The phase...

I feel rather stupid for not understanding this, but it's really thrown me for a loop, so any help would be greatly appreciated! A ray of light is incident at 45 degrees on an equilateral glass prism (n=1.5). So far, I have determined the angle of refraction to be 28.135 degrees, using...

This question bothered me for some time. From what i have seen in textbooks, dispersion occurs as soon as white light passes from air into a glass prism, but why not for a glass block, assuming that the angle of incidence is the same? The standard answer for why dispersion happens in glass...

I would like to understand a little more about the low waters and high waters observed during a tsunami. My first understanding was that the bottom of the ocean collapsed by a few meters in a 500 km² region in front of Sumatra. I could then understand low waters on the coasts. However, I...

Are they the same? Is dispersion only to do with light waves & diffraction for all waves?

So here are my questions If z(w)= R + iw/c, then 1/z = 1/(R + iw/c) Where does 1/z have singularities? I mean, there doesn't appear to be a point where R= -iw/c since R is real and the other term is imaginary. And how do I show the Real and Imaginary parts of 1/z are related by...

I'm confused on this question. I would show my work, but I'm not sure on how to even approach the question. The book labels this problem as straight forward, but I still don't see it and I'm confused on which formula(s) to use.. A narrow white light beam is incident on a block of fused...

Hi all. I'd like to ask why an achromatic doublet (one concave & and one convex lens of the same curvature cemented together) reduces chromatic abberation. Do any of you guys know how and why it does this (reduces chromatic abberation)? Thank you. Just for your info: Chromatic abberation...

Can anyone provide me with information on dispersion diagrams. I am trying to understand how to read/creat them.

I have read that the interference patterns on a piece of holographic film can be cut, and any segment that is cut out will display the entire hologram when a laser is used to produce an image. By this I mean if you take a piece of holographic film and cut out any portion of it, that portion, no...