Chapter 33 Electromagnetic Waves Todays information age is based almost entirely on the physics of electromagnetic waves. The connection between electric and magnetic fields to produce light is one of the greatest achievements produced by physics, and electromagnetic waves are at the core of many fields in science and engineering.

In this chapter we introduce fundamental concepts and explore the properties of electromagnetic waves and optics, the study of visible light, which is a branch of electromagnetism. (33-1)

The wavelength/frequency range in which electromagnetic (EM) waves are visible (light) is only a tiny fraction of the entire electromagnetic spectrum.33.1 Maxwells Rainbow(33-2)

An LC oscillator causes currents to flow sinusoidally, which in turn produces oscillating electric and magnetic fields, which then propagate through space as EM waves.33.3 The Traveling Electromagnetic Wave, Qualitatively(33-3)

EM fields at P looking back toward LC oscillatorThe Traveling Electromagnetic (EM) Wave, Qualitatively(33-4)

Mathematical Description of Traveling EM WavesAll EM waves travel a c in vacuumEM Wave Simulation(33-5)

Unlike all the waves discussed in Chs. 16 and 17, EM waves require no medium through/along which to travel. EM waves can travel through empty space (vacuum)!Speed of light is independent of speed of observer! You could be heading toward a light beam at the speed of light, but you would still measure c as the speed of the beam!A Most Curious Wave(33-6)

Changing magnetic fields produce electric fields, Faradays law of induction:3.4 The Traveling EM Wave, QuantitativelyInduced Electric Field(33-7)

Changing electric fields produce magnetic fields, Maxwells law of induction:The Traveling EM Wave, QuantitativelyInduced Magnetic Field(33-8)

33.5 Energy Transport and the Poynting VectorThe magnitude of S is related to the rate at which energy is transported by a wave across a unit area at any instant (inst). The unit for S is (W/m2).(33-9)

Energy Transport and the Poynting VectorNote that S is a function of time. The time-averaged value for S, Savg is also called the intensity I of the wave. (33-10)

Variation of Intensity with DistanceConsider a point source S that is emitting EM waves isotropically (equally in all directions) at a rate PS. Assume that the energy of waves is conserved as they spread from source.How does the intensity (power/area) change with distance r?(33-11)

EM waves have linear momentum as well as energylight can exert pressure.33.6 Radiation Pressure(33-12)

The polarization of light describes how the electric field in the EM wave oscillates.

Vertically planepolarized (or linearly polarized)33.7 Polarization(33-13)

Unpolarized or randomly polarized light has its instantaneous polarization direction vary randomly with time.Polarized LightOne can produce unpolarized light by the addition (superposition) of two perpendicularly polarized waves with randomly varying amplitudes. If the two perpendicularly polarized waves have fixed amplitudes and phases, one can produce different polarizations such as circularly or elliptically polarized light.(33-14)

Polarizing SheetOnly the electric field component along the polarizing direction of polarizing sheet is passed (transmitted); the perpendicular component is blocked (absorbed).I0I(33-15)

Intensity of Transmitted Polarized LightSince only the component of the incident electric field E parallel to the polarizing axis is transmitted.For unpolarized light, q varies randomly in time:(33-16)

Although light waves spread as they move from a source, often we can approximate its travel as being a straight line geometrical optics.33.8 Reflection and RefractionWhat happens when a narrow beam of light encounters a glass surface?Law of ReflectionSnells Lawn is the index of refraction of the material.(33-17)

For light going from n1 to n2:n2 = n1 q2 = q1n2 > n1 q2 q1, light bent away from normalRefraction of light traveling from a medium with n1 to a medium with n2(33-18)

The index of refraction n encountered by light in any medium except vacuum depends on the wavelength of the light. So if light consisting of different wavelengths enters a material, the different wavelengths will be refracted differently chromatic dispersion.Chromatic DispersionN2,blue>n2,redChromatic dispersion can be good (e.g., used to analyze wavelength composition of light) or bad (e.g., chromatic aberration in lenses).(33-19)

Chromatic DispersionChromatic dispersion can be good (e.g., used to analyze wavelength composition of light)or bad (e.g., chromatic aberration in lenses)prismlens(33-20)

RainbowsSunlight consists of all visible colors and water is dispersive, so when sunlight is refracted as it enters water droplets, is reflected off the back surface, and again is refracted as it exits the water drops, the range of angles for the exiting ray will depend on the color of the ray. Since blue is refracted more strongly than red, only droplets that are closer to the rainbow center (A) will refract/reflect blue light to the observer (O). Droplets at larger angles will still refract/reflect red light to the observer.What happens for rays that reflect twice off the back surfaces of the droplets?(33-21)

For light that travels from a medium with a larger index of refraction to a medium with a smaller index of refraction n1>n2 q2>q1, as q1 increases, q2 will reach 90o (the largest possible angle for refraction) before q1 does.33.9 Total Internal Reflectionn1n2When q1> qc no light is refracted (Snells law does not have a solution!) so no light is transmitted Total Internal ReflectionTotal internal reflection can be used, for example, to guide/contain light along an optical fiber.(33-22)

33.10 Polarization by ReflectionBrewsters LawApplicationsPerfect window: since parallel polarization is not reflected, all of it is transmittedPolarizer: only the perpendicular component is reflected, so one can select only this component of the incident polarizationIn which direction does light reflecting off a lake tend to be polarized?When the refracted ray is perpendicular to the reflected ray, the electric field parallel to the page (plane of incidence) in the medium does not produce a reflected ray since there is no component of that field perpendicular to the reflected ray (EM waves are transverse).(33-23)