All Questions
Tagged with reflection scattering
54
questions
11
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What percentage of light gets scattered by a mirror?
Sunlight strikes a mirror at a 45 degree angle. The vast majority of light will be reflected about the normal. Some light will be absorbed by the mirror. Some light will be transmitted through the ...
- 912
1
vote
0
answers
35
views
What happens when a linear polarized EM wave encounters a perpendicular mesh of wires (which are electrically connected)?
Assume a radio wave with wavelength 1 m is traveling in the negative z direction when it encounters a grid of closely spaced wires (say, 10 cm separation) laying in the xy plane, with each wire ...
- 93
1
vote
2
answers
44
views
Are reflection and transmission coefficients in 1D problem are independent of the direction in which we choose as incident?
I was watching a lecture series of Quantum mechanics of Professor V. Balakrishnan,
There was a problem session,
“For an arbitrary potential barrier (any potential function of position and it need not ...
0
votes
1
answer
51
views
What causes light to scatter in a medium?
My understanding is that all mediums have a complex iindex of refraction where the real component is the "standard" index of refraction, and the imaginary component is the extinction ...
- 203
0
votes
1
answer
184
views
Complex Refractive Indices, Absorption, and Transparency
A complex refractive index is defined as $n = n_0 + \kappa$ where $n_0$ is the "standard" refractive index, and $\kappa$ is the optical extinction coefficient. The optical extinction ...
- 203
0
votes
1
answer
77
views
Free particle encountering an infinite potential barrier
I understand that a wave function cannot penetrate through a barrier that has infinite potential. However when the wave function reflects off from the barrier what does this look like? If we're in a ...
- 13
1
vote
1
answer
113
views
Why is deep open ocean blue?
If we assume the ocean is sufficiently deep so that the blue light transmitted inside the water gets absorbed completely before it reaches the ocean floor and be scattered back towards the surface, ...
0
votes
0
answers
37
views
Reflections from both edges of a finite well
In section 11.3.1 in Richard Robinnett's Quantum Mechanics book, it says that in the case of transmission resonance ($T=1$), there's complete destructive interference between waves reflected from the ...
- 860
0
votes
0
answers
13
views
Why do the 'colors' of liquids in differently sized glass cylinders appear similar despite varying absorption rates?
For some liquids, such as cooking oil, I have observed that when filling two glass cylinders (with lids) of different diameters (e.g., one with a 5 cm diameter and another with a 10 cm diameter) with ...
- 382
4
votes
0
answers
30
views
Why pouring water onto something makes it darker? [duplicate]
Imagine pouring water on a shirt: when the water is absorbed by the tissue you notice the stain because has a darker colour than the dry tissue. This also works on the asphalt, on the loam, on the ...
- 51
1
vote
1
answer
225
views
Why Do Polarizers Make The Sky Bluer and The Trees Greener?
I've been reading a lot about polarization and I have pretty much understood the physics behind the phenomenon. However, until now I couldn't find a scientific reference that explains clearly why the ...
- 111
3
votes
1
answer
166
views
What happens microscopically when an EM-wave encounters a conductor? - Why is there no transmission of any EM-waves?
Essentially i have the same question as stated here:
What happens when an Electromagnetic wave encounters a conductor's surface?
I want a microsopically motivated answer, i.e. what the charges ...
- 103
1
vote
0
answers
82
views
Question about hard well potential in quantum mechanics
How we can treat the potential that is infinity on one side and zero for other side
$$V(x)=\begin{cases}0~~~~~~~~~x>0\\ +\infty~~~~~ x<0 \end{cases}$$
I think we must apply the one boundary ...
- 31
2
votes
1
answer
449
views
Definition of transmission and reflection coefficients for a particle
Quick intro:
A 1D quantum particle is subject to the potential
$$
V(x) = \begin{cases}
0 \;\;\;\;\; x\leq 0\\
V_0 \;\;\; x > 0
\end{cases}
$$
I am trying to understand the definition of ...
- 735
0
votes
1
answer
25
views
Interferometry experiment using laser beam reflection from object: does being closer to the object produce a better signal/measurement?
Let's say we're conducting an interferometry experiment. The experiment is such that we're reflecting collimated laser light off some object and then using the information contained in the reflected ...
- 889