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Hey all- just trying to understand a concept that seems to condradict itself. If anybody has any clear explanations for this I would hugely appreciate it.
Ok, so wavelength and frequency are inversely proportional to each other, so that the speed of light is constant:
We also know that the index of refraction "n" compares the speed "c" of light in a vacuum to the speed "v" of light in a particular medium:
When light crosses into a new medium, the frequency remains the same right? and only the wavelength changes. If the medium's index of refraction is higher, the wavelengths become shorter; if the index is lower, then the wavelengths become longer.
It's this last part that's bugging me- if the wavelength decreases, but frequency stays constant, then based on c=f/l, the speed of light increases above 3E8 m/s. Does this sound crazy to you too? I did not think light could actually exceed the speed of...light.
Any thoughts?
Ok, so wavelength and frequency are inversely proportional to each other, so that the speed of light is constant:
c=f*l
We also know that the index of refraction "n" compares the speed "c" of light in a vacuum to the speed "v" of light in a particular medium:
n=c/v
When light crosses into a new medium, the frequency remains the same right? and only the wavelength changes. If the medium's index of refraction is higher, the wavelengths become shorter; if the index is lower, then the wavelengths become longer.
It's this last part that's bugging me- if the wavelength decreases, but frequency stays constant, then based on c=f/l, the speed of light increases above 3E8 m/s. Does this sound crazy to you too? I did not think light could actually exceed the speed of...light.
Any thoughts?
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