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Re: [Phys-l] Physics Grammar



Aha, Plato trumps Aristotle....this is a very old issue.

cheers,

joe

Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556

On Jan 23, 2008, at 1:48 PM, Alfredo Louro wrote:

I would disagree on principle that any physical quantity should be
defined in terms of human perception. In keeping with this, I would
call all forms of em radiation "light", and qualify the visible
radiation as visible light. The same idea applies to sound. We talk
about sound waves in the Sun, for example, although obviously no one
can hear them.

Alfredo

On Jan 23, 2008 9:03 AM, Larry Smith <larry.smith@snow.edu> wrote:
The Physics Teacher, current issue (Feb 2008), page 74, has a couple of
items relating to "physics grammar" that I would like the list's response
to.

------begin quote------

1. Light is defined as that portion of the Electromagnetic Spectrum to
which the human eye is sensitive. So light is "visible Electromagnetic
Radiation (EMR)." Thus "visible light" is redundant because it would
translate to "visible visible EMR." The terms "infrared light" and
"ultraviolet light" are also incorrect because "light" is the visible part
of the EMR and infrared and ultraviolet radiation are not visible.

------end quote---------

The author has a second grammar point too, but I'm more interested in the
list's response to the first one.

Cheers,
Larry
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l

_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l