Re: Path of light...

[PHRP@FHSUVM.FHSU.EDU (Roger A. Pruitt)]

> 	Greetings everyone.  I overheard someone trying to explain how
> light propagates.  They stated that the electrical and magnetic waves
> move perpendicular to one another.  The resultant is a spiral wave.  He
> then went on to demonstrate with a cord of the magnetic wave moving side
> to side and the electrical wave moving up and down, then with the light
> wave, the end of the cord was spun around in a circle producing a
> spiralling wave down the cord.
> 	How accurate is this?  I've never heard of this "spiralling"
> wave.  Is it a resultant wave from the two waves?
> 	Any input would be helpful.
>
> Dwight
> dsouder@juno.com
Don't you mean helical rather than spiral. At least many years ago I learned
in my analytical geometry course that a spiral is a two-dimensional figure
while a helix is three-dimensional.

Roger

--
Roger A. Pruitt, PhD
Professor of Physics
Fort Hays State University
Hays, KS  67601
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