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Re: phase vs group vel. and simulations


Sigh. The group/phase velocity distinction is one that often escapes
students, and I've found that a careful computer graphic can do wonders.
Students say "Oh, THAT'S what you mean!" You can see the light bulbs going
on. There's a big difference between that and having students memorize
factoids.


John E. Gastineau mailto: gastineau@mindspring.com KC8IEW
900 B Ridgeway Ave. http://gastineau.home.mindspring.com
Morgantown WV 26505 (304) 296-1966 voice (304) 296-5035 fax
USA

John:
As a student at Case (where the Michaelson-Morely experiment was conducted)
I was told by my "Waves" prof (Robert Shankland) that this distinction also
frequently appeared to escape Michaelson. Morely, the chemist, kept
Michaelson straight on this issue, apparently.

Dewey

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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr. Phone: (208)385-3105
Professor of Physics Dept: (208)385-3775
Department of Physics/MCF421/418 Fax: (208)385-4330
Boise State University dykstrad@bsumail.idbsu.edu
1910 University Drive Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570 novice piper

"Physical concepts are the free creations of the human mind and
are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external
world."--A. Einstein in The Evolution of Physics with L. Infeld,
1938.
"Every [person's] world picture is and always remains a construct
of [their] mind and cannot be proved to have any other existence."
--E. Schrodinger in Mind and Matter, 1958.
"Don't mistake your watermelon for the universe." --K. Amdahl in
There Are No Electrons, 1991.
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