Experiments on light?
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From: Androcles on 2 Oct 2009 14:22 "Jonah Thomas" <jethomas5(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:20091002142416.0b3f6d89.jethomas5(a)gmail.com... > "Androcles" <Headmaster(a)Hogwarts.physics_o> wrote: >> "Jonah Thomas" <jethomas5(a)gmail.com> wrote > >> >I woke up with a sudden thought. >> > >> > For a few dollars I can buy a diffraction grating that's much much >> > better than the one Newton used. >> > >> > And for a few dollars I can buy a laser that's much much better than >> > the one Michelson used. >> > >> Which laser did Michelson use? > > That's a minor detail. You know lasers have gotten a lot better and > cheaper than they were in his day. Michelson died in 1934, the laser wasn't invented until 1958. It was preceeded by the maser. The first working laser was demonstrated on 16 May 1960 by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories. Your minor detail is a non-existent detail.
From: Jonah Thomas on 2 Oct 2009 14:37 Salmon Egg <SalmonEgg(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Jonah Thomas <jethomas5(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > I woke up with a sudden thought. > > > > For a few dollars I can buy a diffraction grating that's much much > > better than the one Newton used. > > > > And for a few dollars I can buy a laser that's much much better than > > the one Michelson used. > > > > And for a few dollars more I can buy a sheet of polaroid that's far > > better than the one Fresnel used. > > I do not think this post is serious, but I saw no smilies. Oops! Sorry about that. ;) ;) > Nevertheless the feats of procurement described merely apply 20th > century progress to earlier ones.
From: Jonah Thomas on 2 Oct 2009 14:59 "Androcles" <Headmaster(a)Hogwarts.physics_o> wrote: > "Jonah Thomas" <jethomas5(a)gmail.com> wrote > > "Androcles" <Headmaster(a)Hogwarts.physics_o> wrote: > >> "Jonah Thomas" <jethomas5(a)gmail.com> wrote > > > >> >I woke up with a sudden thought. > >> > > >> > For a few dollars I can buy a diffraction grating that's much > >much> > better than the one Newton used. > >> > > >> > And for a few dollars I can buy a laser that's much much better > >than> > the one Michelson used. > >> > > >> Which laser did Michelson use? > > > > That's a minor detail. You know lasers have gotten a lot better and > > cheaper than they were in his day. > > Michelson died in 1934, the laser wasn't invented until 1958. It was > preceeded > by the maser. The first working laser was demonstrated on 16 May 1960 > by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories. > > Your minor detail is a non-existent detail. Sure, not to mention Newton's diffraction grating and Fresnel's polaroid. Fresnel could have had a diffraction grating, though. If he didn't want to settle for a bird feather or something like that, he could have asked Fraunhofer for one.
From: PD on 2 Oct 2009 15:21 On Oct 2, 10:11 am, Jonah Thomas <jethom...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I woke up with a sudden thought. > > For a few dollars I can buy a diffraction grating that's much much > better than the one Newton used. > > And for a few dollars I can buy a laser that's much much better than the > one Michelson used. > > And for a few dollars more I can buy a sheet of polaroid that's far > better than the one Fresnel used. > > It ought to be pretty cheap and easy to replicate the old experiments, > given modern technology. I got excited. I looked around the house. We > had one place that would be perfect, a pretty long distance, half of it > a narrow corridor, I could open the bedroom door to get more distance if > needed, a mirror already mounted at the far end. Perfect! Particularly > at night. Maybe I could show the results to my kids, they might be > interested. > > So I went to my wife and asked her. "Honey, I was thinking I'd like to > do some laser experiments, and the hall would be just perfect for it, > would you mind if I set up some stuff there?" > > She laughed. "That's perfect! I like it! My husband wants to set up a > laser lab in our hall. I'm going to dine out on that story for months." > > "OK, so you don't mind?" > > "Are you serious?! Hell no! Lasers around my kids? I like to joke about > you being a mad scientist making death rays but no." > > "You don't mind the kids teasing the cat with lasers." > > "That's different." > > Maybe it isn't so easy after all. On the other hand, if I'd gotten that kind of response from my wife, the next conversation would have been: "What are you doing?" "I'm setting up an experiment in the hall. I've let the kids know to stay away." "You're doing WHAT?" "Trying an experiment. Do you want to help or watch?"
From: eric gisse on 2 Oct 2009 15:21
Jonah Thomas wrote: > "Androcles" <Headmaster(a)Hogwarts.physics_o> wrote: >> "Jonah Thomas" <jethomas5(a)gmail.com> wrote > >> >I woke up with a sudden thought. >> > >> > For a few dollars I can buy a diffraction grating that's much much >> > better than the one Newton used. >> > >> > And for a few dollars I can buy a laser that's much much better than >> > the one Michelson used. >> > >> Which laser did Michelson use? > > That's a minor detail. You know lasers have gotten a lot better and > cheaper than they were in his day. How expensive do you imagine a laser was in Michelson's day? [...] |