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UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FACULTY OF PHYSICS Guest
2024-11-23 17:49 |
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Conference: Bucharest University Faculty of Physics 2016 Meeting
Section: Optics, Spectroscopy, Plasma and Lasers
Title:
On an experimentum crucis for optics
Authors:
I. DINU
Affiliation:
Scoala Gimnaziala Vulturu, Jud. Vrancea
E-mail
dynuionel@yahoo.com
Keywords:
light; transverse wave; longitudinal wave; aether
Abstract:
Formulated almost 200 years ago, Thomas Young’'s hypothesis that light might be a transverse wave has never been seriously questioned, much less subjected to experiment. In this article I report on an attempt to prove experimentally that Young’'s hypothesis is untenable. Although it has certain limitations, the experiment seems to show that sound in air, a longitudinal wave, can be “polarized” by reflection just like light, and this can be used as evidence against Young’'s hypothesis. Further refinements of the experimental setup may yield clearer results, making this report useful to those interested in the important issue of whether light is a transverse or a longitudinal wave.
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