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hey guys, I'm studying physics and i actually don't know why light is slower in a medium.
the velocity is always the same right, so photons must get absorbed and new ones emitted. which doesn't really seem right.
please tell me
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desperate bump
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>>8509508
The speed is always the same but because it travels through a medium it bounces and reflects around it so it takes longer to reach the end point.
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>>8510333
Nope.
Polaritons, OP.
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>>8510333
If that were the case, we'd have dffuse scattering of light in all media and a total loss of coherence.
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>>8509508
The light is just moving at a medium pace.
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>>8510333
Completely wrong.
>>8509508
Do answer this you have to consider how light travels through a medium. Its essentially absorbed by the medium in the form of an oscillating dipole, and then re-emitted as a light wave. Different materials have different delays in between the absorption and emission, which leads to the light effectively travelling slower
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Thread images: 3