3 ms·
Yeah, I typically hear visible light referred to as, well, "visible light". It may depend on the whims of the particular textbooks and professors you learned fr
by swift 10y ago
Yeah, I typically hear visible light referred to as, well, "visible light". It may depend on the whims of the particular textbooks and professors you learned from, but in my physics classes we always used "light" to refer to the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and I only realized relatively late in life that some people don't use the terminology that way.
- nsxwolf 10y agoPlus I like to think of all light as being "visible" to some material or apparatus. Our eyes just happen to be tuned to a particular part of the spectrum. You don't even have to look very far to find other animals that can see wavelengths we can't, like ultraviolet. Radio antennas "see" radio waves, film emulsions and CCDs "see" X-rays, etc. Also with radio we talk about different materials being "transparent" to one wavelength or another.
- harperlee 10y agoIt's amazing to think that, for the wifi module, the rest of the laptop is more or less transparent, as in a crystal case.
- hermitdev 10y agoIf you ever want to have some fun flying, carry some lead crystal in your carry on luggage. A number of years back, I was visiting my parents for Christmas, and they gave me a set of lead crystal tumblers. Apparently due mostly to the lead and partly to the cut of the tumblers, they appeared as hand grenades on the luggage scanner. The look of absolute puzzlement on the TSA agents' faces were priceless. They could not reconcile what they saw on their scanners with what they held in their hand, even when I explained what it was. I've had similar experiences flying with lead crystal ornaments. Which, while always a gift, I never have wrapped while I'm flying, because I know, inevitably I'd need to open it, anyway.
- nsxwolf 10y agoThat's great! I wouldn't have helped them! I would have just said "Those are drinking glasses."