Soil and Water Conservation Engineering (SWCE) is a specialized field of stud...
Smores at light speed
1. S’mores
at the Speed of Light
How we accurately and deliciously measured the universal
constant velocity of electromagnetic radiation
2. Electromagnetic Waves
• When an Electric Field is Generated, a Magnetic Field is generated
• When an Electric Field changes it’s Magnetic Field is also changes
• These changes propagate outward through at a constant speed
• These radiating propagations are Electro-Magnetic Waves, or Electromagnetic
Radiation
• Because we are most familiar with the visible spectrum of electromagnetic
radiation, we call their velocity the Speed of Light.
Skip to Experiment
4. Maxwell’s Equations
• 𝟇 𝐵 = 𝐵 ∙ 𝑑𝓁 = 𝐵𝓁
• 𝟇 𝐸 = 𝐸 ∙ 𝐴 = 𝐸𝐴
• 𝐸 ∙ 𝑑𝓁 =
−𝑑𝟇 𝐵
𝑑𝑡
• 𝐵 ∙ 𝑑𝓁 = 𝜇0 𝜖0
𝑑𝟇 𝐸
𝑑𝑡
• distance covered by wave in a
period of time ∆𝑡: 𝑐0∆𝑡
• 𝐴 = 𝐸𝓁𝑐0∆𝑡
• ∆𝟇 𝐸= 𝐸𝓁𝑐0∆𝑡 − 0
• Rate of Change in Electric Flux:
∆𝟇 𝐸
∆𝑡
= 𝐸𝓁𝑐0
5. Rate of Change of
Electric Flux
• Rate of Change in Electric Flux:
∆𝟇 𝐸
∆𝑡
= 𝐸𝓁𝑐0
• Combine with: 𝐵 ∙ 𝑑𝓁 = 𝜇0 𝜖0
𝑑𝟇 𝐸
𝑑𝑡
• yields: 𝐵𝓁 = 𝜇0 𝜖0 𝐸𝓁𝑐0
• Simplified: 𝐵 = 𝜇0 𝜖0 𝐸𝑐0
6. Rate of Change of
Magnetic Flux
• Rate of Change in Magnetic Flux:
𝐸 ∙ 𝑑𝓁 =
−𝑑𝟇 𝐵
𝑑𝑡
• On a rectangular path
𝐸 ∙ 𝑑𝓁 = 𝐸𝑤
• If a magnetic field traces the same
path,
−𝑑𝟇 𝐵
𝑑𝑡
= −𝐵𝑤𝑐 𝑜
10. Finally…
The Velocity of Electromagnetic
Radiation:
𝑐 𝑜 =
1
𝜇0 𝜖0
• In a vacuum,
𝜖0 = 8.854𝑥10−12
𝜇0 = 4𝜋 𝑥10−7
𝑐 𝑜 = 299,792,458 𝑚/𝑠
11. How do we PROVE this?!
(This is the part that tastes good!)
12. Wave Function
The essential function of a wave is:
𝜆 =
𝑣
𝑓
Given the frequency 𝑓 of a wave, we can obtain the velocity 𝑣 by the equation
𝑣 = 𝜆𝑓
where 𝜆 is the wavelength.
14. Constructive Wave
Interference
Waves from a common source (the
Microwave-oven magnetron in this case) will
share a common wavelength, frequency, and
path of travel..
These waves will interfere with one another
as they propagate outward.
The regions that receive the highest amplitude of
energy will develop “hot spots”, while the “nodes”
receive significantly less heat.
15. Measure the “Hotspots”
• If we measure the distance between the hotspots, we will find points of
highest amplitude along the wave.
• Since the energy transferred to a substance is irrespective of sign, both the
“peak” and “trough” of a wave will generate these hotspots
• Therefore, the distance between hotspots is
𝜆
2
• and 𝑣 = 2𝑑𝑓
23. Enhancements for
Precise Measurement
While still warm, drag a knife across the
chocolate.
Hot spots will show clearly in the mark
made by the knife
Bisect these lines to determine the center of
each peak
25. Analysis and Conclusion
• Our most precise measurement: d = 6.0𝑐𝑚
• Our formula derived from the Wave function: 𝑣 = 2𝑑𝑓
• 𝑣 = 2(6.0𝑐𝑚) 2450𝑀𝐻𝑧 = 294,000,000𝑚/𝑠
• How does this compare to the accepted value of 𝑐 𝑜 = 299,792,458 𝑚/𝑠
• Difference: 2%
𝑐 𝑜 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝‼!