More on Light

[Fallingstar1971]

My field of study is electricity. Electricity is the movement of one electron from one atom to another atom and so on and so forth right on down the conductor to the load. It is electromagnetic in nature.

Light is electromagnetic as well

Electricity is LAZY and ALWAYS takes the shortest path

So does light

Electricity can be modified using a magnetic field. You can raise or lower voltage using good old fashion magnetism (Transformer)

Can light? Could you "Amplfy" light? (I have never seen this done before (electromagnetically), but I have seen gravitational lensing at work. Is it possible that gravity can "amplfy" light?)

So I guess my next question is, If light behaves like electricity, would the Universe be considered a "conductive" one (Like a copper wire) or a resistive one (Like a piece of glass)?

When I think about light in the Universe, my first thought is that its conductive (Light can pass from one "end" to the opposite "end" (The word "end" being a reference point, not the literal "end of the universe")

But then I think about whats IN the Universe, where does the light come from? Its either emitted, reflected, or absorbed.

Since light relfects off of everything that doesnt emit light and that some light is absorbed or "stored" (trapped in the gravity well of a black hole for example) could that not mean that its a "resistive" universe?

I know that astronomers and Physics majors have used density to get a guesstimate as to how much mass is in the Universe. I wonder if there is a way to measure the electrical potential. Amp meters work by measuring the magnetic field of the wire conducting the electricity. I wonder if there is a way to measure the magnetic field of the universe itself from the inside. (If we could go outside then I would say "Just clip an ampmeter around the big bang and tell me what it says")

Hmmmmm typing all this up make me want to play with fiber optic cables and some iron cores, just to see what happens, if anything at all. (My amp meter is part of a mulitmeter and requires a "hard" connection to the conductor)

So, for my experiment, I will need to do the following........

1. Get some fiber optic cable
2. Get some iron or magnitite
3. Get a "clip on" ampmeter


So I wind one coil with 20 turns and the other with 200 and seperate them with a non-transparent but electrically conductive material, then apply light to the 20 winding side. What would happen?

Or

Wind up a transformer in the same fashion, but add the parts to a standard transformer and energize it. So now we have a coil with both a fiber wire and a copper wire on both sides of the transformer. The electricity flowing through the wire will generate a magnetic field. What effect would this field have on the light in the fiber wire?

By there very nature, fiber optic cables cannot conduct electricity........... wait a sec............no electricity = no magnetism
so we add the copper wire to generate the magnetic field

Could it be that the worst conductor of electricity (open space) be the best conductor of light?

Could this be a fundamental relationship between the two forms of energy ?

If light truly is "electromagnetic" then it shouldn't it follow the same rules as everything else that is "electromagnetic"?

Looks like I need to look into some college.......(Trade School just didnt have enough info)

Star

 

[origin]

My field of study is electricity. Electricity is the movement of one electron from one atom to another atom and so on and so forth right on down the conductor to the load. It is electromagnetic in nature.

Light is electromagnetic as well

Electricity is LAZY and ALWAYS takes the shortest path

So does light

Electricity can be modified using a magnetic field. You can raise or lower voltage using good old fashion magnetism (Transformer)

Can light? Could you "Amplfy" light? (I have never seen this done before (electromagnetically), but I have seen gravitational lensing at work. Is it possible that gravity can "amplfy" light?)

I am not sure what you mean by amplify - you certainly cannot speed it up. Can increase the energy by changing the wave length. Light is affected by magnetic fields - ie you can change the direction of the light.

So I guess my next question is, If light behaves like electricity, would the Universe be considered a "conductive" one (Like a copper wire) or a resistive one (Like a piece of glass)?

No, electro magnetic radiation propagates through a vacuum it is not transmitted along conductors. You should look at Maxwells equations. These equations are usually studied in the 3 semester of college physics, you should have 2 - 3 semseter fo calculus as a background to understand them.

Since light relfects off of everything that doesnt emit light and that some light is absorbed or "stored" (trapped in the gravity well of a black hole for example) could that not mean that its a "resistive" universe?

Most of the universe is a very low vacuum which has a very high resistance to electricity - but again light does not need a current carring conductor.

Could it be that the worst conductor of electricity (open space) be the best conductor of light?

Could this be a fundamental relationship between the two forms of energy ?

If light truly is "electromagnetic" then it shouldn't it follow the same rules as everything else that is "electromagnetic"?

Looks like I need to look into some college.......(Trade School just didnt have enough info)

Star[/quote]

The highest speed of light occurs in a vacuum so your first statement is correct except that a vacuum is not a "light conductor" it is just there is nothing to get in the way of the photons.

What two forms of energy?

Trade school is great for becoming and electrician or an electronics tech, but you are right to explore what you are talking about I would suggest taking the series of calculus and physics courses for a 2 year engineering program at a community college

 

[Shpaget]

There are devices used for amplifying light
Optical Amplifier

You can't really compare electric current and light.
Light will take the shortest path, but electricity will not take it always.
Electric current will take the path of least resistance, which in most cases (in electronics) isn't the shortest way. More precisely, it will take all available paths in which resistance isn't infinite, but lesser the resistance, greater the flow of electrons on that path.
On the other hand light will not chose its path. It will go straight no matter what resistance it may encounter on its way.

 

[origin]

There are devices used for amplifying light
Optical Amplifier

You can't really compare electric current and light.
Light will take the shortest path, but electricity will not take it always.
Electric current will take the path of least resistance, which in most cases (in electronics) isn't the shortest way. More precisely, it will take all available paths in which resistance isn't infinite, but lesser the resistance, greater the flow of electrons on that path.
On the other hand light will not chose its path. It will go straight no matter what resistance it may encounter on its way.

I think fallingstar was wondering if an electric field could amplify light. The optical amplifyer uses laser light to amplify or boost the incoming light signal not an electric field.

 

[lanceromega]

My field of study is electricity. Electricity is the movement of one electron from one atom to another atom and so on and so forth right on down the conductor to the load. It is electromagnetic in nature.

Light is electromagnetic as well

Electricity is LAZY and ALWAYS takes the shortest path

So does light

Electricity can be modified using a magnetic field. You can raise or lower voltage using good old fashion magnetism (Transformer)

Can light? Could you "Amplfy" light? (I have never seen this done before (electromagnetically), but I have seen gravitational lensing at work. Is it possible that gravity can "amplfy" light?)

So I guess my next question is, If light behaves like electricity, would the Universe be considered a "conductive" one (Like a copper wire) or a resistive one (Like a piece of glass)?

When I think about light in the Universe, my first thought is that its conductive (Light can pass from one "end" to the opposite "end" (The word "end" being a reference point, not the literal "end of the universe")

But then I think about whats IN the Universe, where does the light come from? Its either emitted, reflected, or absorbed.

Since light relfects off of everything that doesnt emit light and that some light is absorbed or "stored" (trapped in the gravity well of a black hole for example) could that not mean that its a "resistive" universe?

I know that astronomers and Physics majors have used density to get a guesstimate as to how much mass is in the Universe. I wonder if there is a way to measure the electrical potential. Amp meters work by measuring the magnetic field of the wire conducting the electricity. I wonder if there is a way to measure the magnetic field of the universe itself from the inside. (If we could go outside then I would say "Just clip an ampmeter around the big bang and tell me what it says")

Hmmmmm typing all this up make me want to play with fiber optic cables and some iron cores, just to see what happens, if anything at all. (My amp meter is part of a mulitmeter and requires a "hard" connection to the conductor)

So, for my experiment, I will need to do the following........

1. Get some fiber optic cable
2. Get some iron or magnitite
3. Get a "clip on" ampmeter


So I wind one coil with 20 turns and the other with 200 and seperate them with a non-transparent but electrically conductive material, then apply light to the 20 winding side. What would happen?

Or

Wind up a transformer in the same fashion, but add the parts to a standard transformer and energize it. So now we have a coil with both a fiber wire and a copper wire on both sides of the transformer. The electricity flowing through the wire will generate a magnetic field. What effect would this field have on the light in the fiber wire?

By there very nature, fiber optic cables cannot conduct electricity........... wait a sec............no electricity = no magnetism
so we add the copper wire to generate the magnetic field

Could it be that the worst conductor of electricity (open space) be the best conductor of light?

Could this be a fundamental relationship between the two forms of energy ?

If light truly is

"electromagnetic"

then it shouldn't it follow the same rules as everything else that is "electromagnetic"?

Looks like I need to look into some college.......(Trade School just didnt have enough info)

Can light? Could you "Amplfy" light? (I have never seen this done before (electromagnetically), but I have seen gravitational lensing at work. Is it possible that gravity can "amplfy" light?)

Yes but first when you speak of Amplify in what manner? First we can Increase the energy of a photon, this can be done by altering it inertia frame.. This is basically what is behind the Doppler effect, where the frequency of a photon is alter.
Example is a radar gun, fire the gun at a speeding car and photons are shifted to a higher frequency after they bounce off the car and we can now tell the speed of the auto from the shift.

Second form of Amplification is a change in intensity, where we increase the number of photons. This is what a laser does.

So I guess my next question is, If light behaves like electricity, would the Universe be considered a "conductive" one (Like a copper wire) or a resistive one (Like a piece of glass)?

Good Questions, and in the way the space acts as a superconductor for light. Is it not the best conductor, no certain plasma can conduct light better. Dr Wang from NEC labs actually used a plasma of Cesium gas to accelerate a beam of light to 300 Time C.

The conduction of light is dependent on the ability of the electrical and magnetic field to switch into one another, the value of ability is what determine the max speed of light and it can be derived from maxwell equation.

If light truly is "electromagnetic"then it shouldn't it follow the same rules as everything else that is "electromagnetic"?

There a different between Electric ( which is the moment of electron), magnetic (momentum of virtual photons) and electromagnetics which is the oscillation of the two different fields. Electrons carry the electrical charge that create a cloud of virtual photons, while if you move that electron( have it travel at a constant virtual) these virtual photons form the magnetic field. Shake or accelerate the electron and you supply energy to promote one of these virtual photons to a real status.

Now photons and electron have very different properties, these properties determine how they act.

 

[andrew_t1000]

I have tried splitting a laser beam, then "adding" the 2 separate beams back together, on one beam I placed a coil wound on a core made from soft iron wire, then fed a signal generator through an amplifier into the coil.
I did see a tiny variation when the beams were recombined.