If they are both electormagnetic waves whats the apparent difference ?
2007-04-29 05:28:11 · 7 answers · asked by K_K 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
There really isn't a difference...other than the obvious differences of frequency and wavelength. Visible light can be bent, often times near a large gravitational source. This phenomona (sp?) is known as gravitational lensing. A famous experiment was done in 1919 on Principe Island by the astronomer Arthur Eddington. During an eclipse of the Sun he observed stars that were right on the edge of the Sun from our perspective and noticed that there apparent positions had shifted...the graviton of the Sun had "bent" the light from those distant stars and made them appear to have shifted. The experiemnt was a confirmation of Einsteins predictions in a paper he wrote on "Gravitational Effects of the Propagation of Light" and later his Theory of General Relativity in which he predicted just such an effect.
Here is a link that will take to a page that has more information on gravitional lensing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lensing
And another that relates some of the history, as well as the mathematics involved:
http://www.mathpages.com/rr/s6-03/6-03.htm
2007-04-29 05:50:24 · answer #1 · answered by dave c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Okay, they do both bend, but if the bending is due to diffracion, then the longer the wavelength, the more it "bends", and radio waves are about a billion times longer than visible light waves!
2007-04-29 05:35:22 · answer #2 · answered by Diana 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Visible light can be bent in a prism or around heavy gravitation objects. Radio waves don't bend, they just propagate in all directions and are easy to spread.
2007-04-29 05:30:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If emitted from a theoretical "point source" (an isotropic radiator), light and radio waves spread out in an identical fashion. Both light and radio waves are electromagnetic radiations, so behave the same for theoretical purposes.
2016-05-21 05:50:30 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
am not sure bat what you mean by bend. Anyway, electromagnetic waves have common properties, but also different ones depending on their frequencies. E.g. light cannot go through walls but radio waves can. etc...
2007-04-29 05:34:46 · answer #5 · answered by Frederic R 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sez who?
Visible light can b bent too using refraction or diffraction
Diffraction allows light to even bend around corners
2007-04-29 05:34:28 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Radio waves have a MUCH longer wavelength so they undergo diffraction more easily.
2007-04-29 05:33:48 · answer #7 · answered by flandargo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋