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For example, for visible light, the refractive index of glass is typically around 1.5, meaning that light in glass travels at c / 1.5 ≈ 200 000 km/s (124 000 mi/s); the refractive index of air for visible light is about 1.0003, so the speed of light in air is about 90 km/s (56 mi/s) slower than c.
In the case of electromagnetic radiation—such as light—in free space, the phase speed is the speed of light, about 3 × 10 8 m/s. Thus the wavelength of a 100 MHz electromagnetic (radio) wave is about: 3 × 10 8 m/s divided by 10 8 Hz = 3 m.
is the speed of light (i.e. phase velocity) in a medium with permeability μ, and permittivity ε, and ∇ 2 is the Laplace operator. In a vacuum, v ph = c 0 = 299 792 458 m/s, a fundamental physical constant. [1] The electromagnetic wave equation derives from Maxwell's equations.
The equations simplify slightly when a system of quantities is chosen in the speed of light, c, is used for nondimensionalization, so that, for example, seconds and lightseconds are interchangeable, and c = 1. Further changes are possible by absorbing factors of 4π.
This equation is known as the Planck relation. Additionally, using equation f = c/λ, = where E is the photon's energy; λ is the photon's wavelength; c is the speed of light in vacuum; h is the Planck constant; The photon energy at 1 Hz is equal to 6.626 070 15 × 10 −34 J, which is equal to 4.135 667 697 × 10 −15 eV.
The refractive index, , can be seen as the factor by which the speed and the wavelength of the radiation are reduced with respect to their vacuum values: the speed of light in a medium is v = c/n, and similarly the wavelength in that medium is λ = λ 0 /n, where λ 0 is the wavelength of that
This startling coincidence in value led Maxwell to make the inference that light itself is a type of electromagnetic wave. Maxwell's equations predicted an infinite range of frequencies of electromagnetic waves, all traveling at the speed of light. This was the first indication of the existence of the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
The speed of light could then be expressed exactly as c 0 = 299 792 458 m/s, a standard also adopted by the IERS numerical standards. [19] From this definition and the 2009 IAU standard, the time for light to traverse an astronomical unit is found to be τ A = 499.004 783 8061 ± 0.000 000 01 s , which is slightly more than 8 minutes 19 seconds.