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  2. Optical force - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_force

    The optical force is a phenomenon whereby beams of light can attract and repel each other. The force acts along an axis which is perpendicular to the light beams. Because of this, parallel beams can be induced to converge or diverge. The optical force works on a microscopic scale, and cannot currently be detected at larger scales.

  3. Foucault's measurements of the speed of light - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foucault's_measurements_of...

    The light path from m to M is entirely through air, while the light path from m to M' is mostly through a water-filled tube T. Lens L' compensates for the effects of the water on the focus. The light reflected back from the spherical mirrors is diverted by beam splitter g towards an eyepiece O .

  4. Optical lift - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_lift

    Optical lift is a component of force imparted from uniform light. First CP1 fabricated flying carpets. The ability of light to apply pressure to objects is known as radiation pressure, which was first postulated in 1619 and proven in 1900. This is the principle behind the solar sail, which uses light radiation pressure to move through space.

  5. Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in air - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fizeau's_measurement_of_the...

    [3] [4] Given the rotational speed of the wheel and the distance between the wheel and the mirror, Fizeau was able to calculate a value of 2 × 8633m × 720 × 25.2/s = 313,274,304 m/s for the speed of light. Fizeau's value for the speed of light was 4.5% too high. [5] The correct value is 299,792,458 m/s.

  6. Speed of light - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_Light

    A method of measuring the speed of light is to measure the time needed for light to travel to a mirror at a known distance and back. This is the working principle behind experiments by Hippolyte Fizeau and Léon Foucault. The setup as used by Fizeau consists of a beam of light directed at a mirror 8 kilometres (5 mi) away. On the way from the ...

  7. Radiation pressure - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pressure

    The backward acting force of pressure exerted on the front surface is thus larger than the force of pressure acting on the back. Hence, as the resultant of the two forces, there remains a force that counteracts the motion of the plate and that increases with the velocity of the plate. We will call this resultant 'radiation friction' in brief."

  8. Fermat's principle - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat's_principle

    Fig. 1: Fermat's principle in the case of refraction of light at a flat surface between (say) air and water. Given an object-point A in the air, and an observation point B in the water, the refraction point P is that which minimizes the time taken by the light to travel the path APB.

  9. Birefringence - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birefringence

    While the best known source of birefringence is the entrance of light into an anisotropic crystal, it can result in otherwise optically isotropic materials in a few ways: Stress birefringence results when a normally isotropic solid is stressed and deformed (i.e., stretched or bent) causing a loss of physical isotropy and consequently a loss of ...