johann Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 I would like to know what happens to light as it focuses through a lens. If the example of looking at a blue star through a telescope is taken. Would it be correct to say all of the following? The density of the photons increases The frequency remains the same The amplitude of the light increases Thanks in advance for answering my questions regards Johann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Yes, that would be correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonstar57 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 the density of the individual photons would remain the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted September 1, 2010 Share Posted September 1, 2010 the density of the individual photons would remain the same ? The photons will be concentrated. What is "density of an individual photon" supposed to mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonstar57 Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) ? The photons will be concentrated. What is "density of an individual photon" supposed to mean? a photon is a particle no? the individual particles remain the same. just because there closer together, doesn't change the individual photons. the overall density goes up but not the density of the individual photons. Edited October 7, 2010 by cipher510 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkenlighten Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 I think saying the density of photons increases is misleading or just incorrect. The intensity increases, which is possibly what you guys mean. In a particle model the energy of each photon stays the same, but the amount coming in increases. In a wave model, the amplitude increases (constructive interference) and the frequency stays the same. That's the way I see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaynos Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Photons/unit area increases. I don't think it makes much sense to talk about an individual photon having a density though... even trying to give them a tokenistic size is hard enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonstar57 Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Photons/unit area increases. I don't think it makes much sense to talk about an individual photon having a density though... even trying to give them a tokenistic size is hard enough. but they must have density right? even if its hard to figure out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 but they must have density right? even if its hard to figure out? An individual photon does not have a density. You can talk about the density of an ensemble of photons; that would be a number density. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 but they must have density right? even if its hard to figure out? Density is mass per unit volume, and photons have no mass. At least in the classical sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Skeptic Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 How about an energy density then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaynos Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/27337-does-a-photon-have-physical-volume-or-geometrical-size/ Volume is a bugger when it comes to photons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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