How is the frequency of light measured?

[claforet]

Hello,

 

I have a question about the measurement of light speed and frequency. How are these physically measured? In particular, when we say the speed of light is constant, are we saying that the front tip of the wave always arrives at the same time or the end of the wave? I ask because it must take less time to resolve the frequency of a gamma ray, relative to a very long radio wave (i.e. the measurement of the frequency cannot be instantaneous). So the speed of information (which is frequency dependant) must not be constant (assuming one wavelength of any frequency corresponds to one unit of information). I'm just curious about the specifics of measurement and calculation.

 

Thanks

[mathematic]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray_spectrometer

 

The above may help.

[claforet]

http://en.wikipedia....ay_spectrometer

 

The above may help.

 

Thanks.

[swansont]

So the speed of information (which is frequency dependant) must not be constant (assuming one wavelength of any frequency corresponds to one unit of information).

 

That's bandwidth, not speed.

[derek w]

I have a question.

If I throw a ball against a wall it would bounce back to me.

if I throw a ball that is spinning at 100 revs/min against a wall it would bounce back at an angle.

if I throw a ball that is spinning at 1000 revs/min against a wall it would bounce back at a higher angle.

 

My question is how does the diffraction of light work.

Is the frequency of light a rate of spin?

 

 

[swansont]

My question is how does the diffraction of light work.

Is the frequency of light a rate of spin?

 

No.

[derek w]

Would polarized light be a 2 dimensional wave function?

[John Cuthber]

Would polarized light be a 2 dimensional wave function?

No, classically, the electrical field and the magnetic field are both at right angles to each other and to the direction of propagation of the light.