Related Concept Videos

Emission Spectra02:39

Emission Spectra

When solids, liquids, or condensed gases are heated sufficiently, they radiate some of the excess energy as light. Photons produced in this manner have a range of energies, and thereby produce a continuous spectrum in which an unbroken series of wavelengths is present.
Mass Spectrum01:23

Mass Spectrum

A mass spectrum is the graphical representation of the relative abundance of the charged fragments in an analyte plotted against their mass-to-charge ratio (m/z). The plot's x-axis represents the ratio of the mass of the charged fragment to the number of charges it carries. The y axis of the plot represents the relative abundance of each charged species. The relative abundance is calculated from the signal intensity of each charged species recorded at the detector. The most intense signal (the...
Plane Electromagnetic Waves I01:30

Plane Electromagnetic Waves I

The existence of combined electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space as electromagnetic (EM) waves is the most significant prediction of Maxwell's equations. As Maxwell's equations hold in free space, the predicted electromagnetic waves do not require a medium for their propagation. An EM wave comprises an electric field, defined as the force per charge on a stationary charge, and a magnetic field, which is the force per charge on a moving charge.
The EM field is assumed to be a...
Momentum And Radiation Pressure01:20

Momentum And Radiation Pressure

An object absorbing an electromagnetic wave would experience a force in the direction of propagation of the wave. This force occurs because electromagnetic waves contain and transport momentum. The force accounts for the wave's radiation pressure exerted on the object. Maxwell's prediction was confirmed in 1903 by Nichols and Hull by precisely measuring radiation pressures with a torsion balance. The measuring instrument had mirrors suspended from a fiber kept inside a glass container. Nichols...
Electromagnetic Wave Equation01:24

Electromagnetic Wave Equation

Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic fields are related to source charges, either static or moving. These fields act on a test charge, whose trajectory can thus be determined using suitable boundary conditions. The objective of electromagnetism is thus theoretically complete.
However, although electric and magnetic fields were first introduced as mathematical constructs to simplify the description of mutual forces between charges, a natural question emerges from Maxwell's equations: What...
Gravitation Between Spherically Symmetric Masses01:14

Gravitation Between Spherically Symmetric Masses

The gravitational potential energy between two spherically symmetric bodies can be calculated from the masses and the distance between the bodies, assuming that the center of mass is concentrated at the respective centers of the bodies.