In each of the following situations, a wave passes through an opening in an absorbing wall. Rank the situations in order from the one in which the wave is best described by the ray approximation to the one in which the wave coming through the opening spreads out most nearly equally in all directions in the hemisphere beyond the wall. (a) The sound of a low whistle at 1 kHz passes through a doorway 1 m wide. (b) Red light passes through the pupil of your eye. (c) Blue light passes through the pupil of your eye. (d) The wave broadcast by an AM radio station passes through a doorway 1 m wide. (e) An x-ray passes through the space between bones in your elbow joint.
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Textbook Solutions for Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics
Question
Review. A mirror is often silvered with aluminum. By adjusting the thickness of the metallic film, one can make a sheet of glass into a mirror that reflects anything between 3% and 98% of the incident light, transmitting the rest. Prove that it is impossible to construct a one-way mirror that would reflect 90% of the electromagnetic waves incident from one side and reflect 10% of those incident from the other side. Suggestion: Use Clausiuss statement of the second law of thermodynamics.
Solution
The first step in solving 35 problem number 64 trying to solve the problem we have to refer to the textbook question: Review. A mirror is often silvered with aluminum. By adjusting the thickness of the metallic film, one can make a sheet of glass into a mirror that reflects anything between 3% and 98% of the incident light, transmitting the rest. Prove that it is impossible to construct a one-way mirror that would reflect 90% of the electromagnetic waves incident from one side and reflect 10% of those incident from the other side. Suggestion: Use Clausiuss statement of the second law of thermodynamics.
From the textbook chapter The Nature of Light and the Principles of Ray Optics you will find a few key concepts needed to solve this.
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