Somewhere Within the Rainbow (UMAP)
Author: Steven Janke
This module uses Fermat's least-time principle for the path of light to derive the laws of reflection and refraction, and then analyzes the passage of light through a raindrop to explain quantitatively the phenonmenon of the rainbow. An appendix is included, which treats diffraction theory.
Table of Contents:
THE PROBLEM: EXPLAINING THE RAINBOW
SOME EARLY HISTORY
REFLECTION
REFRACTION
THE RAINBOW ANGLE
COLORS
THE SECONDARY BOW
FURTHER DIRECTIONS
APPENDIX
The Wave Nature of Light
The Diffraction Theory of the Rainbow
SOLUTIONS TO THE EXERCISES
REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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