Rayleigh Effect: Difference between revisions
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''I'' = resulting intensity of scattered light | ''I'' = resulting intensity of scattered light | ||
''I''<sub>0</sub> = intensity of incident light | ''I''<sub>0</sub> = intensity of incident light | ||
''α'' = molecular polarizability | ''α'' = molecular polarizability | ||
''λ'' = wavelength of the light | ''λ'' = wavelength of the light | ||
''θ'' = the scattering angle | ''θ'' = the scattering angle | ||
Revision as of 13:49, 5 December 2015
Rayleigh scattering, named after the British physicist Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt),is the (dominantly) elastic scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation.
The Main Idea
When light strikes small particles, it bounces off in a different direction in a process called scattering. Rayleigh scattering is the scattering that occurs when the particles are smaller than the wavelength of the light. This is the dispersion of electromagnetic radiation by particles that have a radius less than approximately 1/10 the wavelength of the radiation. The particles may be individual atoms or molecules. It can occur when light travels through transparent solids and liquids, but is most prominently seen in gases. Rayleigh scattering results from the electric polarizability of the particles. The oscillating electric field of a light wave acts on the charges within a particle, causing them to move at the same frequency. The particle therefore becomes a small radiating dipole whose radiation we see as scattered light.
A Mathematical Model
Lord Rayleigh calculated the scattered intensity from dipole scatterers much smaller than the wavelength to be:
- [math]\displaystyle{ I = I_0 \frac{8\pi^4\alpha^2}{\lambda^4 R^2}(1+\cos^2\theta). }[/math]
I = resulting intensity of scattered light
I0 = intensity of incident light
α = molecular polarizability
λ = wavelength of the light
θ = the scattering angle
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