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- Understanding Equations in Physics: Maxwell's Transformation and Communication Through Electromagnetic Waves
Understanding Equations in Physics: Maxwell's Transformation and Communication Through Electromagnetic Waves
Explore the significance of equations in physics through Maxwell's transformation of Faraday's observations, leading to the communication breakthrough of using electromagnetic waves as messengers at the speed of light.
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Video Transcript
An equation in physics is just a shorthand description of something that can be represented
in space and time.
For instance, the equation that describes the arc of a pendulum shows that it can never
swing higher than its initial height.
When Maxwell translated Faraday's experimental observations on electromagnetic fields into
equations, he discovered an asymmetry.
See that bottom one?
It cries out for something else.
A great mathematician that he was, Maxwell added a single turn to balance it.
This tweaking of the equation changed Faraday's static field into waves that spread outward
at the speed of light.
It wasn't long before we found a way to turn those waves.
into couriers for our messages.
Can you see me?
Can you hear me?
This is how.
This technology has transformed human civilization
from a patchwork of cities, towns, and villages
into an intercommunicating organism,
linking us at light speed to each other.
for the cosmos.
Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature.
