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Image: Refraction of Hertzian waves by paraffin prism

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Description: Early microwave spectroscopy experiment by John Ambrose Fleming in 1897, repeating historic experiment done by Heinrich Hertz around 1888. A spark gap transmitter A powered by an induction coil I generates a beam of microwave radio waves, which is refracted through an angle by the solid paraffin prism P and detected by the coherer receiver B. This demonstrates that radio waves experience refraction like light waves. By measuring the angle at which the beam is bent the refractive index of paraffin for microwaves can be determined.
Title: Refraction of Hertzian waves by paraffin prism
Credit: Downloaded May 5, 2013 from John Ambrose Fleming (1916) The Principles of Electric Wave Telegraphy and Telephony, 3rd Ed., Longmans, Green, & Co., London, p. 413, fig. 9 on Google Books
Author: John Ambrose Fleming
Permission: Public domain - Published in US prior to 1923
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No

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