Thread: Light

If we treat light as a wave. Sin(nx)

do we say white light consists of many functions where n can be an element of Real positive numbers?

or are they intergers?

Originally Posted by Charbel

If we treat light as a wave. Sin(nx)

do we say white light consists of many functions where n can be an element of Real positive numbers?

or are they intergers?

White light at a point is a combination of many terms of the form , but the frequencies can be any real number (that is we have a continuous spectrum).

A casual observer cannot tell the difference between a continuous and discrete spectrum because of the way that the eye works, so what you think is white light need not have a continuous spectrum

RonL