Is the speed of electromagnetic waves CONSTANT=3*10^8 m/s ? in any medium
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Is the speed of electromagnetic waves CONSTANT=3*10^8 m/s ? in any medium

[From: ] [author: ] [Date: 11-05-12] [Hit: ]
The speed of light 3*10^8 m/s must be multiplied with this factor to get the speed of light in that medium.which is the same as refractive index (normally we come across in connection with light propagating through glass).......
please explain

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No, 3*10^8 m/s is the speed of electromagnetic waves in a vacuum (space).
electromagnetic waves slow significantly in other mediums. For example, the speed of electromagnetic waves in lead is about 116,230,400 meters/second.

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It varies with the medium, albeit slightly.
First, the medium shouldn't be conducting. It can be a dielectric medium whose magnetic and electric (propagation) parameters are the relative permeability 'mu', |u` and relative permittivity, 'epsilon' e` such that the retarding factor is
1/√[|u` e`].
The speed of light 3*10^8 m/s must be multiplied with this factor to get the speed of light in that medium. In practice |u` is al most 1 and so the speed gets retarded by a factor
1/√e`
which is the same as 'refractive index' (normally we come across in connection with light propagating through glass).
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