What was Maxwell’s concept of light?

1.	What was Maxwell’s concept of light?
Answer» In 1865, James Clerk Maxwell developed a mathematical theory on the intimate relationship between electricity and magnetism. His theory predicted light to be a high-frequency transverse electromagnetic wave in ether. Electric and magnetic fields in the wave vary periodically in space and time at right angles to each other and to the direction of propagation of the wave. The speed of the electromagnetic waves in a medium, as calculated on the basis of Maxwell’s theory, was experimentally found to be equal to the measured speed of light in that medium. Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory of light, with addition by others till 1896, could account for all the known phenomena regarding the propagation (or transmission) of light through space and through matter.

Answer»

In 1865, James Clerk Maxwell developed a mathematical theory on the intimate relationship between electricity and magnetism. His theory predicted light to be a high-frequency transverse electromagnetic wave in ether. Electric and magnetic fields in the wave vary periodically in space and time at right angles to each other and to the direction of propagation of the wave.

The speed of the electromagnetic waves in a medium, as calculated on the basis of Maxwell’s theory, was experimentally found to be equal to the measured speed of light in that medium. Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory of light, with addition by others till 1896, could account for all the known phenomena regarding the propagation (or transmission) of light through space and through matter.

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