If you mix two colored light rays (electromagnetic waves), you get a different color. So if one mixes two frequencies, one gets a third (probably higher) frequency. Now my question is: can I mix a light beam (electromagnetic wave) and a radio signal (electromagnetic wave), then would it be possible, for example, to make infrared light visible?
Asker: martin, age 62
Answer
If you mix two rays of light of different frequency, you will not get a new third frequency. Our eye perceives that as a different color, but it does consist of the two original frequencies.
Compare it to a musical instrument. The ‘tone’ we hear consists of the different frequencies (root + harmonics) that the instrument can produce. But it’s not a clean tone.
Answered by
Prof Walter Lauriks
Physics Acoustics
Catholic University of Leuven
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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