Teaching "light as a wave" this week reminded me that most diagrams of electromagnetic (EM) waves use red & blue to distinguish between the electric & magnetic waves.
However, a quick search reveals whether the electric wave is red or blue (and hence the mag wave is the other colour) confirms there's disagreement. So, clearly ๐, an important question for #PhysicsFriday is:
By which colour do you think the electric wave should be represented?
Official music video for 'Electric Blue' taken from WHITE HEAT: 30 HITS out now! (c) Diva Records Pty Ltd
@MichaelPorter Second time's the charm! ๐
Great song. Great band. Great Australian music.
@heafnerj It's a really important point for teaching, textbooks etc.
Although (as you know) color-blind (or the correct spelling, colour-blind ๐ ) generally doesn't mean one can't distinguish colours at all, but means certain colours are difficult to distinguish.
There are websites that provide advice on the most effective colour palettes to use so color-blind people can distinguish the colours but given there are many forms of color-blindness.
1/2
@heafnerj IMO one of the best things to do is ensure that colour is not the only distinguishing factor in any diagram etc.
E.g. make the electric field vectors dashed lines, and the mag field vectors solid.
A good strategy (that covers a range of possibilities e.g. someone printing in black and white) can be to assume any teaching material is to be presented in black and white, and then add colour simply as an additional feature for those who are able to use it. 2/2
@heafnerj I've seen it used in an exam question, which had to use it (because the exam was printed in black and white), so I can't claim the idea as my own. But while I don't specifically remember seeing it in a textbook, it's also possible/likely there is one that has used it.
I think the idea of always initially designing for black and white, is key.
@level98 @heafnerj When Iโve got the time during diagram creation, I give different vector quantities different arrowhead styles and ideally different line weights, as well as the color or greyscale differences.
โDashedโ is nice but not always practical. If the arrows are sometimes very short, dashing them doesnโt work well. X/dot arrows normal to the page are not really dashable either.
Level 98 ๐บ๐ฆ
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