Level 98 πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦Jul 21, 2023

#ITeachPhysics

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 πŸ˜€, an important question for #PhysicsFriday is:

By which colour do you think the electric wave should be represented?

#Physics

Red
36.4%
Blue
63.6%
Poll ended at .
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Jul 21, 2023
@level98 "Other". Specifically, well labelled axes, then the can both be black. Saves a fortune in animation cycles. But beyond that, any two contrasting colours, standardising them can only lead to misconceptions (red/blue is high school magnetic poles, red black is DC +/-)
Normalise ignoring the colours and looking at the graph. Or just pick two random colours.
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Jul 22, 2023
@level98 Althou I hadn't seen your colour blindness argument when I replied. Yeah, random colours doesn't work. Random pair of suitably high colour/contrast pairs?
Show threadLevel 98 πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦
@_thegeoff Yes. This is really a jokey poll based on what most people do. My response is: design for black and white (as mentioned/discussed in my other posts) add colour afterward... but like you say, check what else is out there / commonly used and try not to, at least, confuse with your choice of colour.
Jul 22, 2023 at 12:22amTusky
Show threadLevel 98 πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦Jul 22, 2023
@_thegeoff With the important additional point (see other posts) of getting the relative orientation of the E and B fields correct!