Electric and Magnetic Field Imaging Device

Thread Starter

amilton542

Joined Nov 13, 2010
497
This is a bit of an oddball question but why can't we "see" electric and magnetic fields? I don't mean with our eyes alone, of course, but with a device of some sort. I've always wanted to be able to see these fields for "real" and not some iron filing or grass seeds job. Has anybody ever tried do you know?
 

Alec_t

Joined Sep 17, 2013
14,263
You could perhaps hack a document scanner, using a Hall sensor as the scan head for 'viewing' magnetic fields, or an electrode as the scan head for viewing electric fields.
 

BR-549

Joined Sep 22, 2013
4,928
I don't know of a way to see an electric field. Perhaps in the future with a properly constructed nano-dust.
However, you can get somewhat of the idea of a magnetic field...........Youtube ferrofluids.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I am entirely in favor of a method to make magnetic fields visible. While you're at it, make something for RF and microwaves. These things would make all kinds of design work easier!
 

Thread Starter

amilton542

Joined Nov 13, 2010
497
Are you saying that the photonic heterodyne technique they used is bogus and the video of the 100-ghz RF waves are a scam?
All I know is my bullsh*t radar is on red alert. Are you an expert in these techniques then or did you search "Google" after reading my post? I thought so. Unfortunately, yes, I find internet articles a bit bogus. I refer to concrete evidence I could typically find in an industry standard reference book.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
12,996
All I know is my bullsh*t radar is on red alert. Are you an expert in these techniques then or did you search "Google" after reading my post? I thought so. Unfortunately, yes, I find internet articles a bit bogus. I refer to concrete evidence I could typically find in an industry standard reference book.
I read this article about imaging RF waves years ago when it first was released. I had to do a Google search to find it again because I'm a old guy with a full brain who does work in the field of applied physics.
This is not an 'internet' article. http://www.opticsinfobase.org/
Optics InfoBase is the largest peer-reviewed collection of optics and photonics
Turn off your radar.
 
Last edited:

BR-549

Joined Sep 22, 2013
4,928
I never turn off my radar.

Those two short mov. clips are just classic interference patterns. You can get any pattern you want by just changing your point of view.

This is used a lot as evidence of modern theories.

These patterns are almost always mis-interpolated......slits for example.

Some are dazzled.

And remember...they show how they interfere and not how they normally act.

I guess it will come down to how many dimensions electrical force is or occupies.

We might not ever be able to see an electric field.......only to see where it occupies, but not the field itself.

I would really like to see one, non interfered with, electric field.

Seeing is understanding.
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,342
Hi,

I dont think you can see a magnetic field or electric field in its entirety. That's because it is a three dimensional thing where the inside has properties that vary as well as the outside.

For example, when we look at a closed cardboard box we see the outside only, we cant see what is inside, because the inside is blocked from view by the properties that exist on the outside surface. We see the surfaces only because the surface properties themselves constitute a third dimension and that's all that we can really deal with.
As the box is opened, we can see the bottom and sides on the inside, but only if there is nothing in the box. If it is filled with ping pong balls when we can see only the upper layers of balls not the ones near the bottom. To see all the balls at the same time we would need to be able to somehow live in the fourth dimension.

To see these inside layers in our world as we know it we'd have to do a layer by layer scan, and that would give us a set of images that we can analyze. I am not sure if you can do the same with a magnetic field though unless you can find something that can probe a field without disturbing it. A sensor would have to be moved around in a 3d field to be able to measure all the points and that would require some mechanical means. Alternately, a 3d grid of sensors that can be inserted into the field without disturbing it, which i am not sure is possible unless we use really low level sensors or the field is strong relative to the sensor perturbation effect.

To measure a 2d field however is an entirely different story. You can do an electric field with a voltmeter and take many readings and draw a relief map for example. I think the classic example is to use a shallow tub of semi conductive water and measure from some reference point to various points near the surface of the water and record each reading.
 

jamesd168

Joined Nov 8, 2014
21
you have to consider the time domain of the electromagnetic field. if you are talking about static magnetic field, you can easily see it is iron fillings. if you wan to see the electrical field, you can check some pictures people take with elementary particles in cloud chamber. if you are wanting to see the field of electromagnetic field that's rapidly changing, like the radio waves, microwaves, or light waves, then it's nearly impossible unless you build special equipment. However, interference pictures can be considered as a way of showing the field.
 

Thread Starter

amilton542

Joined Nov 13, 2010
497
If you are talking about static magnetic field, you can easily see it is iron fillings. If you wan to see the electrical field, you can check some pictures people take with elementary particles in cloud chamber.
The dual of iron filings and a static magnetic field is grass seeds and a static electric field.

If you are wanting to see the field of electromagnetic field that's rapidly changing, like the radio waves, microwaves, or light waves, then it's nearly impossible unless you build special equipment. However, interference pictures can be considered as a way of showing the field.
The goal of my thread was to consider unheard of special equipment. I live in a world where never say never.
 
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