How fast is the rotor of a Helicopter

Tuesday, 16.02.2010

With an exposure time of 1/100s and a roto diameter of 11m one estimates about 220m/s for the speed of the blade tips.

One often reads again that the blade tip of a helicopter reaches supersonic speed (over 340m /s). In hover, this is not the case for this helicopter. The helicopter, Eurocopter BK117-C1 has a rotor diameter of 11m. During the exposure time of 1/100s the tips moved about 2.2 meters. The rotor moves at approximately 220m /s and turns nearly 7 times per second.

Defraction limit using a digital camera

Tuesday, 24.11.2009

The resolution of a lens is limited due to diffraction in dependence of the aperature.

Die Auflösung eines Objektivs ist beubungsbegrenzt von der Blende abhängig.

In the picture you can see small sections (about 100 pixels wide) of a photograph that was taken with a 50mm lens from a distance of 5m from a laptop screen. We see significant uncertainty in the larger aperture numbers (22). The lower quality in Aperture 1.8 is due to other aberrations.

Due to the diffraction limit the diameter of a pixel is d = 2.44 · ? · B, where F-number B and the wavelength ? determined. With a typical value of ? = 555nm we obtain d = B · 1.3?m. The typical pixel size of today's digital SLR cameras is about 5?m, so that we reached at f / 4, the theoretical limit. Digital Cameras have in some cases significantly smaller pixel sizes because they work with smaller image sensors.

Polarized light in nature

Wednesday, 14.10.2009
Es ist mehr Licht polarisiert, als man denkt

There is more polarized light than you think

The 20 regular readers are probably a little tired of the polarization, but the big difference between horizontally and vertically polarized light at a normal view I was not aware of. The sun was low, and about 90 degrees to the left of the view direction. The sunlight is therefore scattered in the mist by approximately 90 degrees. In this case, the polarization can only be perpendicular to the direction of incidence and outgoing beam. Therefore in the picture it is almost vertically. Both images were taken with the same aperture and shutter speed. To get an idea of where polarized light appears in the picture, I have determined the difference with the GIMP. In the fine structures in the tree, the leaves probably did not stay exactly in the same place. The brightness at this positions are probably artifacts.

Hier ist der Unterschied zwischen vertikal und horizontal polarisiertem Licht abgebildet

Here the difference between vertically and horizontally polarized light is shown

In landscape photography you should always have a polarizing filter it.

3D glasses contain a lot of physics

Thursday, 1.10.2009
In der "falschen" Richtung sieht man (auf dem LCD Display), dass die 3D Brillen linear polarisiert sind.

Used in the wrong direction the 3D eyeglasses blocks linear polarized light of the LCD display.

Modern 3D eyeglasses consists of circular polarisation filters. These filters have on the one side a normal linear polarisation filter and on the other side a ?/4 plate. Therefore both glasses of the eyeglasses behave in linear polarized light LCD of the screen directly, if the side with the linear polarisation filter shows toward the screen. For a 3D effect the eyeglasses would not be suitable, since here each eye has to see another picture. In the next picture the eyeglasses held at the large horse produce circular polarized light, both glasses in different direction of rotation. The light of the lower eyeglass lens is blocked due to the front eyeglasses and let through that of the upper eyeglass lens.

Die Brille wird im 3D Kino zirkular polarisiert verwendet.

The glasses for 3D cinema use circular polaized light.

Polarisation of a LCD display

Monday, 14.09.2009

Foto with polarisation filter

Foto with polarisation filter


Foto of a LCD display using a polarisation filter. By putting a transparent paper on top of the screen, the polarisation is broken and the display can be seen. Parts without transparent paper are dark due to the polarisation filter.

Luminescence of envelopes

Sunday, 13.09.2009
Opening of an envelope with liminescence

Opening of an envelope with liminescence

The splice of an envelope is lightning due to luminescence. The foto was exposed 0.1s and the envelope was lying at the table during the other site of the splice beeing moved up.