Complementary experiments: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:43, 11 November 2010

Revision as of 09:57, 29 January 2012

Line 3:

In [[physics]], two experimental techniques are often called '''complementary''' if they investigate the same subject in two different ways such that two different (ideally non-overlapping) properties or aspects can be investigated. For example, [[X-ray scattering]] and [[neutron scattering]] experiments are often said to be complementary because the former reveals information about the [[electron]] density of the [[atoms]] in the target but gives no information about the [[atomic nucleus|nuclei]] (because they are too small to affect the X-rays significantly), while the latter allows you to investigate the nuclei of the atoms but cannot tell you anything about their electron hulls (because the [[neutron]]s, being neutral, do not interact with the [[electric charge|charged]] electrons).

[[Scattering]] experiments are sometimes also called '''complementary''' when they investigate the same physical property of a system from two [[complementarity (physics)|complementary]] view points in the sense of [[Niels Bohr|Bohr]]. For example, time-resolved and energy-resolved experiments are said to be complementary. The former uses a pulse which is well defined in time (its position is well known at a given time). The latter uses a [[monochromatic]] pulse well defined in energy (its frequency is well known).

==See also==

*[[complement]]

[[Category:Experimental physics]]

{{physics-stub}}

[[Category:Experimental physics]]