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Effects of Matter
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feebler and feebler. But there is the difference between the two views on the fundamental point that sound is accepted as the quality of Ākāśa in the Nyāya-Vaiśesika Philosophy, while it is conceived as the manifestation of Matter in Jaina metaphysics.
The Jaina theory of wave of sound and its propagation is well supported by modern physics. It is explained that “sound waves, of course, exhibit the properties of reflection, refraction, and diffraction characteristic of all forms of wave motion. Such behaviour of sound waves may be rendered visible by the method of spark photography. The waves passing before the photographic plate are illuminated for a brief interval by a timed electric spark. The slight increase in density in the condensation in the wave front causes some refraction of the eight and thus produces a shadow in the photograph."?
"If a train of waves is filling a medium, a surface connecting at a given instant all particles which are in the same phase of vibration constitutes a wave front. In the case of sound waves in air, the vibrating source being quite small, such a surface will be spherical; and if the distance from the source is large, a small portion of this spherical wave front may be considered as a plane wave. If the medium is homogeneous and isotropic, the direction of propagation is always at right angles to the wave front."9
“The behaviour of the wave fronts as a uniform medium, bends around obstacles (diffraction), rebounds from a surface (reflection), or changes direction when entering a new medium (refraction) may be predicted by using a simple, method first proposed by Huygens (1629-1695), a contemporary of Newton."9 According to his principles, "every point on a wave
1. Physics-Principles and Applications Margenau, Watson
and Montgomery, 38, 1, p. 560. 2. Physics--Principles and Application, p. 552. 3. Ibid.
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