The tutorial initializes with an electromagnetic wave being generated by the discharging spark

from a virtual capacitor. The spark current oscillates at a frequency characteristic of the circuit,
and the resulting electromagnetic disturbance is propagated with the electric (E) and magnetic (B)
field vectors vibrating perpendicular to each other and to the direction of propagation (Z). The
wavelength emitted by the virtual capacitor discharge can be altered (within the visible light
range) by using the Wavelength slider.

Before discussing the phenomenon of anisotropy further, a basic review of several physical optics
principles, necessary to subsequent discussions, is required. As previously mentioned, visible light
is a form of electromagnetic wave. If a capacitor is charged (Figure 1) and a spark is discharged
through the two electrodes, the current induced by the spark flows down for a short time, slows
down, but because of the inductance of the circuit, flows back upwards, recharging the capacitor
again.

The propagation of an electromagnetic wave, which has been generated by a discharging capacitor
or an oscillating molecular dipole, is illustrated by Figure 1. The spark current oscillates at a
frequency (n), which is a characteristic of the circuit. The electromagnetic disturbance that results
is propagated with the electronic (E) and magnetic (B) vectors vibrating perpendicularly to each
other and also to the direction of propagation (Z). The frequency, n, is determined by the
oscillator, while the wavelength is determined by the oscillation frequency divided by the velocity
of the wave.

As the current oscillates up and down in the spark gap, at the characteristic circuit frequency (n), a
magnetic field is created that oscillates in a horizontal plane. The changing magnetic field, in turn,
induces an electric field so that a series of electrical and magnetic oscillations combine to produce
a formation that propagates as an electromagnetic wave.

The electric field in an electromagnetic wave vibrates with its vectorial force growing stronger and
then weaker, pointing in one direction, and then in the other direction, alternating in a sinusoidal
pattern (Figure 1). At the same frequency, the magnetic field oscillates perpendicular to the
electric field. The electric and magnetic vectors, reflecting the amplitude and the vibration
directions of the two waves, are oriented perpendicular to each other and to the direction of wave
propagation.

The velocity of the resulting electromagnetic wave can be deduced from the relationships defining
the electric and magnetic field interactions. Maxwell's equations prove that velocity equals the
speed of light in a vacuum (c; equal to 300,000 kilometers per second) divided by the square root
of the dielectric constant (x) of the medium times the magnetic permeability (m) of the medium.
Thus,
(1)

For most materials that occur in living cells (some of which are non-conducting), the magnetic
permeability is equal to a value of unity, so that:
(2)

Empirically, the velocity of light is known to be inversely proportional to the refractive index (n) of
the material through which it propagates, therefore:

u = c/n