Explain This To Me

Okay, someone with a higher iq explain this to me.

Take two Photon Microlights. set them on the same strobe setting, Say they were exactly opposite eachother, they will shift back and forth, then come into sequence (blinking together) then shift back out. Any two blinking lights will do this, like road flashers and such. What I want to know, is why? If they're blinking at the same rate, how can they shift ilke that? Shouldn't the time between blinks remain the same? It makes my brain itch! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

they are not blinking at the same rate. it just appears that way for a while because the difference is small.

I have to say watt4's answer is absolutely correct.

No two strobing light sources will have *exactly* the same flash rate, so the phenomenon you described will happen with Photons or any other flashing light sources.

actually, while watt's answer seems plausible, it's not actually what's going on here.

keep in mind that at the speed of light, time slows down.
what is happening here is that the different bins of the leds in your microlights are producing different lumen levels, and one being slightly brighter than the other, the time around it is actually going slower than the dimmer light.
this causes the one light to appear to blink slower than the other, but to the lights themselves, they're blinking at the exact same rate.

what you see is 2 seperate and slightly different time-vortex's surrounding your photons, and as an outside observer you are able to notice the difference.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

While I like Rothrandir's explanation, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif the difference is caused by component tolerances. As they said above, the difference iss mall so it's not noticeable at first but eventually one "passes" the other one and it then becomes obvious.

All electronic components have small differences in their manufacture, even when they're built to the identical specs on the identical machine on the same day. Small inperfections at the molecular level will always cause one resistor to be a little higher than the other, for instance, and with these differences it affects the time constants of the circuit.

I say horse hockey on the timeflex explanation. Bright light is not faster than dim light. Ergo, the rate at which time passes, from either the perspective of the light or the observer, is not different.

I think that two "identical" lights will flash at different rates because they are not really identical.

Disclaimer: I have no idea what I'm talking about! But I'm not too concerned about it, because I don't think the greatest minds in science do either. JMO. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

best regards

I'm pretty sure it has to do with the specific LED's resistance to the "Original Dark Sucker Theory" !

If one LEDs resistance is higher to the "dark sucking process", then of course it would appear to flash dimmer and slower because it's working harder. ("additional dark theory information")

The brighter & faster LED is that way of course because of it's lower resistance to the "dark sucking force".

Maybe I have these backwards? Maybe it's the "light sucking theory" and thus my resistance statements would not be backwards but instead forwards. Now don't get confused with "forward bias" vs. "reverse bias". There may be a "zener effect" here at work as well? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

History of the "dark sucker theory" "here".

So its kind of a common denominator thing? Not exactly the same, but at times they're so close it looks the same, and the difference starts to add up again, moving the blinks further and further apart, until they seem the same again...

Something to think about - your eyes/brain react quicker to bright light than dim light. This is what makes it possible for the Pulfrich effect to work, which works by placing a grey ND filter in front of one eye to reduce the intensity delivered to that eye, producing a perceived delay and 3-D effect.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

EASY to verify /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Take 2 leds and flash them from the same circuit facing each other, even a dim one and a bright one. You'll see them perfectly in sync.

Take 2 running off different circuits and they will always be a little different.

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PhotonWrangler said:
Something to think about - your eyes/brain react quicker to bright light than dim light. This is what makes it possible for the Pulfrich effect to work, which works by placing a grey ND filter in front of one eye to reduce the intensity delivered to that eye, producing a perceived delay and 3-D effect.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

That was a really cool applet!

It happens with car signal (indicator) lights as well. Watch the blinking signal on the cars ahead of you and yours. You'll notice the same phenomenon too.

This reminds me of the "Assuming identical bulbs" line in a physics question. Seems to me this is what you're seeing here ~ if you look at two cars of the same make and model, you'll see the change of flash rate in their blinkers. It would make sense to think that two identical circuits would do the same thing, but making identical circuits doesn't seem very realistic to me. .

If electronic components were perfect and tolerance issues and thermal effects didn't exist, we'd have no need for things like Cesium and Rubidium frequency standards, sync pulse generators, crystal oscillators, etc...