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Abstract

The most apparent properties of metals, their luster and their color, have been pp p ro p known to mankind since metals were known. Because of these properties, y metals were already used in ancient times for mirrors and jewelry. The color was utilized years4000 ears ago by the ancient Chinese as a guide to determine the composition of the melt of copper alloys: the hue of a preliminary cast indicated whether the melt, from which bells or mirrors were to be made, already had the right tin content.

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References

  1. For example, RE. Hummel, Optische Eigenschaften von Metallen und Legierungen, SpringerVerlag, Berlin (1971).

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  2. We use, for the electric field strength, 6 to distinguish it from the energy.

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hummel, R.E. (1993). The Optical Constants. In: Electronic Properties of Materials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02954-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02954-1_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-02956-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-02954-1

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