File talk:Optical Trap Ray Optics Explanation.jpg

This image is wrong: The forces in this image do not match the rays. (a) The rays in the image are the rays of an unfocused laser. But these would create forces *in the direction* of the laser, so the forces would have to be mirrored "upwards" to be correct. (b) The forces would be correct for a focused laser -- but then the rays would have to be focused, too.

So, I draw 2 correct images, which should be used instead of this image: - for unfocused laser: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Optical_trap_unfocused.svg - for focused laser: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Optical_trap_focused.svg

R.koebler (talk) 23:11, 2 May 2011 (UTC)