Timeline for Why does the 1/r² term appear with point sources?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Oct 5, 2016 at 22:57 | comment | added | Nathan Reed | @PeteUK it comes about because you're projecting a light source that's a distance $r$ away onto the unit sphere. (The solid angle is equivalent to area on a unit sphere.) So, distances get divided by $r$. If that doesn't help, I can draw a diagram. | |
| Oct 5, 2016 at 21:22 | comment | added | PeteUK | I'd really like to absorb this answer but I'm getting stuck on the bit about approximating the solid angle as an area of circle of radius $r_\text{light}/r$ using similar triangles. I don't get the denominator, and I can't see how similar triangles come into play. Any help appreciated. | |
| May 11, 2016 at 18:04 | history | edited | Nathan Reed | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 11, 2016 at 17:49 | history | answered | Nathan Reed | CC BY-SA 3.0 |