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Slower than the speed of an electromagnetic wave in a vacuum by about 3 parts in 10,000. The speed of light in any medium is related to the refractive index of that medium. The refractive index of vacuum is 1, the refractive index of air is about 1.0003.

It is noteworthy that the speed of electromagnetic waves in media other than a vacuum depend on their wavelength. In standard air, the speed is c/ns where ns (the refractive index) is given by the dispersion equation below in which σ is equal to one over the vacuum wavelength. It is also interesting that the refractive index is changing over time as more and more carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere.

(ns − 1) × 108 = 8 342.54 + 2 406 147(130 − σ2)−1 + 15 998(38.9 − σ2)−1

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