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Physics Notes

This document discusses the characteristics and behavior of light. It explains that light is an electromagnetic wave that can be described as both a particle and a wave. The visible spectrum includes colors like red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Light travels at the speed of about 3x10^8 m/s. Mirrors reflect light according to the law of reflection, where the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. Flat mirrors form virtual images that are the same size and distance behind the mirror as the object.

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Mariam Al Qubaisi
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59 views17 pages

Physics Notes

This document discusses the characteristics and behavior of light. It explains that light is an electromagnetic wave that can be described as both a particle and a wave. The visible spectrum includes colors like red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Light travels at the speed of about 3x10^8 m/s. Mirrors reflect light according to the law of reflection, where the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. Flat mirrors form virtual images that are the same size and distance behind the mirror as the object.

Uploaded by

Mariam Al Qubaisi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Characteristics of Light

Section 1

 What your eyes recognize as “white” light is actually light that can be separated into six
elementary colors of the visible spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
 The spectrum includes more than visible light
 Not all light is visible to the human eye
 electromagnetic wave is a wave that consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields, which
radiate outward from the source at the speed of light
 Light has been described as a particle, and as a wave, or a combination of two
 Electromagnetic waves vary depending on frequency and wavelength
 In electromagnetic wave theory, light is considered to be a wave com- posed of oscillating
electric and magnetic fields. These fields are perpendicular to the direction in which the wave
moves
 electromagnetic waves are transverse waves
 Electromagnetic waves are distinguished by their different frequencies and wavelengths
 All electromagnetic waves move at the speed of light
 All forms of electromagnetic radiation travel at a single high speed in a vacuum.
 The currently accepted value for light traveling in a vacuum is 2.997 924 58 x 108 m/s.
 Light travels slightly slower in air, with a speed of 2.997 09 x 108 m/s
 the value used for both situations will be 3.00 x 108 m/s.
 WAVE SPEED EQUATION
t
c = fl (the abnormal t)
speed of light = frequency = wavelength
c f

 Waves can be approximated as rays


 line of particles forms a low-lying trough in the wave, and another line of particles forms the
crest of a second wave. these lines of particles are called wave fronts.
 Each of these point sources produces a circular or spherical secondary wave, or wavelet.
 The line that is tangent to each of these wavelets determines the new position of the initial
wave front. This approach to analyzing waves is called Huygens’ principle,
 Huygens’ principle can be used to derive the properties of any wave (including light) that
interacts with matter, but the same results can be obtained by treating the propagating wave as
a straight line perpendicular to the wave front. This line is called a ray, and this simplification
is called the ray approximation.
 Illuminance decreases as the square of the distance from the source
 The rate at which light is emitted from a source is called the luminous flux and is measured in
lumens (lm).
 Luminous flux is a measure of power output but is weighted to take into account the response
of the human eye to light.
 A point source of light provides light equally in all directions.
 The principle of conservation of energy tells us that the luminous flux i0s the same on each
sphere. The luminous flux divided by the area of the surface.
Flat Mirrors
SECTION 2 section 2

 Light traveling through a uniform substance, whether it is air, water, or a vacuum,


always travels in a straight line. However, when the light encounters a different
substance, its path will change.
 Reflection: the change in direction of an electromagnetic wave at a surface that causes
it to move away from the surface.
 All substances absorb at least some incoming light and reflect the rest.
 The texture of a surface affects how it reflects light
 The manner in which light is reflected from a surface depends on the surface’s
smoothness.
 diffuse reflection is Light that is reflected from a rough textured surface is reflected in
many different directions
 specular reflection is light reflected from smooth, shiny surfaces is reflected in one
direction only. A surface is considered smooth if its surface variations are small
compared with the wavelength of the incoming light.
 Incoming and reflected angles are equal
 Angle of incidence is the angle between a ray that strikes a surface and the line
perpendicular to that surface at the point of contact.
 Angle of reflection is the angle formed by the line perpendicular to a surface and the
direction in which a reflected ray moves.
 Angle of incidence and Angle of reflection are equal.
 The line perpendicular to the reflecting surface is referred to as the normal to the
surface
 The simplest mirror is the flat mirror.
 The relationship between the object distance from the mirror, which is represented as
p, and the image distance, which is represented as q, is such that the object and image
distances are equal. Similarly, the image of the object is the same size as the object.
 Virtual image is the image formed by rays that appear to come from the image point
behind the mirror—but never really do
 a flat mirror always forms a virtual image
 Image location can be predicted with ray diagrams
 (learn how to draw the ray image)

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