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When light waves enter a medium of higher refractive index than the previous, why is it that: Its wavelength decreases? The frequency of it has to stay the same?
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18 questions linked to/from Why does wavelength change as...
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- Change of Speed Causes Change of Direction
- Lenses
- Refraction Can Create A Spectrum
- Rainbows
Light refracts whenever it travels at an angle into a substance with a different refractive index (optical density4). This change of direction is caused by a change in speed. For example, when light travels from air into water, it slows down, causing it to continue to travel at a different angle or direction. How much does light bend? The amount of...
A lens5 is simply a curved block of glass or plastic6. There are two kinds of lens. A biconvex7lens is thicker at the middle than it is at the edges. This is the kind of lens used for a magnifying glass. Parallel rays of light can be focused in to a focal point. A biconvex lens is called a converging lens. A biconcave lens curves is thinner at the ...
Isaac Newton performed a famous experiment using a triangular block of glass called a prism. He used sunlight shining in through his window to create a spectrum of colours on the opposite side of his room. This experiment showed that white light is actually made of all the colours of the rainbow8. These seven colours are remembered by the acronym R...
A rainbow is caused because each colour refracts at slightly different angles as it enters, reflects off the inside and then leaves each tiny drop of rain. A rainbow is easy to create using a spray bottle and the sunshine. The centre of the circle of the rainbow will always be the shadow11of your head on the ground. The secondary rainbow that can s...
- Reflection. Reflection is when incident light (incoming light) hits an object and bounces off. Very smooth surfaces such as mirrors reflect almost all incident light.
- Absorption. Absorption occurs when photons from incident light hit atoms and molecules and cause them to vibrate. The more an object's molecules move and vibrate, the hotter it becomes.
- Diffraction. Diffraction is the bending and spreading of waves around an obstacle. It is most pronounced when a light wave strikes an object with a size comparable to its own wavelength.
- Scatter. Scattering occurs when light bounces off an object in a variety of directions. The amount of scattering that takes place depends on the wavelength of the light and the size and structure of the object.
The amount that a light ray changes its direction depends both on the incident angle and the amount that the speed changes. For a ray at a given incident angle, a large change in speed causes a large change in direction, and thus a large change in angle.
The transmission of light across a boundary between two media is accompanied by a change in both the speed and wavelength of the wave. The light wave not only changes directions at the boundary, it also speeds up or slows down and transforms into a wave with a larger or a shorter wavelength.
Nov 14, 2024 · Light rays change direction when they reflect off a surface, move from one transparent medium into another, or travel through a medium whose composition is continuously changing. The law of reflection states that, on reflection from a smooth surface, the angle of the reflected ray is equal to the angle of the incident ray.
Reflection of waves off straight barriers follows the law of reflection. Reflection of waves off parabolic barriers results in the convergence of the waves at a focal point. Refraction is the change in direction of waves that occurs when waves travel from one medium to another.
