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When light propagates in a transparent material medium, its speed is in general less than the speed in vacuum c. An interesting consequence of this is that a light ray will change direction when passing from one medium to another. Since the light ray appears to be “broken”, the phenomenon is known as refraction.
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The wavelength of visible light is very small. For example, waves of orange light have a length of only 0.0000006 meter. Because the wavelength of light is so small, scientists use nanometers. One nanometer (nm) is one billionth of a meter (0.000000001 m). Figure 10.5 shows the size of a light wave relative to other small things.
Draw a ray diagram; the image is where the rays intersect. Apply the mirror and magnification equations. Sign conventions: if the object, image, or focal point is on the reflective side of the mirror, its distance is positive, and negative otherwise. Magnification is positive if image is upright, negative otherwise.
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In this module you will learn about the nature and properties of light in the following lessons: Lesson 1 – The Nature of Light Lesson 2 – Reflection and Mirrors Lesson 3 – Refraction and Lenses Lesson 4 – Colors, Interference and Polarization. What you are expected to learn.
Characteristics of light. • Light is an electromagnetic wave. As shown below, an electromagnetic wave is a transverse wave consisting of mutually perpendicular oscillating electric and magnetic fields. Electromagnetic waves are ultimately produced by an accelerating charge. A changing electric field produces a changing magnetic field which in ...
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Hold a concave mirror in your hand and direct its reflecting surface towards the Sun. Direct the light reflected by the mirror on to a sheet of paper held close to the mirror. Move the sheet of paper back and forth gradually until you find on the paper sheet a bright, sharp spot of light.
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Duffy_EP_2012_ch23. Light can be described by several different models. In Chapters 23 and 24, we will make use of a relatively simple model of light known as the ray model. The ray model will help us to understand how light interacts with mirrors and lenses, and help us understand how the reflection of light can produce beautiful photographs ...
