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Electromagnetic radiation
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- Light is electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation occurs over an extremely wide range of wavelengths, from gamma rays with wavelengths less than about 1 × 10 metres to radio waves measured in metres.
Light as Rays. Imagining light as a ray makes it easy to describe, with great accuracy, three well-known phenomena: reflection, refraction and scattering. Let's take a second to discuss each one. In reflection, a light ray strikes a smooth surface, such as a mirror, and bounces off.
Nov 14, 2024 · Light - Reflection, Refraction, Diffraction: The basic element in geometrical optics is the light ray, a hypothetical construct that indicates the direction of the propagation of light at any point in space. The origin of this concept dates back to early speculations regarding the nature of light.
Nov 14, 2024 · Light - Reflection, Refraction, Physics: 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 ...
A light ray with an angle of incidence equal to or greater than the critical angle will reflect, following the law of reflection. The interactive illustration at the top of this page explores patterns of reflection and refraction of light rays that hit a variety of interfaces at different angles of incidence.
Nov 14, 2024 · Light is electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation occurs over an extremely wide range of wavelengths, from gamma rays with wavelengths less than about 1 × 10 metres to radio waves measured in metres.
The reflection of light is simplified when light is treated as a ray. This concept is illustrated in Figure 16.3 , which also shows how the angles are measured relative to the line perpendicular to the surface at the point where the light ray strikes it.
The ray model of light describes the path of light as straight lines. The part of optics dealing with the ray aspect of light is called geometric optics. Light can travel in three ways from a source to another location: (1) directly from the source through empty space; (2) through various media; and (3) after being reflected from a mirror.
