Christian huygens proposed that light travelled as waves. The wave model of light has one serious drawback, though. When you try to observe this phenomenon in real life, the two waves become lost in one another and it becomes difficult to perceive the principles that underlie the phenomenon. From source to detector sound from an instrument to ear cell phone to cell tower and vice versa em waves water waves a disturbance in the water moves outward. Light, reflection, and color characteristics of light light is an electromagnetic wave. Energy of a wave is transported in the direction of the waves transportation. In transverse waves the vibration of the particles is at right angles to the direction of energy transport. A water wave is an example of a surface wave, which is a combination of transverse and longitudinal wave motions. The wave equation outline of mechanical waves longitudinal and transverse waves waves in a string, sound waves the wave equation description of waves using functions of two variables travelling waves the wave equation 0 y v y 1 2 2 2 2 2. The physics of waves version date february 15, 2015. The curriculum corner consists of a collection of downloadable pdf files designed to complement the resources at the physics classroom. There are several sections in this book on interference phenomena and light.
Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left. But physics also includes many other fundamental topics, such as. For now, it is enough to say that the reflective behavior of light provides evidence for the wavelike nature of light. There is 1 simulation embedded in the teacher version and a snells law worksheet included in the package. This is very similar in concept to the distance between the crests in ocean waves. Ed 055 803 title general physics, physics 12 science. I have isolated some extension level questions from some extended papers paper 3 for cie igcse physics. We deal with both normal and nonnormal angles of incidence. Light waves vce the question of what is light was a matter of great debate during the 17th and 18th century. Since it travels at the speed of light, c 3 108 m s. Properties of light waves, particles and em spectrum interaction with matter absorption re.
Remember tracing light as lines through a curved lens and seeing whether the image was inverted or right side up and so on. The faster waves travel, the more crests or compressions pass by you each second. You can determine the wave frequency and period, predict how fast light travels in various materials, and determine how light. The wave equation outline of mechanical waves longitudinal and transverse waves waves in a string, sound waves the wave equation description of waves using functions of two variables travelling waves the wave equation 0 y v y 1.
Interference is described using real and complex numbers in anticipation of quantum mechanics. The physics of light 2 video education australasia pty ltd 2009 reproducing these teacher notes you may download and print one copy of these teacher notes from. Light waves diffract in the same manner that waves diffract when they collide with an object. They can reflect, refract bend, and interfere with each other. The wave nature of light a physics powerpoint package. Product description this 22 slide physics lesson package discusses how light acts as a wave. Erwin schrodinger formulated a version of quantum mechanics that was based on waves. The physics classroom serves students, teachers and classrooms by providing classroomready resources that utilize an easytounderstand language that makes learning interactive and multidimensional. Within that broad spectrum the wavelengths visible to humans occupy a very narrow band, from. Dogs can see only shades of gray and some insects can see light from the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. Describe the six properties of electromagnetic waves and give everyday examples.
The physics classroom also sells a product to teachers called the solutions guide. General physics 203 download notice that homework solutions, lecture notes, and exams are all available in pdf format adobe acrobat reader is required to view and print files. Use the law of reflection and the embedded protractor in order to draw the reflected ray associated with the given incident ray. Properties of light university of maryland college of. Since these waves consist of oscillating electric and magnetic fields which can exist in empty space, light can travel through a vacuum. All electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light. Light, electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye. Electromagnetic waves are distinguished from each other by their differences in wavelengths and frequencies wavelength is inversely related to frequency.
Electromagnetic waves 1 light as waves in previous classes 15a, high school physics, you learned to think about light as rays. Sine wave light waves are one of many types of waves in nature shaped like sine waves. In order to observe the wave behavior of light, the slit size and separation should be comparable or smaller than the wavelength of light. Even more important, though only touched on in this book, is the wave phenomenon of quantum mechanics, built into the fabric of our space and time. Light waves can interfere with other light waves, canceling or amplifying them. Waves transport energy without transporting matter. Phet sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, gamelike environment where students learn through exploration and discovery. Some of these waves are compressional, and others are transverse. Light travels in straight lines, so if you have to represent a ray of light in a drawing, always use a ruler. Benjamin cardozo we would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible c. Plane light waves arrive at a barrier that contains two parallel slits s1 and s 2. Light waves that is, electromagnetic waves behave like other waves. This raytracing business is known as geometrical optics. You are already familiar with the laws of reflection of light.
Mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves, and matter waves. This resource includes 3 whole questions 21 marks total relating to light rays, lenses and properties of mechanical waves etc. But this simulation comes to the rescue, allowing the learner to step through in. Light waves, which have been found to exhibit characteristics of particles, behave in certain ways that we can observe by experimentation. Let us recall these laws i the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, and ii the incident ray, the normal to the mirror at the point of incidence and the reflected ray, all lie in the same plane. Phys 201 lecture 18 wave theory of light open yale courses. The reflection of light waves will be discussed in more detail in unit of the physics classroom. Newtons laws of motion allen physics particle kinematics allen physics practical physics allen physics rotational motion allen physics temperature scales allen physics wave theory allen physics work energy allen physics this website is created solely for jee aspirants to download pdf, ebooks, study materials for free. Physics includes the science of mechanics, which is the study of motion, force, energy, and momentum.
Glencoe science waves, sound, and light fillmore central school. However, the sun is brightest in the yellowgreen part of the spectrum. This is a set of 26 sound, light, and waves vocabulary words for physics that can be used for a word wall or bulletin board. L1 what is light school of physics faculty of science. Malesherbez the only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Chapter 1 the fundamental physics of electromagnetic waves 3.
Sep 26, 2019 a revision of these waves and an attempt to help students to understand them collectively in terms of why they travel as they do, so they can remember more easily which does what. Electromagnetic waves are ultimately produced by an accelerating charge. The solutions guide includes all the pdfs and source documents ms word files of the think sheets at the curriculum corner, along with answers, explanations, and solutions, and a. Verma physics as a subject is vast and to have all the concepts of physics compiled in one book is indeed a boon to all students. Physics teachers are expected to have a broad and comprehensive understanding of the knowledge and skills needed for this educator license, and to use that knowledge to help students prepare for the challenges and opportunities of the twentyfirst century. Youngs double slit experiment shows clearly that light is a wave. The nature of light as a wave a small disturbance in an electric field creates a small magnetic field, which in turn creates a small electric field, and so on light propagates itself by its bootstraps. Unlike other wave phenomena such as sound, or surface waves, it wasnt clear what the medium was that supported light waves. Founded in 2002 by nobel laureate carl wieman, the phet interactive simulations project at the university of colorado boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. Year 9 physics waves, light, sound, mirrors, lenses fact sheet. There are familiar, everyday sorts of waves in water, ropes and springs. Phase differences between light waves can produce visible interference effects. Light from most natural and artificial sources is unpolarized.
Traveling waves appear only after a thorough exploration of onedimensional standing waves. Physics 10 color slide 1 slide 2 slide 3 slide 4 slide 5 slide 6 slide 7 slide 8 slide 9 light from the sun. Waves with greater velocities transfer more energy. State one other difference between sound waves and light waves. Rivers, jan 1, 1978, social science, 472 pages most people know the story of balto, the world famous dog who led his dogsled team through a blizzard to deliver a. Their repeating pattern allows us to classify them based on their wavelength. As shown below, an electromagnetic wave is a transverse wave consisting of mutually perpendicular oscillating electric and magnetic fields. E vector would survive, resulting in light polarized in the ydirection as illustrated by the vector in fig.
One of the most common wave shapes is called a sine wave, shown below. Here are some wave formulas that are useful when youre working with optics. Introduction to quantum mechanics harvard university. Types of waves 2types of waves 2 plane waves propagation direction w plane waves have a propagation direction and therefore plane wavefronts e. A schematic diagram of the apparatus that young used is shown in figure 37. I hope to emphasize that the physics of standing waves is the same.
This set of notes is great for students as it collates all the information they need to know onto an a4 piece of paper. It is simpler to visualize a wave by drawing the wave fronts, which are usually taken to be the crests of the wave. Unpolarized light can be polarized by passing it through a sheet of polarizing material which absorbs one component of the light and allows the other to pass. Types of light to understand light you have to know that what we call light is what is visible to us. Pdf files are available for every unit covered at the physics classroom tutorial. Pdf since ancient times, the nature and properties of light have been intensively. Unlike sound waves, light waves can travel through a vacuum empty space. Simply start the slideshow and click the image and it will open in your browser. When two or more waves meet up with each other while moving through the same medium, interference occurs.
Lecture 11 chapter 16 waves i university of virginia. Waves, sound and light please remember to photocopy 4 pages onto one sheet by going a3a4 and using back to back on the photocopier contents. Moreover, reading and reading skills in physics are unique to the subject and pupils must be taught how to read the physics text, how to follow instructions, how to do an experiment, how to study physics. When two waves of exactly same frequency coming from two coherent sources travels in a medium, in the same direction simultaneously then due to their superposition, at some points intensity of light is maximum while at some other points intensity is minimum. What may change is the distance between waves the wavelength and their speed. Dual nature of radiation and atomic physics electromagnetic waves and their characteristics electromagnetic spectrum photoelectric effect light. You can calculate the speed of a wave if you know its wavelength and frequency using the equation below. Water waves progressive waves waves that travel, or propagate, from a source are called progressive waves. Since light can be analysed as a complex mixture of a huge number of individual. These rolling waves are a combination of compressional and transverse waves.
By purchasing this file, you agree not to make it publicly available on websites, etc. He wrote down a wave equation the socalled schrodinger equation that governs how the waves evolve in space. Superposition and standing waves we are what we believe we are. Longitudinal waves two different motions to describe in a wave. Wavelike properties of light plus extra resources on new content areas. Giving it a name the luminiferous aether didnt help. How light travels light waves ks3 physics revision. Traveling waves waves propagate from one place to another. There are less visible but equally pervasive sound waves and electromagnetic waves.
Transverse waves and mechanical waves are examples of mechanical waves. We denote the wavelength of light by the symbol wavelengths of visible light are very small. Light, like any wave, follows the law of reflection when bouncing off surfaces. Light ranges in wavelength from 400 nm on the violet end to 700 nm on the red end of the visible spectrum. In transverse waves the particles of the medium move perpendicular to. The seismic waves that cause most damage to buildings are a kind of rolling waves. The nature of light uw madison astronomy department. They also undergo interference when passing through or reflecting against objects of different mediums.