Magnetism and Light Concepts

Flashcards covering fundamental concepts in magnetism and optics based on lecture notes.

Magnetic Domains

Microscopic regions in ferromagnetic materials that are naturally magnetic and cannot be demagnetized.

Magnetic Dipole

A pair of magnetic poles, one north and one south.

Magnetization

The process by which domains in iron grow or shrink when in the presence of a magnetic pole, causing it to become polarized.

Permanent Magnet

An object that retains its magnetic properties even when the external magnetic field is removed.

Electromagnet

A type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current.

Lenz's Law

States that the magnetic field of the induced current opposes the change that induced it.

Transformer

A device used to change the voltage in an AC circuit, can step up or step down the voltage.

Index of Refraction

A measure of how much the speed of light is reduced in a material compared to a vacuum.

Rayleigh Scattering

The scattering of light by particles much smaller than the wavelength of light, responsible for the blue color of the sky.

Dispersion

The separation of light into its component colors due to different degrees of bending at boundaries.

Interference

The phenomenon where two waves superimpose to cancel each other out or enhance one another.

Luminescence

The process of emitting light without heat.

Stimulated Emission

The process by which an incoming photon causes an excited atom to emit a second photon of the same energy.