visible light

optics

determination of behavior & properties of light

interactions w/ matter and instruments used to detect

ray optics

geometric optics

describes spreading of light in terms of __

light

form of energy as an electromagnetic wave

electromagnetic radiation of different kinds of wavelengths, visible or not

visible light

seen by the human eye

strikes a barrier or surface and may be transmitted, reflected, refracted, absorbed

reflection

change in direction of light at an interface inbetween 2 diff medias

law of reflection

angle of incident ray = angle of reflected ray

refraction

bending of light as it passes from one medium to another

law of refraction

snell’s law

n1 sina = n1 sinb

dispersion

white splits into different colors

observed in the form of a prism

blue sky

sunlight reaches earth and is scattered in all directions by gas

this color is scattered more bc of its shorter waves

red sunset

sunlight has to travel farther, so light encounters more particles

scattering of more yellow light

rainbow

sunlight hits rain droplet & light is reflected, each color is reflected at a different angle

spectrum is separated, making a rainbow