Physics Test: Electromagnetic Waves

Electromagnetic waves

a wave that is partly magnetic and partly electric

Radio

Largest electromagnetic waves (size of buildings-humans)

Microwave

Second largest electromagnetic waves (size of honey bee)

Infrared

Third largest electromagnetic wave (size of a pinpoint)

Visible light

Middle of the electromagnetic spectrum (roygbiv)

Ultraviolet

Third smallest electromagnetic wave (size of molecules)

X-ray

Second smallest electromagnetic wave (size of atoms)

Gamma ray

Smallest electromagnetic wave (size of atomic nuclei)

Radiation

emitting electromagnetic waves

low

Radio waves have high or low frequency?

high

Gamma ray waves have high or low frequency

3 x 10^8 m/s

What is the speed of light?

700 nm - 400 nm

Range of visible light? (nanometers)

white

our eyes interpretation of every color wave at once

black

no light waves, everything is absorbed

red, green, blue

three primary colors

yellow, cyan, magenta

three secondary colors

Cornea

part of eye that lets light through, protective layer

lens

part of eye that focuses the image

retina

part of the eye that the image is focused on, contains rods and cones

optic nerve

bundle of nerves that connects to the brain

rods

cells on outside of retina that see bright and dark

cones

cells on the center of the retina that react to colors, three types (red green, blue)

color-blindness

missing or damaged cones leads to...

yellow

Red-high, Green-high, B- none

cyan

Red-low, Green-mid, Blue-mid

Reflection

light hits a surfaces and bounces off, the incident ray and second ray have the same angle

Refraction

the medium changes so the direction of the wave changes, light "curves"

Diffraction

bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves past small openings

Polarization

reflection of light of non-metallic surfaces, results in removal of light waves that aren't a certain direction

Blind spot

The optic nerve in your retina causes a...

medium

the substance waves are traveling through

Spectrum

range of things

Velocity = frequency x wavelength

Speed of a wave formula

because blue waves are small but our eye picks them up more than violet waves.

Why is sky blue and not violet?

color combinations