Light and Optics Lecture Notes

Flashcards about light and optics.

What is light?

A form of energy that can be transported without a medium and travels in a straight line at 300,000,000 m/s.

What is wavelength?

The distance from one point in a wave to a similar point.

What is amplitude?

The wave height from the rest position to the crest or trough.

What is frequency?

The rate of repetition of a wave, or how fast the wave 'wiggles'.

Which color of light has the least energy?

Red

Which color of light has the most energy?

Purple

What is the electromagnetic spectrum?

The range of all types of light, including radio waves, microwaves, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, and X-rays.

What are luminous objects?

Objects that are able to produce light.

What are non-luminous objects?

Objects that do not produce light but may reflect it.

What is incandescence?

The production of light as a result of high temperature.

What is electric discharge?

The process of producing light by passing an electric current through a gas.

What is phosphorescence?

The production of light by the absorption of ultraviolet light, resulting in the emission of visible light over time.

What is fluorescence?

The immediate emission of visible light as a result of the absorption of ultraviolet light.

What is chemiluminescence?

The direct production of light as the result of a chemical reaction with little or no heat produced.

What is bioluminescence?

The production of light in living organisms as the result of a chemical reaction with little or no heat produced.

What is triboluminescence?

The production of light from friction.

What is a light ray?

A ray drawn to show the direction of light.

What are the three things that can happen when light strikes an object?

Reflection, transmission, or absorption.

What are the three types of objects based on how they interact with light?

Transparent, translucent, or opaque.

What is a transparent object?

An object that transmits all or almost all incident light.

What is a translucent object?

An object that transmits some incident light and absorbs or reflects the rest.

What is an opaque object?

An object that absorbs or reflects all incident light.

What is an image?

A recreation, produced by light, of an original object.

What is reflection?

The bouncing back of light from any surface.

What is an incident ray?

The incoming ray that strikes a mirror.

What is a reflected ray?

The ray that bounces off the reflective surface.

What are the laws of reflection?

The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, and the incident ray, reflected ray, and normal all lie in the same plane.

What is specular reflection?

Occurs when light is reflected off smooth surfaces.

What is diffuse reflection?

Occurs when light is reflected off an irregular surface.

What is a plane mirror?

Any mirror that has a flat reflective surface.

What is lateral inversion?

The reversal of the left and right sides in an image when reflected by a plane mirror.

What is a virtual image?

An image formed by rays that do not actually pass through the location of the image.

What is the focal point (F)?

The point where light rays either converge to or diverge away from in a mirror.

What is focal length (f)?

The measurement from the vertex of the mirror to the focal point of the mirror.

What is the vertex (v)?

The point at which a curved mirror is bisected.

What is the principal axis (PA)?

An imaginary line to show where a curved mirror is bisected.

What is the center of curvature (C)?

The point that is exactly the center of a circle (referring to a curved mirror).

What is the distance of the object (do)?

The measurement from the vertex to the object.

What is the distance of the image (di)?

The measurement from the vertex to the point where the image is produced (either real or virtual).

What is the height of the object (ho)?

The measurement from the principal axis up or down of the object.

What is the height of the image (hi)?

The measurement from the principal axis up or down where the image is produced (either real or virtual).

What does SALT stand for in relation to image characteristics?

Size, Attitude, Location, Type

What are concave mirrors?

Mirrors that have a smaller middle than the ends.

What are convex mirrors?

Mirrors that have a thicker middle than the ends.

What is the function of a concave (converging) mirror?

Causes light rays that are parallel to the principal axis to converge at the focus.

What is the function of a convex (diverging) mirror?

Causes parallel light rays to diverge (spread apart).