LIGHT Flashcards
what things affect what waves do at a boundary
- the material
- the wavelength of the wave
angle of reflection =
angle of incidence
what is refraction
when a wave changes speed or direction when changing from one medium to another
what happens when a ray of light is reflected onto a rough surface
- each rays of light are reflected in different directions
- angle of incidence is different for each ray
what happens when light passes from air into glass
the speed of light decreases, causing the direction of the waves to change
what happens when waves slow down in a ray diagram
they bend towards the normal
what happens when waves speed up in a ray diagram
they bend away from the normal
when do waves not change direction
when they enter or leave the medium at right angles to the surface
what is the wavefront
an imaginary line that connects all the same points in a set of waves
what do all lenses do
they refract light
why does the central ray in a convex lens not get refracted
because the ray is passing directly along the normal
what is the centre of the lens called
the principal axis
what is the point that all other refracted rays are focused on called
principal focus
what is the focal length
the distance from the centre of the lens to the principal focus
properties of images formed from convex lenses
- inverted
- real
meaning of real image
an image where rays of light actually meet at a point
what properties would an image have if the object is more than 2 focal lengths from the lens
- diminished
- inverted
- real
what happens if the object is between 1 and 2 focal lengths from the lens
- magnified
- inverted
- real
how do we show the image in a magnifying glass ray diagram
we draw dotted lines to extend the rays behind the lens, where the dotted lines meet is the position of the image
why dow e use dotted lines for magnified ray diagrams
because these do not represent the actual path of the rays
properties of an image formed by a magnifying glass
- magnified
- same way up as the object (upright)
- virtual
how can we tell if a ray diagram is one from a magnifying glass
the object is less than one focal length away from the lens
meaning of virtual
when the rays do not actually meet at a point, they only appear to meet, so we couldnt see this image on a screen
when is the only time a convex lens produces a virtual image
when its used as a magnifying glass