Light Flashcards
what is a photon
individual particle of light
what does the peak wavelength tell us about a star
the “color” or the source, the average energy of the source, and the temperature of the source (lamda max symbol)
what is Wein’s Law state?
“the hotter the object becomes the shorter its peak wavelength becomes”
“hotter objects are bluer, cooler and objects are redder”
Wein’s Law
what is a spectrum
what we see when white light passes through a prism
name the 6 types of light from longest to shortest wavelength
Radio, Infrared, Visible Light, Ultra Violet, X-ray, Gamma Rays
what in nanometers is the visible light spectrum
350-750nm
what is a wavelength
the distance from one peak to the next
what is the frequency
the number of peaks passing by any point each second
the longer the wavelength….
the lower the frequency
continuous light spectrum
broad range of wavelengths without interruption
emission light spectrum
consists of bright emission lines against a black background
absorption line spectrum
dark absoprtion lines against a colorful background
a cloud of gas would a emit a
emission line spectrum
looking at a star through a cloud of gas would emit a
absorption line spectrum
