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MCAT Physics > Light + Wave > Flashcards

Light + Wave Flashcards

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1
Q

what type of wave is light and what type of wave is sound

A 
light = electromagnetic
sound = longitudinal - requires medium
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2
Q

does light require a medium to travel

A

no therefore it can travel in a vacuum

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3
Q

refractive index of air

A

1

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4
Q

refractive index of water

A

1.3

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5
Q

what happens when changing mediums

A

velocity changes but frequency doesn’t

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6
Q

wavelength of red light

A

700nm or 750??

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7
Q

wavelength of violet light

A

400nm

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8
Q

electromagnetic spectrum from lowest energy highest wavelength to hight energy shortest wavelength

A 
radio wave
microwave
infrared
visible
ultraviolet
xray
gamma ray
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9
Q

what is the wave particle duality

A

light travels as a wave but interacts like a particle

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10
Q

two equations from the energy of a photon

A 
E = hf
E = hc/wavelength
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11
Q

what is diffraction

A

how a waves bends when it encounters an obstacle

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12
Q

a smaller gap for a wave to go through will result in a _____ diffraction

A

wider

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13
Q

what is constructive interferance

A

waves will add when path length is a multiple of the wavelength

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14
Q

what is destructive interference

A

waves cancel

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15
Q

what is the angle of reflection in relation to the angle of incidence

A

angle of incidence = angle of reflection

**in reference to the normal perpendicular to the surface

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16
Q

equation for refraction index

A

n = c/v

17
Q

why is n always >1

A

because light is fastest in a vacuum

18
Q

what happens to velocity as n increase

A

slows down

19
Q

what is dispersion

A

splitting of white light by a prism

20
Q

how does light disperse through a prism

A

violet (higher n and faster) bends more

red (slower lower n) bends less

21
Q

what is the cause of refraction

A

when going to different mediums of differing n the velocity of light changes causing a bend

22
Q

how will light bend going from low n air to high n water

A

towards the normal

23
Q

what is snells law what relationships can we get out of this

A

n1sin1 = n2sin2

if we are going to a higher n than the angle will have to be smaller

24
Q

what happens if light enters the air the water at an angle of 0

A

keeps going straight bc sin0 = 0 refraction

25
Q

what are the 2 requirements for total internal reflection

A

going from a high n to a low n (water to air)

large angle of incidence

26
Q

what happens to the angle of refraction when the critical angle is reached

A

it is 90 degrees

27
Q

what is the critical angle

A

angle of incidence when the angle of refraction is 90 so total internal reflection occurs
** be aware of questions if they are asking for the refraction or incidence angle

28
Q

what do you need to know about what electromagnetic means

A

light has both electric and magnetic components which are perpendicular to each other and perpendicular to velocity of the wave
think of x y and z fields

29
Q

what is polarization

A

light is naturally in all different directions from each other
when it goes through a polarizer it only lets light waves of a certain orientation through
resulting in a uniform orientated light beam
polarized sun glasses prevent glare

30
Q

what is circular polarized light

A

direction of the fields rotate steadily over time either clockwise or counterclockwise

31
Q

if something has high absorbance at 700nm what color would it be

A

not red because color is what is reflected

32
Q

relate to space about the difference between sound and light

A

light can travel through a vacuum which is why we can see

sound can’t travel through a vacuum which is why you can’t hear anything in space

33
Q

what is c

A

EM velocity in a vacuum
speed of radio waves or light waves in a vacuum
3x10^8

34
Q

master wave equation

A

v = wavelength x frequency

35
Q

value of planks constant

A

6.64x10^-34 m^2kg/s

36
Q

what property of waves correlates with its energy

A

frequency!!

37
Q

if light travels from n = 2 to n =2 will there be a bend or refraction

A

no because no change in velocity

38
Q

to find the nth max in single vs double slit defraction which length is used

A

single slit is the length of the aperture

double is the distance between 2 aperture

39
Q

what is color of light dependent on

A

frequency

MCAT Physics (6 decks)

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