Properties of visible light

Question 1

What is a model?

Answer 1

A model is a way of representing something in order to understand it better.

Question 2

What does the wave model of light show you?

Answer 2

The wave model of light pictures light traveling as a wave.

Question 3

What is the simplest way to thing about light?

Answer 3

Visible light is like a wave transferring energy from the sun to the earth or from one place to another

Question 4

What is light?

Answer 4

Light is a type of wave that can travel through empty space and transfers energy from one place to another.

Question 5

What is refraction?

Answer 5

Refraction is the bending or change of direction of a wave as it passes through one material to another.

Question 6

What is white light made of?

Answer 6

White light (sunlight) is made of waves having different wavelengths and frequencies.

Question 7

What happens when white light is refracted by a prism?

Answer 7

When white light is refracted through a prism, the different wavelengths bend different amounts.

Question 8

How do longer wavelengths behave differently than shorter wavelengths when refracted?

Answer 8

Longer wavelengths refract less than shorter wavelengths when they are separated by a prism.

Question 9

How fast does light travel?

Answer 9

Light travels at 300 000 km/s it is the fastest known form of energy

Question 10

What is the visible spectrum?

Answer 10

The visible spectrum is the range of colours or frequencies of light that are visible to the human eye.

Question 11

What are the seven most easily seen colours?

Answer 11

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet

Question 12

What is the acronym for the visible spectrum?

Answer 12

ROY G BIV is the acronym for the visible spectrum.

Question 13

Which colour has the longest wavelength?

Answer 13

Red has the longest wavelength.

Question 14

Which colour has the shortest wavelength?

Answer 14

Violet has the shortest wavelength.

Question 15

Which colour has the highest frequency?

Answer 15

Violet has the highest frequency

Question 16

Which colour has the lowest frequency

Answer 16

Red has the lowest frequency.

Question 17

Why does a prism or a rain drop create a rainbow effect?

Answer 17

When the light travels through the prism or raindrop, the lightwaves bend at different amounts which splits them into colours.

Question 18

How did Newton realize that there were colours inside white light?

Answer 18

He refracted light through a prism and saw the colours and realized he had not added any colour to the light, so the colour must already have been there.

Question 19

What happens if you remove one colour from the spectrum after it has gone through a prism and is going back into another prism?

Answer 19

The light will not recombine into white and will stay in the rainbow… less the one colour. White needs to have all colours.

Question 20

What is reflection?

Answer 20

Reflection is when light waves strike an object and bounces off. These are the colours that can be seen.

Question 21

On a red scarf, what colour is being reflected?

Answer 21

Red is being reflected, so you can see it, and the other colours are absorbed.

Question 22

Why does a red shirt seem black in a dark room?

Answer 22

Since there is no light, there is no red to be reflected off the clothing.

Question 23

What are primary colours?

Answer 23

Red, Green and Blue are primary colours and these are the three colours you need to make a rainbow.

Question 24

What are secondary colours?

Answer 24

Secondary colours are those colours that are made when you combine two primary colours:

Question 25

What is cyan?

Answer 25

Cyan is green plus blue

Question 26

What is yellow?

Answer 26

Yellow is red plus green

Question 27

What is magenta?

Answer 27

Magenta is red plus blue

Question 28

What is the difference between reflection and refraction?

Answer 28

Refraction is when the light bends and separates. Reflection is when one colour bounces off an item and so you see that colour

Question 29

Can humans see wavelengths of light that are more than 700 or less than 400?

Answer 29

No, this is the visible spectrum violet is 400 and red is 700.