Properties of visible light Flashcards
What is a model?
A model is a way of representing something in order to understand it better.
What does the wave model of light show you?
The wave model of light pictures light traveling as a wave.
What is the simplest way to thing about light?
Visible light is like a wave transferring energy from the sun to the earth or from one place to another
What is light?
Light is a type of wave that can travel through empty space and transfers energy from one place to another.
What is refraction?
Refraction is the bending or change of direction of a wave as it passes through one material to another.
What is white light made of?
White light (sunlight) is made of waves having different wavelengths and frequencies.
What happens when white light is refracted by a prism?
When white light is refracted through a prism, the different wavelengths bend different amounts.
How do longer wavelengths behave differently than shorter wavelengths when refracted?
Longer wavelengths refract less than shorter wavelengths when they are separated by a prism.
How fast does light travel?
Light travels at 300 000 km/s it is the fastest known form of energy
What is the visible spectrum?
The visible spectrum is the range of colours or frequencies of light that are visible to the human eye.
What are the seven most easily seen colours?
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet
What is the acronym for the visible spectrum?
ROY G BIV is the acronym for the visible spectrum.
Which colour has the longest wavelength?
Red has the longest wavelength.
Which colour has the shortest wavelength?
Violet has the shortest wavelength.
Which colour has the highest frequency?
Violet has the highest frequency
Which colour has the lowest frequency
Red has the lowest frequency.
Why does a prism or a rain drop create a rainbow effect?
When the light travels through the prism or raindrop, the lightwaves bend at different amounts which splits them into colours.
How did Newton realize that there were colours inside white light?
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.
What happens if you remove one colour from the spectrum after it has gone through a prism and is going back into another prism?
The light will not recombine into white and will stay in the rainbow… less the one colour. White needs to have all colours.
What is reflection?
Reflection is when light waves strike an object and bounces off. These are the colours that can be seen.
On a red scarf, what colour is being reflected?
Red is being reflected, so you can see it, and the other colours are absorbed.
Why does a red shirt seem black in a dark room?
Since there is no light, there is no red to be reflected off the clothing.
What are primary colours?
Red, Green and Blue are primary colours and these are the three colours you need to make a rainbow.
What are secondary colours?
Secondary colours are those colours that are made when you combine two primary colours:
What is cyan?
Cyan is green plus blue
What is yellow?
Yellow is red plus green
What is magenta?
Magenta is red plus blue
What is the difference between reflection and refraction?
Refraction is when the light bends and separates. Reflection is when one colour bounces off an item and so you see that colour
Can humans see wavelengths of light that are more than 700 or less than 400?
No, this is the visible spectrum violet is 400 and red is 700.
