The laws of refraction and reflection on the development of microscopes and telescopes Flashcards
What is light?
Light is a type of electromagnetic radiation and forms the electromagnetic spectrum
What is the law of reflection and refraction?
The law of reflection and refraction explains how light bends and bounces when it hits surfaces.
How was development of lens crucial for early development of microscopes and telescopes?
Early telescopes and microscopes
Lens development was based on the law of refraction, which explains how light bends when moving through a substance. These lenses were then used to capture and focus light in order to magnify an image.
What is chromatic abberration and how was it a problem?
Early telescopes had problems of chromatic aberration, which meant that different colours of light would be bent by different amounts, resulting in a blurred image.
A solution that was made for this problem was to adjust the position and precision of lenses by the laws of refraction and reflection.
How did the law of reflection and refraction and the creation of new technology help scientists today?
From the law of reflection and refraction, scientists such as Robert Hooke have invented an instrument called a microscope to view enlarged images from small cell or mineral samples.
On the other hand, a telescope is used to make observations at far distances. This works when a reflective telescope uses mirrors to reflect and collect light rays. However a refractive telescope uses lenses to bend and focus on light rays
How has the use of scientific knowledge to develop devices such as the microscope and telescope impacted on science in general?
sample answer:
Using their knowledge of the laws of reflection and refraction, scientists were able to develop early microscopes and telescopes. As scientific understanding continues to develop, so do we see a continual improvement in microscope and telescope technology. Microscopes are considered a milestone in the scientific world, as they have an enormous influence on medical science, environmental science, materials science, molecular biology and even forensics. Telescopes have used the properties of light to provide scientists with a window to the cosmos. Astronomers have been able to use telescopes to analyse data from astronomical light and EM sources (including infrared and radio waves) to gather evidence for the composition of stars, planets and nebulae, along with predicting distances to other stars.
- Has helped scientists explain how - - light behaves in different conditions
How light moves in high gravity areas
Development of high quality lenses
