Topic 1- Visible light and the Solar System Flashcards
What model of the solar system did the Greeks believe in and who came up with the theory?
The geocentric model where everything orbits the earth by Ptolemy.
What model of the solar system replaced the geocentric model and who founded it?
The heliocentric model where everything orbits the sun by Copernicus
What did Galileo prove and how?
That not everything orbits the Earth because 4 moons orbit jupiter so this helped proved the Heliocentric model.
What invention has improved knowledge of the solar system?
The telescope.
How can we see planets in the solar system?
The reflect visible light from the sun.
What do telescopes do?
They magnify images so that objects in the distance can be seen in more detail.
What are the 4 things that all waves have?
Wavelength, Frequency, Amplitude and Wave speed
What is wavelength?
The distance from one peak of a wave to the next
What is frequency and what is it measured in?
How many waves pass a certain point per second and measured in Hertz (Hz)
What is amplitude?
The height of the wave from the midline to the peak of the wave
What is wave speed and what is it measured in?
The speed of the wave measured in m/s.
What do waves transfer and what don’t they transfer?
They transfer energy and information without transferring matter.
What are the main formulas?
Speed (m/s) = Frequency (Hz) x Wavelength (m) & wave speed (m/s) = distance (m) ⌹ time (s)
What are the two types of waves, explain and give examples?
Transverse: Light, EM waves, S-waves, Waves on strings and springs and ripples on water. In transverse waves the vibrations are at 90 degrees to the direction of travel.
Longitudinal: Sound, ultrasound, P-waves, a slinky spring when you push and pull the end. Vibrates in the same way as the direction.
Explain reflection.
When the light hits a boundary between two mediums and some energy is bounced off ( reflected). The angle of reflection, r, is the same as the angle of incidence, i. The light is reflected when it reaches a medium with different density.
