16.1_Light_Fundament.pptVIP

Light Fundamentals By: Rebecca Trout Facts of Light Light Light is the range of frequencies that stimulates the retina of the eye. Light waves Wavelengths from about 400 nm (4.00 x 10-7 m) to 700 nm (7.00 x 10-7 m) Colors of light Shortest wavelengths are seen as violet light. As wavelengths increase the colors gradually changer to indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Ray Model The straight-line path of light has led to the ray model. A ray is a straight line that represents the path of a narrow beam of light. The use of ray diagrams is called ray optics or geometric optics The Speed of Light Ole Roemer (1644-1710) First to determine that light does travel with a measurable speed. Between 1668 and 1674 he made 70 careful measurements of the 42.5- orbital period of Io, one of the moons of Jupiter. Ole Roemer cont. 1676 – calculated that light took 22 minutes to cross the diameter of Earth’s orbit. Successfully proved Galileo’s theory that light moved at a finite speed. Roemer’s value of 22 minutes gives light a speed of abut 220 million meters per second. Albert A. Michelson (1852-1931) Between 1880 and the 1920’s: developed Earth based techniques to measure the speed of light. 1926- time required for light to make a round-trip between 2 California mountains 35 km apart. Best result: 2.997996 +/- 0.00004 x 108 m/s 1st American to win Science Nobel Prize. Speed of Light defined 1960’s development of the laser New methods of measuring the speed of light. Speed o a wave is equal to the product of its frequency and wavelength. Vacuum Speed of light in a vacuum is such an important and universal value it has its own special symbol, c. Committee defined the speed of light in a vacuum to be exactly c=299792458 m/s. Use (3.00 x 108 m/s) for calculations Sources of Light Difference between a luminous body and an illuminated body. A luminous body emits light waves. Examples The sun is luminous. The moon is illuminated. A common lamp is luminous because the electric