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15.9: End of Chapter Key Terms

  • Page ID
    96552
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    Definition: Key Terms
    1. Source Charge: A charge that produces an electromagnetic wave when it is oscillated.
    2. Amplitude: The strength of the electric field.
    3. Wavelength: The distance between maximum electric field locations.
    4. Frequency: The number of oscillations per second completed by the source charge.
    5. Wave Speed: The rate at which electromagnetic energy propagates. In vacuum this is the speed of light: 3x108 meters per second.
    6. Wave Interference: When two or more waves combine to create a larger or smaller wave.
    7. Intensity: The power delivered by a wave per unit of area.
    8. Radiation Pressure: The force per unit area delivered by an electromagnetic wave.
    9. Electromagnetic Spectrum: The range of frequencies and wavelengths that encompass electromagnetic waves.
    10. Infrared Light: Wavelengths of light longer than red light.
    11. Ultraviolet Light: Wavelengths of light shorter than violet light.
    12. Photoreceptors: Light sensing cells in the retina of human eyes.
    13. True Color: The color of an object when illuminated by white light.
    14. Retinex: A collection of photoreceptors in the retina.
    15. Color Constancy: The ability of the eye to perceive true colors under a variety of lighting.
    16. Wien's Law: An experimental relationship between temperature of an object and the wavelength of light it emits.
    17. Ultraviolet Catastrophe: The failure of the electromagnetic wave model to recreate Wien's Law.
    18. Quanta: The smallest bit of energy possible in Planck's Hypothesis.
    19. Quantized Energy: The idea that all energy must be a multiple of a fundamental value.
    20. Energy State: A way to describe the value of the energy associated with a particular object.
    21. Quantum Number: A number that is used to multiply the quanta to obtain the energy state.
    22. Photoelectrons: Electrons ejected from surfaces when light shines upon them.
    23. Photoelectric Effect: The relationship between the wavelength of light and the appearance of photoelectrons.
    24. Electromagnetic Radiation: Waves of electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space.
    25. Photon: The smallest unit of an electromagnetic wave in the particle model of light.
    26. Gain Medium: The part of a laser that produces the laser light.
    27. Metastable State: A condition where excited electrons remain in an excited state for some period of time.
    28. Population Inversion: When there are more electrons in an excited state than in lower energy states.
    29. Laser Pumping: The process of transferring energy from the power supply to the gain medium.
    30. Optical Resonator: A component of a laser that traps and amplifies electromagnetic radiation before it is released as a beam.
    31. Particle-WAve Duality: The concept that objects display both wave-like and particle-like properties.
    32. Quantum Mechanics: The branch of physics that studies the behavior of particles on the atomic and subatomic level.

    15.9: End of Chapter Key Terms is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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