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1.5: Waves, particles, rays

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    128440
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    Learning Objectives
    • Long wavelengths diffract around objects,
    • Short wavelengths make shadows.

     

     

    Links to related material (more coming soon)  
    Why vision?
    Why vision? Why the importance of the 400 to 700 nm band? Why so little UV and IR vision? Why no bio-radar? How does vision compare with hearing?
    splash4.jpg
    Colour mixing
    Additive colour mixing by projection. Additive colour mixing on RGB monitors and phones. Newton's colour wheel. Subtractive primaries and subtractive colour mixing. Details of the experiments from the multimedia chapter.

    link_nature_mixing.jpg

    Electromagnetic transverse waves
    The direction of the electric and magnetic fields: transverse or longitudinal. Experiments with UHF radio. Polarised light and polarizing sun glasses. Details of the experiments from the multimedia chapter.
    link_EM_transverse.jpg
    Molecules and photons
    Quantisation of light - and of water! Light and photons. Photon energy depends on wavelength. Black body radiation.
    molecules_photons_linkpic.jpg
    Newton's prisms
    Light and prisms: refaction, dispersion and recombination.
    Newtons_prisms_linkpic.jpg
    Shadows:particles and waves
    Light shadows and particle shadows: the particle model for light. Wave shadows and their dependence on wavelength. Diffraction and wavelength. Comparison of sound and light.
    link_waves.jpg
    Speed of light
    A simple measurement of the speed of light by time of flight. Pulsed laser, beam splitter and mirrors, detectors, oscilloscope. Details of the experiment from the multimedia chapter.
    link_speed_light.jpg
    Speed of Radio Waves
    Measuring the speed of radio waves using standing waves in UHF. Oscillator, dipole transmitting and receiving antennae, oscilloscope. Reflections from a conductor, standing waves, nodes. Details of the experiment from the multimedia chapter
    link_speed_radiowaves.jpg

    Young's experiment - water waves and light
    Young's experiment: comparing water waves and light waves. Ripple tank with two synchronised sources. Two slit experiment with a laser. Details of the experiments from the multimedia chapter.

    link_youngs.jpg

    Experiments with mixing colour

    1. Introduction
    2. Additive mixing of light
    3. Partitive mixing of light in time
    4. Partitive mixing in space for light
    5. Subtractive mixing
    Labs_linkpic.jpg

     


    1.5: Waves, particles, rays is shared under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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