1. How fast do x-rays travel through space? 2. What do ultraviolet and gamma rays have in common? 3. A radio wave has a wavelength of 13 m. What is its frequency? 4. A red laser has a wavelength of 650 nm. Does it have a higher frequency or lower frequency than a green laser of 550 nm?

 In a vacuum, the speed of light is a constant 3 x 10 8 m/s  Atmosphere: very close to c  Water: 0.75c  Glass: 0.67c  Diamond: 0.40c  When light emerges from these materials into the air, it travels at its original speed, c

 Light is energy carried in an electromagnetic wave that is generated by vibrating electric charges.  Visualize the electrons in an atom as connected by imaginary springs.  When light hits the electrons, they vibrate.

 If frequency of light hitting a material ≠ natural frequency of the material, the electrons forced into vibration with small amplitudes.  The atom holds the energy for less time, and they have less chance of collision with neighboring atoms.  Therefore, less energy is transferred as heat.  Energy of the vibrating electrons is reemitted as transmitted light.  Materials that transmit light are transparent.

 If frequency of light hitting a material = natural frequency of the material, the electrons are forced into vibration with large amplitudes.  The atom holds the energy for more time, so there is more chance of collision with neighboring atoms.  Therefore, more energy is transferred as heat.  Materials that absorb light without reemission and thus allow no light through them are opaque.

 Glass is _______________ to visible light.  However, electrons in glass have a natural vibration frequency in the ultraviolet range.  UV light shines on glass  resonance occurs  e - forced into vibration with higher amplitudes  atoms hold energy for more time  collide with neighboring atoms  energy LOST to heat  UV light does not pass through glass  Glass is ____________ to UV light.

 When the EM wave has a lower frequency than UV, as visible light does, e- are forced into vibration with smaller amplitudes  atom holds the energy for less time  less chance of collision with neighboring atoms  less energy is transferred as heat  Energy of the vibrating electrons is reemitted as transmitted light.

 A thin beam of light is called a ray  When light shines on an object, some of the rays may be stopped while others pass on in a straight line path  A shadow is formed where light rays cannot reach  Fuzzy part around the edges of the shadow happens when:  Light from one source is blocked but where other light fills in or  Where light from a source is only partially blocked

 When light from a lamp or the sun shines on a polarizing filter, the light that is transmitted is polarized  Light will pass through a pair of polarizing filters when their polarization axes are aligned, but not when they are crossed at right angles.

Hold an upright finger at arm’s length and see how it switches position relative to the background as you alternately close each eye.  Vision in three dimensions depends on the fact that both eyes give impressions simultaneously, each eye viewing a scene from a slightly different angle.  The view seen by each eye is different.  The combination of views in the eye-brain system gives depth.  A pair of photographs or movie frames, taken a short distance apart (about average eye spacing), can be seen in 3-D when the left eye sees only the left view and the right eye sees only the right view.

 Movies project the pair of views through polarization filters onto a screen.  Their polarization axes are at right angles to each other, so the right eye sees only the right view and the left eye sees only the left view.  Overlapping pictures look blurry to the naked eye  To see in 3-D, the viewer wears polarizing eyeglasses with the lens axes also at right angles  Each eye sees a separate picture, just as in real life. The brain interprets the two pictures as a single picture with a feeling of depth