CRAVE THE WAVE 2009 SCIENCE OLYMPIAD EVENT GUIDELINES Rocky Mountain Coach’s Clinic Colorado Springs, CO January 9-10, 2009

PRESENTED BY: Mark A. Van Hecke National Science Olympiad Chair: Earth-Space Science Rules Committee Anchor Bay High School Fair Haven, MI *

OBJECTIVES: Describe the movement of energy with primary focus on the electromagnetic spectrum. *

NSE STANDARDS H.B.5 Conservation of Energy and Increase in Disorder All energy can be considered to be either kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion; potential energy, which depends on relative position; or energy contained by a field, such as electromagnetic waves. *

NSE STANDARDS H.B.6 Interactions of Energy and Matter Waves, including sound and seismic waves, waves on water, and light waves, have energy and can transfer energy when they interact with matter. *

WHAT STUDENTS WILL DO Draw and label diagrams Record observations Make predictions Interpret data Generate inferences Solve problems Formulate and evaluate hypothesis *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES All energy, whether it’s water, sound or light moves in waves *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES The diagram below gives you the most basic features of waves including amplitude, wavelength and frequency. It also shows the high point of a frequency curve (crest) and low points of a curve (trough). * ACTIVITY Copy the diagram to the right and label the components shown. The diagram is enlarged in Slide 9

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES *

All you really need to understand about how light works is particles and waves. Light particles are called photons and move in electromagnetic waves generated by oscillating electrical and magnetic fields. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES Electromagnetic energy waves ‘move’ when an oscillating electric field generates an oscillating magnetic field. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES The oscillating magnetic field in turn generates an oscillating electric field propelling the wave forward from one point to another as shown in the simple diagram below. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES In this diagram, x= the distance traveled by the wave and A= the amplitude or strength of the wave. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES As in surfing, the larger an ocean wave, the more energy it has. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES Likewise, changes in amplitude do not affect the frequency or wavelength of an energy wave as shown in the diagram below. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES Changes in the amplitude of an energy wave explain things such as a weak or strong cell phone signal. Or bright or dim lights. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES The Ǻ in the diagram refers to the frequency and wavelength in which the photon travels. The frequency of a wave is the number of times that the crest of a wave (high point) passes a point in one second. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES The higher the frequency of a wave, the shorter its wavelength will be. Wavelength is the distance between the crests (top curves) or troughs (bottom curves) of two waves. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES Radio waves can have wavelengths from 3 millimeters to 30 kilometers (larger wavelengths). Light waves can have wavelengths of only 0.4 and 0.6 microns (one-millionth of a meter) (shorter wavelengths *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES Radio waves have a lower frequency, meaning that fewer radio waves pass a given point in one second while they have a longer distance to travel between the crests or troughs of each wave. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES Light waves on the other hand have a greater number of waves passing a given point in a second and travel shorter distances between crests and troughs. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES The measurement unit of frequency is Hertz. One hertz means a frequency of one wave per second. *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES Most radio waves have a frequency of around 100,000 and 1,000,000 hertz *

GENERAL WAVE FEATURES Visible light frequencies have frequencies between around 100,000,000,000,000 and 1,000,000,000,000,000 hertz. *

ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY The electromagnetic spectrum is the name scientists give to the different types of radiation that exist in the physical world. *

ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY The electromagnetic spectrum can be described in terms of a stream of photons. Photons have the properties of waves and of particles. *

ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY The amount of energy found in photons to the left of the EMS (electromagnetic spectrum) is lower than that found to the right of the spectrum. *

ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY Radio waves have photons with low energies, microwaves a bit more, infrared more yet, then visible all the way up to gamma rays which are the most energetic of all. *

ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY Looking at the EMS diagram, it’s interesting to note that only a very tiny percentage of electromagnetic energy is visible to the human eye. *

ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY The colors of visible light that we see correspond to different wavelengths of light. Although we can’t see it anymore, the light continues beyond what we can see in both directions of the EMS. *

ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY We use remote sensing devices to help us see phenomena that only exist or are best seen in wavelengths other than that of the visible light spectrum. *

Event Parameters Team of up to 2 Scientific calculators are permitted A resource binder is permitted All papers must be: 3-hole punched secured in a 3-ring binder so that none fall out Binder must fit in 3”x 12” x 12” without compression *