Light

Light

Light is a form of energy called radiant energy

The Sun gives off huge amounts of energy called electromagnetic radiation or radiant

energy.

This energy travels to Earth in a vacuum of space.

Some of this E-M or radiant energy you can see some you can’t

Visible light you can see! Hence the word visible!

Most types of E-M or radiant energy are invisible.

For example:•Infrared radiation•Ultraviolet radiation (ouch!)•X-rays•Microwaves•Radio waves•Gamma rays

Light starts many chemical reactions such as photosynthesis

Radiant energycan cause changes in matter The light energy is changed to other forms of energyFor example:Sunlight heats the water in the ocean

What about solar power? Is this a change in the form of energy?

Remember chemical reactions? Many give off light.

Photons! Tiny invisible particles of energy! Photons are energy, not matter, so no weight!

So, how does light travel?

Wow, I am as light as a photon!

But, I still don’t get it!How do the photons get

to where they are going?

Light moves in waves!

No, not those

waves!

Light Waves like this! Geez! Do I always have to tell you

guys everything?

A wave is energy that moves through a medium (solid, liquid, or gas)

But however they travel…..light waves all travel through space at the same speed and they can all travel through a vacuum.

Nothing is a fast as the speed of light….well almost nothing!

It travels 300,000 km/s!That’s fast!Light could travel around the world 7.5 times in 1 second!

Waves – light waves that isCrest – highest point of the waveTrough – lowest part of the wave

Hmmm.. Does this sound familiar?

Who remembers waves from our ocean unit?

Light Waves are measured according to:

Frequency the number of waves that pass a point in a specific amount of

time (like a second)

Wavelength measurement from the crest of one wave to another crest

Amplitude measurement from crest to the midline, or crest to trough

divided by two

High frequency wave= short wave length = more energy

Low frequency waves = longer wave length = less energy

How Light Behaves

“Light”, the dog

Light behaves in different ways when it strikes different things

Light slows down - bends – or bounces back when it travels through different mediums like gas, liquids, or solids

We’ll learn in the next unit that sound is just the opposite!Sound waves speed up when they travel through different mediums such as gas, liquids, or solids.

Visible LightWhat we see is white light

that is actually made up of many colors of light

We can only see these colors

when they are

reflected or refracted

ROYGBIV – the visible light spectrumRedOrangeYellowGreenBlueIndigoViolet

ROYGBIV The visible light spectrum

Red – Orange – Yellow – Green – Blue – Indigo - Violet

Reflection the return of light or sound as it bounces off a surface

Reflection is the way we see most things!

The colors of light that an object reflects are the colors we see.

For example: an apple absorbs most of the sunlight that strikes it. The rest of the light – the red part – reflects off the apple.

That’s why the apple appears red to us. Cool heh?

Refraction

the bending &

slowing down of

light waves

A prism works like a rainbow!It separates white light into the spectrum known as

ROY G BIV. When light passes into the prism glass it slows down and bends. This is known as

refraction

Rainbows are produced when white light strikes drops of water. Each drop acts like a prism that separates the white light into

ROYGBIV.

OpaqueNo light passes through

Example – wood, foil, 50 sheets of paper

Transparent Allows all light rays to pass through

Example - glass, shallow water

Translucent Allows some light rays to pass through

Example: wax paper – one piece of paper

Light Activity

1. Each table will have one container of objects.2. Experiment with the prism to find ROYGBIV3. Experiment with the disk to find ROYGBIV4. Answer questions on the ROYGBIV worksheet

5. Find your What’s Blocking the Light worksheets in packet6. Choose an object such as a pencil or eraser. 7. Now take a material that you believe is transparent from8. Your box of goodies. 9. Observe what happens when you place it over the object you 10.have chosen.11.Draw in the cloud what you observe.12.Write about what you observe13.Do the same for translucent and opaque14.When finished, try experimenting with other materials in box15.Fill in boxes with materials that are transparent, translucent and opaque16.Finish worksheet.

Refraction

the bending & slowing down of light waves

when they pass from one kind of matter

to another

A mirage is an example of light refraction.The difference in air temperature bends the light

Concave LensA lens that is wider at the edges than in the middle, and

That refracts light rays so they bend outward

Convex LensA lens that is wider in the middle than it is at the edges

It refracts light rays so they come together.

Nearsighted means you can see close up, but not far away.

Concave lenses correct nearsighted vision.

Farsighted means you can see faraway objects,

but not close up objects. Convex lenses correct farsighted

vision

Other examples of convex lenses are:magnifying glasses, telescopes,

microscopes, & binoculars

How do we see?

Our eyes are like camerasThe pupil is the opening

Iris – controls the amount of light that enters the eyeRetina – a layer of light sensitive cells at the back of the eye

The retina sends a signal to our brain to tell us what we are seeing

Hey can someone

turn off the light?