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47 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Medium |
Any physical substance through which energy can be transferred |
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Radiation |
A method of energy transfer that does not require a medium; the energy travels at the speed of light |
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Electromagnetic Wave |
A wave that has both electric and magnetic parts, does not require a medium, and travels at the speed of light |
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Visible Light |
Electromagnetic waves that the human eye can detect |
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Electromagnetic Spectrum |
The classification of electromagnetic waves by energy |
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Visible Spectrum |
The continuous sequence of colors that make up white light |
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Electric Discharge |
The process of producing light by passing an electric current through a gas |
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Semiconductor |
A material that allows an electric current to flow in only one direction |
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Light Ray |
A line on a diagram representing the direction and path that light is traveling |
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Geometric Optics |
The use of light rays to determine how light behaves when it strikes objects |
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Incident Light |
Light emitted from a source that strikes an object |
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Transparent |
When a material transmits all or almost all incident light; objects can be clearly seen through the material. Ex. clear glass |
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Translucent |
When a material transmits some incidents like that absorbs or reflects the rest; objects are not clearly seen through the material. Ex. frosted glass |
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Opaque |
When a material does not transmit any incident light; all incident light is either absorbed or reflected; objects behind the material cannot be seen at all. Ex. cardboard |
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Image |
Reproduction of an object through the use of light |
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Mirror |
Any polished surface reflecting an image |
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Reflection |
The bouncing back of light from a surface |
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Plane |
Mirror, or flat mirror, illustrates how predictable the path of light is when it hits the mirror |
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Incident Ray |
The incoming ray that strikes a surface |
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Reflected Ray |
The ray that bounces off a reflective surface |
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Normal |
The perpendicular line to a mirror surface |
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Perpendicular |
At right angles |
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Angle of Incidence |
The angle between the incident ray and the normal |
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Angle of Reflection |
The angle between the reflected ray and the normal |
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Virtual Image |
An image formed by a light coming from apparent light source; light is not arriving at or coming from the actual image location |
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Concave (converging) Mirror |
A mirror shaped like part of the surface of a sphere in which the inner surface is reflective |
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Convex (diverging) Mirror |
A nirror shaped like part of the surface of a sphere in which the outer surface is reflective |
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Center of Curvature |
The center of the sphere whose surface has been used to make mirror |
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Principal Axis |
The line through the center of curvature to the midpoint of the mirror |
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Vertex |
The point where the principal axis meets the mirror |
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Converge |
To meet at a common point |
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Focus |
The point at which light rays parallel to the principal axis converge when they are reflected off a concave mirror |
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Real Image |
An image that can be seen on a screen as a result of light rays actually arriving at the image location |
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Diverage |
To spread apart |
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Refraction |
The bending or change in direction of light when it travels from one medium into another |
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Angle of Refraction |
The angle between the refracted ray and the normal |
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Index of Refraction |
The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a medium, n = C/V, this value is also equal to the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence in a vacuum to the sine of the refracted ray in a medium, n = sin i / sin R |
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Critical Angle |
The angle of incidence that results in an angle of refraction of 90° |
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Total Internal Reflection |
The situation when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle |
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Retro-Reflector |
An optional device in which the emergent ray is parallel to the incident ray |
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Apparent Depth |
The depth that an object appears to be at due to the refraction of light in a transparent medium |
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Mirage |
A virtual image that forms as a result of refraction on Earth's atmosphere |
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Dispersion |
The separation of white light into its constituent colors |
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Converging Lens |
A lens that is thickest in a middle and that causes incident parallel light rays to coverage through a single point after refraction |
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Diverging Lens |
A lens that is thinnest in the middle and that causes incident parallel light rays to spread apart after |
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Optical Centre |
Point at the exact center of the lens |
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Principal Focus |
The point on the principal axis of a lens where light rays parallel to the principal axis |
