Physics Mcat Light And Optics

Front 1

Properties of Electromagnetic Waves

Back 1

1. need no material medium to propagate
2. Speed of EM wave through vacuum: 3x10^8 m/s
3. Visible wavelength: 4x10-7m to 7x10^-7m

Front 2

Photons

Back 2

quantized energy
E=hf=h(c/l) h=planck;s constant

Front 3

Wave-particel duality

Back 3

EM wave travels like a wave, but interacts w/ matter like a particle

Front 4

Angle of Reflection

Back 4

Angle measured from incidence line

Front 5

Angle of Refraction

Back 5

Angle that a refracted ray makes w/ the line thats perpend. to the plane of interface between the two media.

Front 6

Index of refraction

Back 6

n=c/v

Front 7

How index of refraction works

Back 7

If a medium has a lower index of refraction from incident medium, the ray bends away from the normal (vice versa)

Front 8

Critical Angle

Back 8

Angle at which Total Internal Reflection happens;
Sin of Crit Angle= n2/n1 where n1>n2

Front 9

Diffraction

Back 9

redistrubution of a wave's intensity when an obstruction is presented before an object (spreads out when it hits a hole)

Front 10

Polarization

Back 10

light whose direction is restricted to one plane (vibrate in a single plane)

Front 11

Dispersion

Back 11

spreading out of the while light due to variations of wave speed caused by different frequencies

Front 12

Four optics questions

Back 12

1. where is the image found?
2. is the image upright or inverted?
3. is the image real or virtual?
4. how much is the object magnified by?

Front 13

Real image

Back 13

light actually focuses at the position of the image

Front 14

Virtual image

Back 14

light rays don't focus at the apparent location of the image

Front 15

When magnification is "+", then the image is

Back 15

upright

Front 16

When magnification is "-", then the image is

Back 16

inverted

Front 17

on a concave mirror, focal length is

Back 17

positive

Front 18

on a convex mirror, focal length is

Back 18

negative

Front 19

t/f
the object length is always positive

Back 19

t

Front 20

Comparing Len optics to mirror optics

Back 20

for a lens:
1. equations are the same as for mirrors
2. focal point sign conventions are switched
3. real images form on the opposite side (virtual images form on the same side)

Front 21

Equation for maxima in dispersion

Back 21

d sin (theta)=m(wavelength)
d= distance between slits
m= is the "n-th" maxima

Front 22

Equation for minima in dispersion

Back 22

d sin (theta)=(m+0.5)(wavelength)
d= distance between slits
m= is the "n-th" minima

Front 23

In lenses, when the image distance is negative, the image is:

Back 23

virtual and upright

Front 24

In lenses, when the image distance is positive, the image is:

Back 24

real and inverted

Front 25

t/f
focal point distance is always negative for converging lenses

Back 25

f
focal point distance is always negative for diverging lenses

Front 26

As an object distance becomes greater than f, the image will:

Back 26

decrease in distance and become virtual

Front 27

As a wave travels from one medium to another, what property does not change?

Back 27

Frequency

Front 28

The speed of a wave in a given medium is determined by what?

Back 28

the type of the wave and the characteristics of the medium NOT the frequency