Exploring Creation with Physical Science Module 15

What is the difference between a converging lens and a diverging lens?

A converging lens causes light rays to bend so that they converge to a single point. Diverging lenses cause light rays to bend away from each other.

Electromagnetic wave

A transverse wave composed of an oscillating electrical field and a magnetic field that oscillates perpendicular to the electrical field.

A cyan dye made of a mixture of substances which absorb all light colors except blue and green. If you took a cyan piece of paper and placed it in a dark room and shined red light on it, what would you see? What would you see if you shined green light on it?

In the red, then, the paper would look black. In green light, the paper would look green.

Infrared light is given off by any object that is losing heat. The human body is almost always losing heat to the environment. Why, then, don't human bodies glow at night, since they are emitting light?

Infrared light is not visible.

A shirt is dyed so that it appears violet. What colors of light does the dye absorb?

It absorbs red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and indigo light.

Which of the following lenses is a converging lens? which is a diverging lens?

Lens (a) is a converging lens and lens (b) is a diverging lens.

Sound waves cause air to oscillate. What do light waves oscillate?

Light waves oscillate a magnetic field and an electromagnetic field.

What does Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity say about the speed of light?

Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in any given substance.

Order the colors in problem #6 in terms of increasing frequency.

Orange, yellow, green, violet.

Explain the three theories of light

Particle theory: This theory says that light comes in a group of tiny packets, that all have independent features. Wave theory: This theory says that light comes in the form of two waves, one wave made of an oscillating magnetic field and the other of oscillating electrical field. Quantum-mechanic theory of light: This theory says that light takes on both particle features and wave features to form light waves.

Do radio waves have higher or lower frequencies than visible light? What about X-rays?

Radio waves have lower frequencies than visible light while X-rays have higher frequencies.

The Law of Reflection

The angle of reflection equals the angle of incident.

What is special about the way the eye focuses light as compared to the way a camera focuses light?

The eye focuses light by changing the shape of its lens. A camera focuses light by moving the position of the lens.

When light travels from one substance to another, what two things can happen to the direction of the light ray's travel?

The light ray can be reflected or refracted.

In a physics experiment, a light ray is examined as it travels from air into glass. If the angle that the light ray makes with a line perpendicular to the glass surface is measured, will the refracted ray bend toward or away from that line?

The light will bend towards the perpendicular line.

Light is traveling through water and suddenly breaks the surface and travels through the air. Did the lights speed increase, decrease, or stay the same once it left the water?

The light's speed increased once it left the water.

Light hits a mirror, making a angle of 15 degrees relative to a line drawn perpendicular to the mirror's surface. What angle does the reflected light make with the same line?

The reflected light also makes a 15 degree angle relative to that line.

Suppose the cone cells on your retina that sense red light no longer work. If you look at a piece of white paper, what color would it appear to be? If you looked at a red piece of paper, what color would it appear to be?

The white paper would appear to be blue-green or cyan. The red paper would appear to be black.

In order for you to see a rainbow what three conditions must be met?

There must be water droplets suspended in the air, the sun must be shining on them from behind you, and the sun must be a certain angle (or height in the sky).

Order the following colors in terms of increasing wavelength: orange, violet, yellow, green.

Violet, green, yellow, and orange.

When you look at objects underwater from above the water, they appear to be at a different position than the position they truly are at. Why?

When light travels from water to air, it bends. This causes your mind to form a false image of the object in a slightly different location.

In the following diagram, will the man see his foot, despite the fact that the mirror does not reach the ground?

Yes.