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Physics 1230: Light and Color: Geometrical Optics - How Does Light Change Direction?
Physics 1230: Light and Color: Geometrical Optics - How Does Light Change Direction?
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phys1230
Each color has a different wavelength and frequency, but the
SAME SPEED in air
http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/index.html
distance
speed = c = = = f
time T
Light slows down in materials compared with air
A) 3 x 108 m/sec
B) 1.5 m/sec
C) 2 x 108 m/sec
Light slows down in denser materials
this picture shows refraction without
dispersion, as would occur with
monochromatic light
Light waves incident on glass change direction and wavelength when transmitted
into the glass because the part of the wave in the medium begins to slow down,
causing the light beam to bend.
http://acept.la.asu.edu/PiN/rdg/refraction/refraction.shtml
Concept Question
normal to surface
incident ray
glass or water A
B
C
Concept Question
reflected
rays
C
glass or water incident
ray
Concept Question
http://acept.la.asu.edu/PiN/rdg/refraction/refraction2.shtml
Concept Question - Which Color bends more?
If blue light travels slower than red light in glass and other materials,
which color will bend more when it reaches an interface from air to glass?
A. Red
B. Blue
C. Green
Dispersion
Dispersion is a kind of refraction in which the amount of bending depends
on the wavelength (i.e., the color)
This is because the speed of light in a medium depends on the color
In general for glass and similar materials, red light travels faster than
blue light, but both slow down compared with the vacuum
Examples are the colors produced by prisms, diamonds and rainbows
Dispersion by prisms
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/light/dispersion.html
Dispersion by prisms
The traditional rainbow is sunlight spread out into its spectrum of colors and
diverted to the eye of the observer by water droplets. The "bow" part of the
word describes the fact that the rainbow is a group of nearly circular arcs of
color all having a common center.
Most people have never noticed that the sun is always behind you when you face
a rainbow, and that the center of the circular arc of the rainbow is in the
direction opposite to that of the sun. The rain, of course, is in the direction of
the rainbow.
How Rainbows Work
Sunlight
Why dont you see the blue at top and red at bottom of rainbow?
http://mathdemos.gcsu.edu/mathdemos/MCRain/MCRain.html
Making your own rainbows
Get a fine misting sprinkler and set the water pressure high enough to get a large
volume of water droplets in the air.
* Where should you stand with respect to the water and the sun?
* Find the shadow of yourself on the ground. Try to measure the angle from the
shadow of your head to the rainbow arc. Use the "hand and fist" method to
measure this angle: if you stretch out your arm and make a fist, the width of your
fist is about ten degrees.
http://www.hands-on-optics.org/puzzler/
Galen Rowell: Potala Palace, Lhasa
Isanakleshe (Changing Woman) and Navajo sand painting: Father Sky, Mother Earth
Natseelit (the Rainbow Goddess) and enclosed on three sides by Rainbow Goddess
Sacred Corn http://www.jedisteve.com/navajo.html
Sandra Stanton
Rainbows and the Story of Noah
Rainbows and the Story of Noah