SCIENCE REVIEWER

Electromagnetic Spectrum

– is the term used to describe the entire range of electromagnetic radiations arrange in the order of their
frequencies or wavelengths.

 There is no sharp dividing point between one type of wave to the next type.
 The special names assigned to these waves are only for convenience in locating the position of the wave in the
spectrum

Radio and TV Waves

– They were discovered by Heinrich Hertz in 1887.

– Have the longest wavelengths ( 10-1m to 104m )and the lowest frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum.
– they can be produced by electronic devices.
– Often used in communication.

Microwaves

– are extremely high frequency radio waves ( 3 x 108 Hz to 3 x 10 11 Hz )

– are radio waves of very short wavelength ( 10-4m to 10-1 m )
– they are used for communication purposes, radar, mobile phone networks and for cooking.
– James clerk Maxwell was credited for discovering microwaves in 1864.

Infrared Waves

– are waves that lie in the region beyond the red end of the visible spectrum.
– The wavelength of infrared waves is too long to be visible to the naked eye ( 7 x 10-7 m to 10-3m ).

Infrared waves are also known as heat waves.

Sir William Herchel identified these rays about 1800.

– Infrared radiation is used :

a. To take pictures from satellites with special films to asses the vegetation of the earth’s surface.

b. To show temperature variation of the body for medical diagnosis.

c. in remote controllers that send instruction to electronic devices.

d. In infrared telescopes for seeing in the dark.

e. in auto focus cameras that emit infrared pulses to focus on the object.

– The danger of too much exposure to infrared rays will lead to overheating

Light/Visible light- is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum visible to our unaided eye. It extends from short wave
violet ( 4 x 10-7 ) to the long wave red ( 7.6 x10-7m )

– The following are the approximate wavelengths of the different colors of light:
violet ----------------------- 410 nm

blue--------------------------- 470 nm

green--------------------------550 nm

yellow------------------------ 590 nm

orange----------------------------610 nm

red------------------------------760 nm

– In the modern usage, indigo is not usually distinguish as a separate color.

Ultraviolet Waves
– Johann Wilhelm Ritter discovered the ultraviolet waves.
– Has a shorter wavelength than violet light.

Ultraviolet radiation is used :

 a. In the production of vitamin D by the inner layers of the skin.

b. In sterilizing water in drinking fountains.

c. Used by banks to identify fake bank notes and to check the signatures on the passbook.

d. in paints that contain fluorescent chemicals that glow in sunlight.

SUN = major source of ultraviolet rays.

X- rays/ Roentgen Rays

– have short wavelengths ( 10-12m to 10-8m)

– have very high frequencies.
– they can damage living cells and cause cancer.

Gamma Rays

– they have shorter wavelengths than X – rays ( 10-14 m to 10-10m )

– are used in industries to detect cracks in metal.
– are used in sterilizing medical instruments and some applications in astronomy.
– they can cause cancer and even mutation. But the irony of it , conncentrated beams of gamma rays are used to destroy
cancer cells in a process called radiotherapy.

BEAM = consists of several parallel rays.

Light

– Light is an integral part of our life.

– With light there is sight. We are able to read this page, oR behold the blue skies because light is reflected from them and
enters our eye.
– Without light from the sun , there can be no photosynthesis and Mother Earth will just be a cold lifeless mass of rocks in
space.
– The role of light in our everyday life will continue to increase in the years ahead with the twenty first century tagged as “
century of light “.

NATURE OF LIGHT

– Several theories about light were proposed at different points in time . Each theory has its limitations and cannot explain all
observed phenomena on light.

CORPUSCULAR OR PARTICLE THEORY ( Isaac Newton)

– according to this theory light is composed of tiny particles, called corpuscles, emitted by a luminous object.

WAVE THEORY ( Christian Huygens )

– considered light to be a wave propagating in ether.

ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY ( James Clerk Maxwell )

– according to this theory ,light is that small part of the electromagnetic spectrum which affects our vision and propagated in
space as electromagnetic waves.

QUANTUM THEORY (Max Planck )

– this theory assumes that light is radiated in discrete packets or bundles of energy called photons, which is also exhibits wave
characteristics.

So what is light ?Is it a particle or a wave ?

The answer is both. Light is said to have a dual nature.

When does light behave as a particle ?When does it behave as a wave?

In general , if light interacts with light such as in interference , it manifests wave behavior. If light interacts with matter like in the
photoelectric effect, the particle behavior is strongly manifested.

Light of higher frequencies shows more of a particle behavior while light of lower frequencies shows more of the wavelike behavior.

SPEED OF LIGHT
 Galileo – made the first attempt to measure the speed of light. He did not succeed, and he was forced to conclude that the speed of
light was to fast to be measured.

Olaus Roemer – he was the first person to determine the speed of light by observing the time of eclipse of Io, one of the moons of
Jupiter.

Albert Michelson

– redesign Foucault’s experiment for greater accuracy. He began his work in 1880 and continued for several decades and
obtained the most precise measurement of the speed of light which is 2.997 996 x 108 m/s. This value has been a standard
since 1983 and was used to define the meter, standard unit of length. However for ordinary purposes, this value is rounded
to 3.00 x 108 m/s.

Light Year the distance by light in one year. This the unit of distance used by astronomers to measure distances in the universe /
space. 1 light year = 9.5 x 1012 km

PRODUCING VISIBLE LIGHT

An object can be seen by the light it emits or by the light it reflects.

Luminous Object – an object that can generate its own light. The sun and the stars are luminous bodies, being visible by their own
light.

Illuminated Object – an object that is not capable of producing its own light but receives light from luminous object and reflects this
light to our eyes. In the absence of a luminous object, these objects will not be seen. The moon and planets are illuminated bodies.

LINEAR PROPAGATION OF LIGHT

– Pierre de Fermat developed a principle that can be used to determine light paths. Fermat’s Principle of Least Time states
that the path taken by light in going from one point to another is the path that requires the least time. Accordingly , light
travels in a straight line because a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. The beam of light coming from a
flashlight or from a laser pointer best demonstrates this. Shadows and eclipses are also evidences of light traveling in a
straight line.

Process and landforms along plate boundaries

Geomorphology – is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape the.

Topography - is the study of the current terrain features of a region and the graphic representation of a particular landform on a
map.

Landforms - are define as a natural physical features on the surface of the earth.

Aeolian landforms - are formed by the chemical and mechanical action of wind.

Dunes - Are mounds or small hills made up of sand.

Loess- Is a predominantly silt-sized sediment formed by the accumulation of windblown dust. It appears yellowish or brownish and it
exhibits “cat step”. It is commonly found in Europe, Mississippi Valley and Asia.

Mushroom rocks - Also called a rock pedestal, is a naturally occurring rock that assembles the shape of a mushroom. They are
formed by Earthquakes or glacial action.

Erosional landforms- Are created from exclusively erosional and weathering activities.

Mesas -Also called table mountains, they are elevated areas of land with a flat top and sides are usually steep cliffs. They are usually
surrounded by a resistant rock known as a cap rock.

Buttes- Almost similar to mesas the difference is they cover a smaller amount of area compared to mesa.

From the French word which means “hillock” or small hill.

They are formed by erosion when a hard cap rock overlies a layer of less resistant rock.

Canyons- Sometimes called “gorge”, is a deep ravine between cliffs that carved from the landscape by a river, wind or glacier.

- They are formed by water and wind erosion over a long period of geologic times.

Mountain landforms- are those that rise higher than the rest of theirsurroundings. They exhibit slope, sumrit areas, and local reliefs
Volcanoes- Are landform that are controlled by geological processes that form them and continually act on them after their
formation. A Volcanic mountain can be identified from its opening at the top called a vent.

Hill- Are elevated portions of land that are formed by geologic activities such as faulting. They are usually covered with grass and are
used as grazing lands for goats, cattle and carabao.

-They are smaller than mountains.

Valleys - Or dales are low-lying areas of land situated between hills or mountains.

V-shaped- when carved out by flowing water.

U-shaped- when carved out by glaciers.

Glacial Landforms - Are the results of the actions of the glaciers. Glaciers are huge slow-moving bodies of ice.

Fluvial and coastal landforms - Fluvial landforms are those that underwent sedimentation, erosion or deposition on the river bed. If
the bodies of water associated with these landforms interacted with glaciers or ice caps, they are called glaciofluvial or fluvioglacial

Delta- is a typically low-lying triangular area located at the mouth of rivers where it meets an ocean, a sea, or an estuary. It contains
rich soil that has been washed away and deposited by running water.

Alluvium refers to the sediment that has accumulated due to interaction with a delta and bodies of water.

Peninsula – Are called byland or biland , is a piece of land that projects into a body of water and is connected with the mainland by
an isthmus. It came from a Latin word Paeninsula(paena which means “almost” and insula which means “island” as this landmass is
bordered by water on three sides.

Meander - Is a bend in a sinuous watercourse of a river.

It is formed when moving water in a stream erodes the outbanks then widens its valley.

Every meander has a concave bank(inner bank) and convex bank(outer bank). Deposition of sediment occur at the inner bank,
whereas erosions take place at the outer edge.

Sea Cliffs - Are high rocky coasts that plunge down to the edge of the sea.

Plains - Are flat and broad land areas that have no great changes in elevation when measured with reference to the sea level.

Abyssal Plains - Are found at the deepest part of the ocean. They are located at depth of 3-6 km between the foot of a continental
rise and a mid-ocean ridge.

Plateaus - Or table lands or flat topped mountains, are portions of land elevated thousands of feet above their surroundings. They
are the results of geologic uplifts or the slow movement of large parts of the areas in Earth’s crust.