![]() Module 5 showed you that the wave nature of EMR is supported by the production, speed, propagation of light, reflection, refraction, diffraction, interference, and polarization of light. They are commonly used in sunglasses or camera filters to block glare from reflected surfaces. If the filters are oriented at 90° to each other, they absorb all of the wave energy. Polar filters absorb the electric field of the EMR and only allow EMR through that is vibrating in one plane. In nature, refraction causes rainbows to form as the white light entering raindrops is split into the visible light spectrum because the different wavelengths of visible light refract at slightly different angles.įinally, the wave nature of light was demonstrated using polar filters that block different amounts of light depending on the filters’ orientation. One application of this reflection is high-speed communication networks using light instead of electricity, which can occur because total internal reflection prevents light from exiting the side of fibre optic cables. The light will stay within the higher index medium. When light goes from a high-index medium to a low-index medium and the angle of incidence is equal to or larger than the critical angle, the light will experience total internal reflection instead of refraction. You learned that the index of refraction is based on the velocity of light in a medium and how Snell’s Law uses the index of refraction to mathematically describe the change in direction of the light as it changes media, velocity, and wavelength. Refraction occurs when a light wave changes speed when the wave transitions from one medium into another and changes directions (as shown in the diagram on the left). In Lesson 4 you learned that refraction supports the wave model of light. AM/FM radios, cellphones, garage-door openers, and cordless phones operate in the radio range of the spectrum. You discovered that radio waves are very common today. They are created by accelerating charges and can induce currents in antennas as a radio does.Īll of the wave properties of EMR were summarized by Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory and later proved by Heinrich Hertz, who used a spark gap to create the artificial EMR, now called radio waves. ![]() The EMR wave is a combination of changing electric and magnetic fields at right angles to each other. The spectrum is organized by the wavelength and frequency of the EMR wave. Lesson 1 began by looking at the electromagnetic spectrum and how EMR is produced, starting with low-energy radio waves, going up to the rainbow of visible light, and continuing up to high-energy gamma rays. ![]() Throughout the module, you studied the key experiments that showed EMR is a wave by examining its characteristics: Module 5: Wave Theory of Light is all about proving that light is a wave and not a particle.
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