Transcript Slide 1

Physical Science
Light
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Transparency
Transparency
Polarization
Polarization
Polarization
Liquid Crystals
No current - no alignment
Light can go through
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Current - Alignment
no light gets through
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Liquid Crystals
Liquid Crystal Character Display
Liquid Crystal Character Display
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Bat
Control
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Transmission of Light
Sensitivity of Eyes to Color
White Light
• The light coming from the sun is
what we call white light or a mixture
of all colors
• Can be separated into it
components with a prism
Addition of Light
• Blue and red = magenta (purplish color)
• Green and blue = cyan (greenish blue)
• Red and green = yellow
Mixing of Colors in Pigments
• Mixing of light different than
mixing pigments
• When you mix paint, you mix
small particles that absorb the
complimentary color.
Mixing of Colors in Pigments
• The small particles in the pigment
absorb specific colors and thus we
see what is not absorbed.
• For instance, a paint that looks red
has small particles in it that absorb
cyan and thus reflects its
complimentary color red.
Complimentary Colors
Diffraction
Bending of light (waves) by means
other than reflection of refraction
Waves Around an Object
Interference
Interference
Why is the Sky Blue
• Recall the tuning fork demo –
one vibrating fork causes
another to vibrate
• When light waves strike atoms
in the atmosphere they cause
them to scatter light (reemitted
light in all directions)
Why is the Sky Blue
Why is the Sky Blue
• The nitrogen a oxygen
primarily scatter violet light
• Our eyes are not as sensitive to
violet light so we see it mostly
as blue
Why is the Sky Blue
• Water vapor effects the color –
dry air – really blue
• Particles in the air tend to turn
it grey or brown
• After a good rain, the sky
seems deeper blue
Why are sunsets red?
• Light that isn’t scattered is
transmitted through the air
• Red light is scattered the least and
therefore transmitted the best
• The further light travels through
the atmosphere, the more
opportunity to be scattered
Why are sunsets red?
• If light passes a long way, more of the
high frequency (blue) light is scattered
and red becomes more predominate.
• When we look toward the sun at
sunrise or sunset, we se light traveling
through a lot of atmosphere
• So red is the predominate color to
reach our eyes.
Why are sunsets red?
Why are clouds white
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Clouds contain clusters of water
droplets in various sizes
Different sized water clusters scatter
light at different frequencies
We see different frequencies as
different colors
If you have clusters producing red,
green and blue – we see white
Why are clouds white
• Clouds also contain a large
quantity of free electrons
• These electrons vibrating in
step increase the intensity of
the light therefore clouds tend
to be bright
Why are clouds white
• As the water droplets get
larger they absorb more of the
light so clouds become darker
just prior to raining.