Chapter 17 Vocabulary Terms
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- regular reflection
- light reflected back to the observer in parallel beams, produces clear images
- diffuse reflection
- scattered, fuzzy reflection from a rough surface where light is randomly reflected, not clear, ex:white wall, concrete sidewalk
- angle of refraction
- angle that the refracted ray makes with the normal to the surface
- optically dense
- angle of refraction is smaller than the angle of incidence, new medium is optically dense
- normal line
- imaginary line that is perpendicular to boundary
- refraction of light
- bending of light through a different media
- index of refraction
- a measure of how much light bends when it passes into a medium from a vacuum, also measures how fast light travels in a medium
- total internal reflection
- when light passes through from a more optically dense medium into a less optically dense medium, the light ray will bend away from the normal, angle of incidence is greater than angle of refraction
- critical angle
- incident angle unique to a subsntace that causes the refracted ray to lie along hte boundary of the substance
- reflected light
- when incident angle exceeds critical angle, lights will be reflected
- dispersion
- separtion of light into its spectrum, ex=rainbows: refraction occurs when rays pass into and out of raindrops
- what happens when light falls on a prism?
- it is dispersed into a spectrum of colors
- effects of refraction
- mirages: it is produced by the reflection of light when it passes into a layer of hot air lying close to a heated ground surface
- fiber optics
- the core is made of glass or plastic or highly transparent materials becuz it can transmit light over a variety of distances, there is a sheath to cover the outer layer so light cannot come in. each time the light strikes the surface the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, thus the reflection is total keeping the light within the fiber
- application of total internal reflection
- plants, surgical tools for microsurgery, telecommunication