Chapter 7 Light Vocabulary

CHAPTER 7 LIGHT Vocabulary blackbody radiation (p. 184) - electromagnetic radiation emitted by an ideal material (the blackbody) that perfectly absorbs and perfectly emits radiation diffraction (p. 196) - the bending of light around the edge of an opaque object incandescent (p. 184) - matter emitting visible light as a result of high temperature; for example, a light bulb, a flame from any burning source, and the sun are all incandescent sources because of high temperature index of refraction (p. 190) - the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a material interference (p. 197) - phenomenon of light where the relative phase difference between two light waves produces light or dark spots, a result of light’s wavelike nature light ray model (p. 186) - model using lines to show the direction of motion of light to describe the travels of light luminous (p. 184) - an object or objects that produce visible light; for example, the sun, stars, light bulbs, and burning materials are all luminous photoelectric effect (p. 199) - the movement of electrons in some materials as a result of energy acquired from absorbed light photons (p. 200) - a quantum of energy in a light wave; the particle associated with light polarized (p. 198) - light whose constituent transverse waves are all vibrating in the same plane; also known as plane-polarized light quanta (p. 200) - fixed amounts; usually referring to fixed amounts of energy absorbed or emitted by matter ("quanta" is plural and "quantum" is singular) real image (p. 188) - an image generated by a lens or mirror that can be projected onto a screen refraction (p. 189) - a change in the direction of travel of light, sound, or other waves crossing a boundary total internal reflection (p. 190) - condition where all light is reflected back from a boundary between materials; occurs when light arrives at a boundary at the critical angle or beyond

unpolarized light (p. 198) - light consisting of transverse waves vibrating in all conceivable random directions virtual image (p. 188) - an image where light rays appear to originate from a mirror or lens; this image cannot be projected on a screen