16 Fundamentals of Light

2 The Wave Nature of Light

MAINIDEA
Write the Main Idea for this section.

Like all waves, light diffracts around objects, has a wavelength and

frequency, and can be Doppler shifted.

REVIEW VOCABULARY Recall and write the definition of the Review Vocabulary term.
wavelength wavelength the shortest distance between points of a wave where the

wave pattern repeats itself, such as from crest to crest or trough to trough

NEW VOCABULARY Use your book to fill in the term that matches its definition.
diffraction diffraction the bending of light as it passes the edge of a barrier
primary color
secondary color
primary color red, green, and blue light, which appear on a screen as
complementary color
primary pigment white light when combined

secondary pigment secondary color a combination of two primary colors

polarization complementary color two colors of light that can be combined to

Malus’s Law
produce white light
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primary pigment pigment that absorbs only one primary color and

reflects two from white light

secondary pigment pigment that absorbs two primary colors and

reflects one color

polarization production of light with a specific pattern of oscillation

Malus’s law law that explains the reduction of light intensity as light

passes through a second polarizing filter

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2 The Wave Nature of Light (continued)
Student Edition, pp. 447–449 Explain How does Huygens principle explain the blurred edges of the
shadow that Grimaldi observed?

Huygens used a model of wavelets to explain how light moves around

edges. The wave front moves in a line except near edges, where the

wavelet propagates as a circular wave. This creates a blurry edge.

Fill In Spotlights overlap as shown below. Based on the secondary colors

indicate, determine the color of each spotlight. What color occurs in the
very center?

Green

Cyan Yellow

White

Blue Red
Magenta

GET IT? Distinguish the difference between color by subtraction and

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color by addition.

Color by the addition of light occurs when colors of light are combined to

form a new color, such as red, blue, and green light combining to form

white light. Some substances, such as dyes and pigments, absorb certain

wavelengths of light, while reflecting others. The color that an object

appears to be is a result of the material absorbing specific light

wavelengths and reflecting the rest.

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 2 The Wave Nature of Light (continued)
Student Edition, pp. 449–453 Identify a pigment and a dye that could be used to create the color
green.

Chlorophyll is a dye that reflects green light. Chromium(III) oxide is a

pigment that also reflects green light.

Explain why polarization by filtering decreases the intensity of light.

When light passes through a polarizing filter, only the waves with electric

fields oscillating parallel to the polarizing axis pass through, the others

are stopped, decreasing the intensity of light.

Calculate Two polarizing filters are lined up. The light entering the first is
100 lm. Use Malus’s Law to complete the table below

Angle Between Filters Intensity of Light After

Passing through Second Filter
90° 0
0° 100 lm
60° 25 lm

Identify each of the variables in the following equation.

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the speed of light in a

vaccum

the wavelength of the

λ0 = _
c
light wave f

the frequency of the

light wave

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2 The Wave Nature of Light (continued)
Student Edition, pp. 447–455 Determine the frequency of light in a vacuum that has a wavelength of
430 nm.

7×1014 Hz

Specify What are the only factors involved in the Doppler effect for light
between a source and an observer?

The only factors are the velocity components along the axis between the

source and the observer.

Calculate A hydrogen atom in a galaxy moving with a speed of

9×106 m/s toward Earth emits a light with a wavelength of 555 nm. What
wavelength would be observed on Earth from that hydrogen atom?
538 nm

Explain how Edwin Hubble used the Doppler effect to determine that
the universe is expanding.

Hubble measured light produced by elements in many different galaxies.

No matter where he looked, the light was redshifted. This suggests that all

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the galaxies are moving away from each other and that the universe is

expanding.

SUMMARIZE
How does the MAINIDEA for this section relate to the chapter’s BIGIDEA?

Light behaves like a wave, and like all waves it diffracts around objects, has a wavelength and a

frequency, and can be Doppler shifted.

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 2 The Wave Nature of Light (continued)
REVIEW IT !
20. MAINIDEA Describe the relative motions of objects when light is redshifted and
when light is blueshifted. Answer using the term Doppler effect.

Red-shifted light is shifted to longer wavelengths. When a light source and an observer are moving

away from each other, the observed light is redshifted. Blue-shifted light is shifted to shorter

wavelengths. When a light source and an observer are moving toward each other, the observed

light is blue-shifted. This shift in the apparent wavelength is called the Doppler effect.

21. Addition of Light Colors What color of light must be combined with blue light to
obtain white light?

yellow (a mixture of the other two primaries, red and green)

22. Light and Pigment Interaction What color will a yellow banana appear to be when
illuminated by each of the following?
a. white light yellow

b. green and red light yellow

c. blue light black

23. What are the secondary pigment colors and why do they give objects the appearance
of those colors?

The secondary pigment colors are red, green, and blue. Objects appear these colors because the
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pigments they contain reflect those colors of light while absorbing others. For example, red

pigments absorb green and blue light, so only red is reflected.

24. Combination of Pigments What primary pigment colors must be mixed to produce
red? Explain your answer in terms of color subtraction for pigment colors

Yellow and magenta pigments are used to produce red. Yellow pigment absorbs blue, magenta

pigment absorbs green, and neither absorbs red so the mixture would reflect red.

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2 The Wave Nature of Light (continued)
25. Polarization Describe a simple experiment you could do to determine whether
sunglasses in a store are polarizing.

See whether the glasses reduce glare from reflective surfaces, such as windows or roadways.

26. Polarizing Sunglasses Use Figure 24 to determine the direction the polarizing axis of
polarizing sunglasses should be oriented to reduce glare from the surface of a road:
vertically or horizontally? Explain.

The polarizing axis should be oriented vertically,

since the light reflecting off the road will be

partially polarized in the horizontal direction. A

vertical polarizing axis will filter horizontal waves.

Figure 24

27. The speed of red light is slower in air and water than in a vacuum. The frequency,
however, does not change when red light enters water. Does the wavelength change?
If so, how?

Yes; because v = λf and λ = v/f, when v decreases, so does λ.

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28. Critical Thinking Astronomers have determined that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is
moving toward Andromeda, a neighboring galaxy. Explain how they determined this.
Can you think of a possible reason why the Milky Way is moving toward Andromeda?

The spectral lines of the emissions of known atoms are blueshifted in the light we see coming from

Andromeda. We would be moving toward Andromeda due to gravitational attraction. This

gravitational attraction could be due to the mass of the Milky Way or other objects located near the

Milky Way.

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