Light and sound - reflection and refraction
- Created by: emews
- Created on: 05-11-17 14:53
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- Light and sound - reflection and refraction
- Light and sound both travel as waves, but they are not identical
- Diffraction is the spreading out of waves when they pass through a gap.
- Sound waves and light waves reflect from surfaces. The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.
- An incident ray of light hits a plane mirror at an angle and is reflected back off it.
- The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence.
- Both angles are measured from the normal. The normal is an imaginary line at right angles to the plane mirror.
- Smooth surfaces produce strong echoes then sound waves hit them, and they can act as mirrors when light waves hit them.
- The waves can
- be focused to a point, eg sunlight reflected off a concave telescope mirror
- appear to come from a point behind the mirror, eg a looking glass
- Rough surfaces scatter sound and light in all directions.
- Sound waves and light waves change speed when they pass across the boundary between two substances with different densities, such as air and glass.
- When white light passes from air into a triangular prism, it is refracts into the colours of the rainbow
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