Electromagnetic Radiation

Answer the questions on your worksheet.

Use https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/emspectrum1.html for questions 1-4.

1.      What do all types of electromagnetic radiation have in common?

 

 

2.      What is different about the different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum?

 

 

3.      Which type of radiation has the least energy? How or where is this radiation formed?

 

 

4.      Raphael refers to a wave by noting its wavelength.  Lucinda refers to a wave by noting its frequency.  Which student is correct and why?

 

 

 

Take the tour at http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/waves3.html and answer questions 5-10.

5.       How does the energy of the different waves of the spectrum vary with frequency? With wavelength?

 

 

 

6.      What is the frequency range of UV light?  Of Infrared light?

 

 

 

7.      If you are use night-vision goggles, what part of the spectrum are you detecting?

 

 

8.      Rich says that light is the same thing as electromagnetic radiation.  Do you agree or disagree with Rich?  Explain your response.

 

 

9.      Do all animals see the same frequencies of “visible” light as humans do? Do all animals hear the same frequencies of sound as humans do?

 

 

 

10.  Why do astronomers use frequencies other than the visible ones when they are investigating the universe?

 

 

Use http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf to answer questions 11-12.

11.  What frequency range does the United States use for FM broadcasting?  For AM broadcasting?

 

12.  What frequency does television channel 7 broadcast at?

 

 

 

 Use https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/color-vision/latest/color-vision_en.html to answer questions 13-15. Take a few minutes to become familiar with the different buttons, including turning on a white light versus choosing a bulb of a specific color, switching the light beam from steady to scattered, and turning on the filter and changing the filter color.

13.  Turn on the white light and change the beam to scattered.

a.      What color(s) are being emitted by the flashlight?

 

b.      What color is being perceived by the human?

 

c.       Why is this color (from part b) being perceived by the human?

 

 

14.  Now, turn on the filter and make it red.

a.      What color is being perceived by the human?

 

b.      What is the filter doing to the light being emitted by the flashlight?

 

15.  Now, change the bulb color of the flashlight to yellow.

a.      What color is being perceived by the human? Explain why this is occurring.

 

 

 For Extra Credit, answer questions 16-17. This may take some independent research. Cite your source in your answer.

16) Why do waves with frequencies higher than visible light hurt us while those with lower frequencies do not affect us?

 

 

 

 

 

17) Light is sometimes described as a wave and sometimes as a particle. Give evidence to support the wave nature of light.