CH-1010 Lecture 3: Chapter 3 Notes
Document Summary
Form of radiant energy that travels as a wave. All electromagnetic waves move through space @ same constant speed. Wave is periodic because it repeats in space and time c= 3. 00 108 m/s. Units of meters (m) or other length (nm) Distance from one wave peak to the next. Height from the centerline of the wave to the peak or trough. Units of hertz (hz) or reciprocal seconds (s-1) How fast wave peaks are going by a fixed point. Visible light is only a small portion of the em spectrum. When waves interact and add to each other to create a larger wave it is called constructive interference (in phase) Waves cancel each other out it is called destructive interference (out of phase) When em waves encounter and obstacle or opening in a barrier about the same size as its wavelength, they bend around it (defraction) Interference pattern is characteristic of all light waves.
