AST101H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Electromagnetic Spectrum, Electric Charge, Atomic Number

• School: UTSG
• Department: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Course: AST101H1
• Professor: Ian Shelton

Document Summary

Heat felt from sun is a form of energy. The energy that carries light is called radiative energy. In astronomy used to measure total amount of energy that is transferred to skin. Light comes in different forms called colours which can be seen through a prism in a rainbow of colours called a spectrum: recall light experiment during lecture. When the basic colours of the rainbow are put together they form white light. Black occurs when there is an absence of colour. Light can interact with matter in four basic ways: emission, absorption, reflection/scattering- rebounds in a particular direction or rebounds in scattered transmission direction. Materials that transmit light are said to be transparent, and materials that absorb light are called opaque. They are neither opaque nor transparent; they can also affect different colours of light differently: ex. Red glass transmits red light but absorbs other colors. A green lawn reflects (scatters) green lights but absorbs all other colours.