PH 122 Lecture Notes - Rayleigh Scattering, Total Internal Reflection

• School: CSU
• Department: Physics
• Course: PH 122
• Professor: Brian Jones

Document Summary

Light of wavelength 500 nm in air enters a glass block with index of refraction n=1. 5. If energy is conserved, the frequency must remain the same. The wavelength of a light wave is 700 nm in air; this light appears red. If this wave enters a pool of water, its wavelength becomes: If you are swimming underwater, this light still appears red. The sun is behind your back when you see a rainbow. Dispersion causes different colors to refract inside water droplets at different angles. Most of the light refracts into the air at the back of the droplet, but a little reflects back into the drop. Dispersion separates the colors even more as the rays refract back into the air. You see a rainbow with red on the top, violet on the bottom. The red light reaching your eye comes from drops higher in the sky. The violet light reaching your eye comes from drops lower in the sky.