EM Waves and Optics
Upon completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Lab Activities
- explain how Young's experiment demonstrates the wave nature of light and compute the wavelength of light from experimental results.
- describe how thin films produce colorful displays and give some examples of practical applications of thin-film interference.
- define diffraction and give examples of diffractive effects.
- explain light polarization and give examples of polarization, both in the environment and in commercial applications.
- * discuss scattering and explain why the sky is blue and sunsets are red.
Lab Activities
- Wave Interference – Students will use a laser and blackened slide to recreate Young’s double slit experiment.
- Diffraction of Light – Students will diffract laser light with a compact disc.
Geometric Optics
Upon completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Lab Activities
Upon completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- define and explain the concept of wave fronts and rays.
- explain the law of reflection and distinguish between regular (specular) and irregular (diffuse) reflections.
- explain refraction in terms of Snell's law and the index of refraction, and give examples of refractive phenomena.
- describe total internal reflection and understand fiber optic applications.
- explain dispersion and some of its effects.
- understand how images are formed and describe the characteristics of plane mirrors.
- distinguish between converging and diverging spherical mirrors, describe images and their characteristics, and determine these image characteristics from ray diagrams and the spherical-mirror equation.
- distinguish between converging and diverging lenses, describe images and their characteristics, and find image locations and characteristics using ray diagrams and the thin-lens equation.
- describe some common lens aberrations and explain how they can be reduced or corrected.
- describe the lens maker's equation, explain how its application differs from that of the thin-lens equation, and understand lens power in diopters.
Lab Activities
- Reflection of light- Students will use plane, concave, and convex mirrors to construct image locations by tracing reflected rays.
- Refraction of light – Students will determine the focal length of a lens using an optical bench and several object/image arrangements.