What are the basic properties of electromagnetic radiation? Light is a part of o

Question

What are the basic properties of electromagnetic radiation? Light is a part of our everyday life. Having a basic understanding of its properties is important for us to understand what we see. To begin with this we will start with identifying what you already know. Please do not use the internet. Just answer these of the top of your head What causes light to have different colors? Use physics to explain your answer Can light be used to cancel out light? Use physics to explain your answer. (ex. Can light be used like sound is in a pair of noise canceling headphones.) If you shine different colored light on a table what happens to the color of the table? Use physics to explain your answer. If you can see inside a room that means that light exists in the room. Does all the light come only from the light bulbs. Use physics to explain your answer. What causes shadows? Use physics to explain your answer.

Explanation / Answer

(1) Light is a combination of several wave lengths. When the light beam passes through a prism, due to the optical properties of the prism, the light beam disperses and results in the formation of spectrum or a collection of different colors (different wavelengths) of light.

(2) Yes, light can be used to cancel light. It is based on the phenomenon of interference. Let us say at a point if the light beams arriving from two different points are exactly out of phase, then both the beams intensities will cancel each other and effectively we will have a dark spot (dark fringe) at that point.

(3) If different colors are shined on the table, the table will appear to be of different colors. Because, each surface has a property that it reflects a certain type of light based on the incoming wave length. The table will appear to be of different colors.

(4) During the day, the light also comes from the outside, for example windows. The light that due to sun or lights will get scattered with atom/molecules inside the room and they will illuminate the full room. Although the light is coming from the source, it is actually the scattering of light by particles that will spread the light in the room

(5) A shadow is formed when the object blocks the light. Due to the opacity of the object, the light traces the object's contour which can also be called as shadow.

Hope this helps. Please rate. Cheers.

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