Date Made: 28/06/2022

4 Invisible Waves

Light and sound are forms of energy carried by invisible waves. Our senses are attuned
to detecting them, and many household devices like musical instruments, mirrors and
sunglasses utilise them.

Light is just one example of electromagnetic radiation which is becoming increasingly

important in the development of technologies used for communication, such as mobile
phones, and for entertainment like radios, televisions and A/V remote controls. In
addition, electromagnetic waves in the form of X-rays and gamma rays assist in the
diagnosis and treatment of injuries and diseases.

The transformation and transfer of energy

Light and sound are forms of energy and, like other types of energy such as heat,
electrical and chemical energy, they can be transformed or converted into other forms of
energy. Sound energy is transformed into electrical energy by microphones. Amplifiers
then channel this electrical signal to loudspeakers which convert the electrical energy
back to sound again. The transfer of energy does not involve conversion to another
form; rather, energy remains in its original form but travels to a new medium or region.

Heat, or thermal energy is transferred spontaneously from a region of high temperature

to a region of cold temperature through one or more of the following processes:
conduction, convection and radiation. Heat transfer by conduction occurs mainly in
solids, while convection occurs generally through liquids and gases. Radiation can occur
through any space, even in a vacuum.

Waves – carries of energy

Like heat, sound and light energy can be transferred from one place to another.
However, sound and light travel as waves and it is these waves which transfer or
propagate that energy. The circular ripples created when a stone is dropped in a still
pool of water are an example of waves propagating energy. The stone falling through
the water causes the water to bob up and down, creating waves. The energy of the
oscillating water moves outwards from the centre of the disturbance, creating a circular
pattern of waves.

Types of waves

Water waves created on the surface of a

lake are examples of transverse waves.
Sound energy is not carried as
transverse waves but rather in the form
of compression waves. Sound is created
by fast back and forth movements called
vibrations. Compression waves are also
known as longitudinal waves.
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Speed of sound

Sound energy is carried by compression waves and so relies on the collision of

neighbouring particles in a medium. In a medium in which the particles are more tightly
packed and have less distance to travel to collide, such as in a liquid or a solid, sound
waves travel faster. The speed of sound in gases depends on temperature. Sound
travels faster in warm air as the particles.

Ultrasound

While the human ear can detect sound frequencies between 20 and 20 000 Hz,
frequencies well beyond the range of human hearing are used in a variety of useful
technologies. Sound with frequencies higher than those that humans can hear is called
ultrasound.

Sonar

Ultrasound is used in sonar to produce images of underwater objects or the ocean floor.

1. Ultrasound is sent down into the water.

2. Objects under the water (and the ocean floor) reflect some of the ultrasound.
3. A receiver detects the reflected ultrasound.

Measuring sound

While we can hear sound waves, they are invisible. However, they can be studied by
converting the sound energy into electrical energy using a device called a cathode ray
oscilloscope (CRO). A microphone connected to the CRO measures the air
pressure changes associated with the compressions and rarefactions of a sound wave
and produces a graph on the CRO screen called a waveform.

The pitch of a sound depends on how quickly it makes the air vibrate. High-pitched
sounds have a high frequency and make the air vibrate quickly. As a result, they
produce ‘bunched-up’ waveforms. Low-pitched sounds have a low frequency and make
the air vibrate less quickly, so the waveforms are more spread out.

As in all waves, frequency is measured in Hz. High-frequency sounds are more high
pitched than low-frequency sounds.

The ear and hearing

The main function of the ear is to detect sound. It collects the energy of vibrating air and
changes it into electrical signals, which are sent to the brain. Each ear has three main
parts — the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear.
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1. Semicircular canals
2. Middle ear
3. Auricle
4. Outer ear
5. Ear canal
6. Inner ear
7. Auditory nerve
8. Eustachian tube

Light

The transverse waves created in a slinky or in water are easily seen because the
medium through which the wave travels is visible. Light is an example of
an electromagnetic wave. Like water waves, electromagnetic waves are also
transverse but they are not quite so easily seen.

Like all waves, electromagnetic waves transfer energy from one place to another. Unlike
sound waves and water waves, electromagnetic waves can travel through a vacuum.

The reflection of light

Light travels in straight lines. In diagrams, the lines used to show the path that light takes
are called rays. Our eyes receive countless light rays reflected from objects that we view
and the brain constructs an image of these objects using impulses from the eyes.

Individual rays of light are not visible but streams of light rays or beams of light may be
seen when the light is scattered, or reflected from particles through which it travels and
then redirected to the eye.

When light strikes a shiny surface like a mirror, light is reflected from that surface. Light
reflected from a mirror follows the law of reflection which states:

The angle of incidence (i) = the angle of reflection (r)

These angles are measured from the normal (perpendicular) to the mirror surface.

Reflection from curved mirrors

Flat mirrors, also called plane mirrors,

are commonly found in the home.
Curved mirrors may
be concave (curved inwards)
or convex (curved outwards). Light
reflecting from concave and convex
mirrors also follows the law of
reflection, such that the parallel rays of
light are reflected to a focal point as
shown at right.
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Just passing through

Shiny surfaces reflect light but if a surface absorbs light it is said to be opaque. If most
of the light travels through a material, the surface is called transparent because enough
light passes through to enable objects on the other side to be clearly seen.

Some surfaces allow just enough light to travel through to allow objects to be detected
on the other side, but they scatter so much light that the objects are not clearly visible.
Frosted glass used in bathroom windows is an example of this. Such materials are said
to be translucent.

Changing the speed of light

When light travels from one transparent medium to another, it speeds up or slows down.
For example, when light travels from air to water it slows down. When it travels from
water to air, it speeds up.

The bending of a light ray as it passes from one medium to another is caused by the
light’s change in speed.

Refraction diagram

The best way to describe which way the light bends is to draw a line at right angles to
the boundary. This line is called the normal. When light speeds up, as it does when it
passes from water into air, it bends away from the normal. When light slows down, as it
does when it passes from air into water, it bends towards the normal.

Two basic shapes

Lenses can be shaped in two

basic ways; the ones that curve
outwards are called convex
lenses. Those that curve
inwards are called concave
lenses.

Convex lenses are sometimes

called converging lenses.
That’s because light rays that
pass through them are
refracted towards each other
so that they meet (converge) at
a point. The point where the
light rays meet is called the
focal point of the lens.

Concave lenses are sometimes called diverging lenses. When rays of light pass
through these lenses, they refract away (diverge) from each other. Concave lenses have
no real focal point, because rays of light do not meet after passing through the lens.
However, if you trace the rays back to where they appear to have come from, they do
meet at a point, called a ‘virtual’ focal point.
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Vison

1. Ciliary muscles
2. Suspensory ligaments
3. Pupil
4. Iris
5. Cornea
6. Retina
7. Lens
8. Optic nerve
9. Image
10. The object

The visible spectrum

In 1666, Sir Isaac Newton discovered that white light in fact consists of different colours.
Today, this set of colours is called the visible spectrum of red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, indigo and violet colours.

In his experiments, Newton used a glass triangular prism, similar to the one in the
diagram at right. When white light enters a triangular prism at an angle, different colours
emerge from the other side of the prism. The separation of white light into its component
colours as a result of refraction is called dispersion. This occurs because each colour of
light has a slightly different speed in glass and is, therefore, refracted at a slightly
different angle. In a triangular prism, this difference is enhanced because the white light
is refracted twice in the same direction. When white light enters the prism, the different
colours are bent by slightly different amounts. When the light emerges back into the air,
the different colours are bent by different amounts again.

How do we see coloured objects

The colour of an object depends on which parts of

the spectrum are reflected towards your eyes. When
white light falls on any opaque surface, some colours
are reflected while others are absorbed.

Transparent objects, such as cellophane and

coloured glass, split white light by absorbing some
colours and allowing others to pass through. The
way we see colours has more to do with our brain
than our eye. The human eye has only three kinds of
colour-sensitive cells — blue, green and red. The
colour-sensitive cells, called cones, are found in the
retina.

The three colours that our eye is sensitive to (blue,

green and red) are called the primary colours.
Colours that are created by equal amounts of ‘firing’
from two different cones are called secondary colours. The secondary colours are
yellow, magenta and cyan. If all three cones ‘fire’ equally, we see white light.
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Electromagnetic waves

Light is just one example

of electromagnetic waves.

All electromagnetic waves

travel through air at 300
000 kilometres per second
and can travel through a
vacuum. The waves
actually consist of pulsing
electric and magnetic
fields. These fields are
generated by oscillating
electric charges.

Luminous objects, be they

human-made, such as compact fluorescent lights, or naturally occurring like stars, cause
charged particles (mainly electrons) to be accelerated, generating the pulsing magnetic
and electric fields which we call electromagnetic waves.

The frequency of electromagnetic waves is a measure of the number of pulses of electric

and magnetic fields generated per second. The wavelength is the distance between
adjacent crests or troughs in the electric or magnetic fields. The electric and magnetic
fields pulse at right angles to the direction of motion of the wave.

Light is not the only example of electromagnetic waves. Ultraviolet light, X-rays and radio
waves are all examples of energy carried in the form of electromagnetic waves.
Electromagnetic ‘radiation’ is the term often used to describe these energy forms
because like heat energy, their energy can be transferred or radiated through vacant
space, without the need for a medium.

The electromagnetic spectrum