Chapter 18 Vocabulary – Optics and Light
1.
optics – the study of visible light and the ways in which visible light interacts with the eye to produce vision.
2.
law of reflection – states that the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence.
3.
regular reflection – the reflection of parallel light rays all in the same direction.
4.
diffuse reflection – the reflection of parallel light rays in many different directions.
5.
image – a picture of an object formed by waves of light.
6.
convex – curved outward.
7.
concave – curved inward.
8.
focal point – the point at which the rays meet after reflecting from a concave mirror or being refracted by a convex lens.
9.
lens – a clear optical tool that refracts light.
10.
focal length – the distance from the center of the lens to the lens’s focal point.
11.
cornea – a transparent membrane that covers the eye.
12.
pupil – a circular opening that controls how much light enters the eye.
13.
retina – structure of the eye that contains specialized cells that respond to light and where the image of an object is projected.
14.
laser – a device that produces an intense, concentrated beam of light that is brighter than sunlight.
15.
fiber optics – technology based on the use of laser light to send signals through transparent wires called optical fibers.