Back
Flashcards: Light
angle of incidence
the angle between the incident ray and the normal line
angle of reflection
the angle between the reflected ray and the normal line
angle of refraction
the angle between the refracted ray and the normal line
colour blind
a genetic disease affecting colour vision and results from a malfunction of certain cone cells in the retina of the eye
cornea
the transparent layer at the front of the eye
critical angle
the smallest angle of incidence at which total internal reflection occurs
disperses
the splitting up of a ray of light of mixed wavelengths by refraction into its components
image
the point from which rays of light entering the eye appear to have originated
light
a form of energy emitted by luminous objects like the sun
light sources
(luminous objects) are objects that emit visible light
non-luminous
objects which produce no light
normal
an imaginary line at right angles to a surface where a light ray strikes it
opaque
objects which absorb, scatter or reflect light and do not allow any light to pass through
optical fibres
uses total internal reflection to transmit light along very fine tubes of plastic or glass
primary colours
with respect to light are any of red, blue or green
rainbow
an optical phenomenon that appears as the colours of the spectrum when falling water droplets are illuminated by sunlight
reflects
the return of all, or part of, a beam of particles or waves
refraction
the change in direction of a light ray as a result of its change in velocity
secondary colours
are colours that can be obtained by mixing two primary colours
spectrum
a band of colours produced by separation of the colours in white light
total internal reflection
the complete reflection of light at a boundary between two media
translucent
objects that transmit light but diffuse (scatter) the light as it passes through