Light can be either a wave or a particle, but not both at the same time. Which one it is will depend on what it’s doing. In this section, you’ll be able to figure out how intensity (how bright), frequency (wavelength), polarization (the direction of the electric field), and phase (time shift) all affect the kind of light you see and don’t see. Most light isn’t detectable by the human eye, which makes studying light more like investigating a crime scene. You’ll quickly be puzzling the pieces together to explain why pencils in a glass of water appear broken, why light beams can fry an egg, and how to build a telescope.


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8 Responses to “Unit 9: Light Video”

  1. Light travels as a wave, and a waves have properties like frequency, amplitude, and phase. Frequency of light is what gives you the color (in the visible part of the spectrum), and is measured between two points on the wave, usually two of the highest or lowest points. Amplitude gives you the brightness of the light. The phase refers to the fraction of the cycle the wave has completed, measured from a particular point of reference. Read more about it here.

  2. Maggie Ciskanik says:

    What is meant by light “phase”

  3. Oops! Sorry about that. We’re updating our videos so they play more quickly and easily, and this one we skipped over. It’s fixed now… thanks for your eagle eye!

  4. Jacquine Feight says:

    this video isn’t working. do I need something special to get this to work?

  5. Oops – sorry about that! It should be working for you now. Thanks for your eagle eye!

  6. Monika Van Kirk says:

    The video isn’t work…… Help?

  7. By ‘flavors’, I mean the different wavelengths (and therefore energies) that light comes in. Radio is on the large-scale wavelength end of the electromagnetic spectrum (the waves can be larger than a football field) while gamma rays are at the high energy end of the spectrum (these are the kind that destroy living tissue). Visible light (like the rainbow) is in the middle, with sun-burning UV toward the higher-energy end. You can read up more in the text download. It was meant to be a fun way of describing the different wavelengths, and not intended to be confusing – sorry about that!

  8. Kathryn Dunfee says:

    Why do you use the term “flavors” when you are talking about “different colors”?