ASTRON 2B03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Fundamental Interaction, Radiography, Physical Constant
6 Nov 2015
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Document Summary
Light is a wave motion of radiation energy in space. We can characterize a wave by three numbers: Shown here is precisely one wavelength of a wave on a string. (several points are marked on it, but look at the smooth curve running through all the points. In other words, the wavelength is the distance needed for the wave to go up, back down again, and back to its starting point. The frequency is the rate at which the wave oscillates. Think of a chip of wood floating in water at the beach. As a wave comes in to the shore, the chip bobs up and down. It will bob quickly if the wave has a high frequency, but slowly if the wave has a low frequency. Finally, the wave speed is the speed at which (e. g. ) the crest of the wave moves along past a particular point in space.
