PSYC 2390 Chapter Notes -Retinitis Pigmentosa, James Clerk Maxwell, Spectral Sensitivity
1 Aug 2013
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Document Summary
Visible light is band of electromagnetic spectrum (electromagnetic radiation is stimulus for vision) Black absorbs a lot of light, does not reflect many wavelengths: white is opposite, red absorbs all other colours of light and reflects red wavelengths. Produced by electrical charges and is radiated as waves. Newton: thought light was a stream of particles coming into our eyes, light consists of small packets of energy (photons) James clerk maxwell: thought as light as a wave, a disturbance in the electromagnetic continuum, peaks (like water wave) Amplitude: of height of wave, seen as brightness. Wavelength: distance between peaks of waves (the electromagnetic spectrum) Range from extremely short (gamma rays, 10^-12m) to long (radio waves, 10^4m) Measured in nanometers (1nm = 10^-9m: visible light is between (blue) 400-700 (red) nm of wavelength, different wavelengths are associated with different colours. What must the eye do to the light: collect the light, focus light light goes everywhere.
