Week 3 Course Notes

WEEK 3 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE
ELECTRICITY AND
MAGNETISM
COURSE NOTES - PART 1

Section 1: The Inverse Square Law
An Inverse Square Law is a mathematical relationship between two quantities where the first
quantity is inversely proportional to the square of the second quantity. In physics, this typically will
describe how the strength or intensity of something varies inversely with the square of the distance.
This relationship will be relevant to all topics covered this week: electricity, magnetism, sound, and
light and also applies to last week’s topic of the force of gravity.
For example, if we are talking about light from a camera flash, the illumination (or intensity) of the
flash changes when your distance from the flash changes. The illumination gets weaker the further
away you are.
Specifically, the intensity of a physical quantity between two objects is inversely proportional to the
square of the distance separation those two objects. This relationship is expressed as:
1
Intensity ∝
distance 2
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Section 2: Electricity Important Names:

Experimenting in the late 1700s, Benjamin Franklin decided that
there were two types of “electric fluid” that could be transferred by
Nikola Tesla
friction between two substances (like rubbing a rubber balloon on
your hair). He named them “positive” and “negative”. Today we
know that this “fluid” is not actually a fluid and is called charge.
So, what precisely is the electric charge?
The electric charge is an intrinsic property of matter (just like

mass is) that appears in some elementary particles. Electrons
have a fundamental charge of -1 and protons have a fundamental
charge of +1. “Invention is the most
important product of
Electric charge has two important features.
a) Conservation of charge. Like the energy of an isolated man's creative brain. The
system, the total electric charge of an isolated system is ultimate purpose is the
always conserved. In other words, the sum of all the complete mastery of mind
electric charges (positive and negative) of an isolated
over the material world,
system never changes.
b) Quantization of charge. The electric charge that we find the harnessing of human
in nature always comes in units of the magnitude of the nature to human needs.”
charge of a single electron.
- Nikola Tesla, My
Electrons and protons, two of the subatomic particles that we
encountered in last week’s lecture hold negative charge (electrons Inventions
-e) and positive charge (protons +e). These two fundamental
particles have exactly equal but opposite amounts of charge.
Different from gravity where the force of attraction between two

objects is always an attractive force, in the case of the electric
charge like charge repel each other and unlike charge attract each
other.
Nikola Tesla was an

inventor who contributed
to the development of the
alternating-current (AC)
electrical system that is
Surrounding any electrically charged particle is an electric field, widely used today and
which is created by the electrical charge of the particle and allows
this particle to interact with others electrical charged particles by also discovered the
exerting forces (at a distance) on each other. rotating magnetic field,
both of which which you
In general the electric field is created by the electric
charge and by changing magnetic fields (as you will see later will learn about this week!
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on in the case of electromagnetic induction). The electric field is defined as the electric force
per unit charge. The strength of the electric field is known as voltage and is measured in
volts (V).
An area with more electrons is negatively charged and an area with less
electrons is positively charged. An electric field will flow from the positively
charged region to the negatively charged region.
An electric charge creates an electric field that

surrounds it.
The electric force between two charged particles is given by Coulomb’s Law:
The electric force is directly proportional to the two charged particles and inversely proportional to
the square of the distance between them. Coulomb’s Law is an example of the Inverse Square Law!
q1q2
FE = k
d2
FE = electric force (N) k = Coulomb’s constant (N·m2/C2) = 9x109 q = charge (C) d = distance (m)
The fact that electric force gets weaker with distance explains how a charged object
(like the comb in the image) can attract an uncharged one (the paper). The charge
on the comb induces, or separates, charges on the paper. Positive charges on the
paper move closer to the negatively charged comb. Because the positive charges on
the paper are closer to the comb than the negative ones, there is a net force toward
the comb!
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Example:
A charge of -0.26 C lies 2 meters from a charge of +0.45 C. What is the the electric force between
them?
q1q2
k is a physical FE = k
constant and will
d2
2
always be 9x109 9 N⋅m (−0.26 C)(0.45 C)
FE = (9 ×10 2
)
C (2 m)2
9N ⋅ m 2 −0.117 C 2
FE = (9 ×10 )
C2 4 m2
N ⋅ m2 C2
FE = (9 ×10 9 )(−0.02925 )
C2 m2
A negative value indicates
FE = −2.63×108 N the electric force is
attractive. A positive value
would mean the force is
repulsive.
Electric current is defined as the flow of electrons through materials,
usually metals. It is measured in units of
Amperes or Amps (A). One Ampere is the
rate of flow of one Coulomb of charge per
second. There are two types of current:
direct current (DC) and alternating current
(AC). With direct current, charges flow in
one direction and terminals have a set
charge of positive or negative. Batteries are
a good example of providing direct current.
With alternating current, charges alternate
in direction and the terminals are
constantly changing back and forth from positive to negative. Household outlets provide AC. This is
because the power transmits more efficiently from the power station with AC. In North American
outlets, positive and negative switches 60 times per second.
Resistance describes how much a circuit component resists the passage of electric current and is
measured in units of Ohms (Ω). There are several factors that affect electrical resistance:
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1. Thickness of wire: Thin wires resist electrical current more

than thicker wires, because in a thin wire, there are fewer
electrons passing through it.
2. Length of wire: Longer wires resist current more than shorter

wires.
3. Material of wire: All materials have resistance, but conductors

such as metals will offer lower resistance and allow a higher
current than insulators such as rubber.
4. Temperature: Higher temperatures offer more resistance.
Example: A really long wire running to a loudspeaker will have more resistance and therefore less
current (it won’t be as loud) as a speaker with a shorter wire. Wires to both speakers should be the
same length or they won’t sound equally loud!
Voltage is defined as the amount of potential energy per unit charge flowing through a circuit and is
measured in units of volts (V).
We should recall our discussion of gravitational potential energy in Week

One. Gravitational potential energy is given to an object when it is lifted
to a height off the surface of the Earth (assuming we are on Earth). This
object has potential energy because it is being held away from something
that it is attracted to. Once that restraint is removed, the object will fall
to the surface of the Earth due to the gravitational force and the potential
energy will be converted into kinetic energy.
Electric potential energy is also dependent upon

position and is given to a charged object whenever it is being held away from
something that it is attracted to (the opposite charge). The electric force gives
an electric charge potential energy depending on the charge’s position. The
electric force is another force that can “store” energy as potential energy, just
like gravity - except it is very much stronger than gravity.
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What is really significant is the difference in potential (voltage) between two points. That will
determine how much potential energy the charge gains or loses moving in the electric field.
The relationship between voltage, current, and resistance is called Ohm’s Law. Ohm’s Law relates
the current of electrons flowing through a material with resistance, with the voltage from the electric
field ‘pushing’ the electrons. Ohm’s Law can be written as:
V
I=
R
I = Current (A) V = Voltage (V) R = Resistance (Ω)
For a given voltage, if the resistance is high, little current will flow. But if the resistance to the flow of
current is low, the amount of current flowing will be higher.
Example:
A 9-V battery is connected to a lamp and a current of 2 A begins to flow. What is the resistance of the
lamp?
V
I=
R
9V
2 A=
R
2A 9V
=
1 R
(2 A)R = (9 V)(1)
(2 A)R = 9 V
R = 4.5 Ω
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When electrical appliances such as lamps, televisions, or computers are connected to a household
circuit, they generally get a voltage difference of 110-120 V. Heavy electrical energy users such as
clothes driers, stoves, or ovens are on a separate circuit that gives them twice that voltage, 220-240
V. Operating an electrical appliance requires not just energy, but also a certain amount of electrical
power, which is the rate at which energy is delivered (energy/time). The rate at which electrical
energy is used by an appliance is the power needed by that appliance to operate:
P = IV
P = Power (W) I = Current (A) V = Voltage (V)
Electric power is measured in Joules per second (J/s) or watts (W)
To operate an electrical appliance, you need to

provide an uninterrupted path for the electrons that
are being “pushed” by the voltage (from the battery or
wall outlet). Any such conducting path is called an
electrical circuit. You can turn the appliance on or
off by a switch. If the switch is on, the circuit is
complete, or closed, and charge flows. If the switch is
off, there is a break in the circuit, and the circuit is
open. With no conducting path for electrons to move
along, no electrons can flow.
Devices connect to a circuit in one of two ways:
In a series circuit, there is only one way for electrons to travel, so

everything in the circuit gets the same current.
Older Christmas lights are connected in series - when one bulb goes out, the
circuit is broken, and all the other bulbs go dark.
In a standard flashlight, the circuit connecting the voltage source (battery)

and resistor (light bulb) is a series circuit.
Total resistance in a series circuit is calculated by:
Rtotal = R1 + R2 + R3 +... + Rn
Rtotal = Total Resistance (Ω) R1,R2,R3,…Rn = Individual Resistances of Resistors (Ω)
Example:
Four light bulbs are connected in series. Each light bulb in

this circuit is actually a resistor. The filament in the bulb
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resists the flow of current, and it gets hot. As a result, the filament glows and gives off light.
If each of the four bulbs has a resistance of 5 ΩΩ, what is the total resistance of this series circuit?
Rtotal = R1 + R2 + R3 +... + Rn
Rtotal = 5Ω + 5Ω + 5Ω + 5Ω
Rtotal = 20Ω
In a series circuit, adding more resistors increases total resistance, so the current flowing through
the circuit decreases.
In a parallel circuit, the electrons have more than one path that they can
take to complete the circuit.
Each path has the same voltage difference driving the electrons. Different
paths can have different currents in them.
Disconnecting one appliance does not interrupt the current through the
others.
Total resistance in a parallel circuit is calculated by:
1 1 1 1 1
= + + +... +
Rtotal R1 R2 R3 Rn
Rtotal = Total Resistance (Ω) R1,R2,R3,…Rn = Individual Resistances of Resistors (Ω)
Example:
Three bulbs are connected in parallel. If each of the bulbs has

a resistance of 6 ΩΩ, what is the total resistance of this parallel
circuit?
1 1 1 1
= + +
Rtotal R1 R2 R3
1 1 1 1
= + +
Rtotal 6Ω 6Ω 6Ω
In a parallel circuit, adding more resistors decreases the total
resistance, so the current flowing through the circuit increases. 1 3
=
Rtotal 6Ω
6
Rtotal = Ω or 2Ω
3
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Section 3: Magnetism
Magnetism is the force of attraction or repulsion of a magnetic
material (such as iron), due to the arrangement of its atoms, particularly
its electrons.
Electrons have magnetic fields that create

Magnetic field lines forces, pushing or pulling on each other.
point away from the All magnetism is created by electric current
north pole and (moving charge) either from electrons flowing
point toward the down a wire or the spinning of electrons in an
south pole. atom. The magnetic field of an electron is a
vector and has a
direction.
Antiparallel fields are subtracted from
each other, and parallel fields are added together. A net magnetic
field is calculated by adding parallel fields and subtracting antiparallel
fields. Therefore, a magnet is a material whose electrons have more
parallel fields than antiparallel fields (Net Magnetic Field does not
equal zero).
Magnetic poles are in all magnets, each having a north pole and a south pole. Like poles repel each
other, meaning a north pole will repel another north pole, and a south pole will repel another south
pole. This is the “push” that is felt between two magnets. Opposite poles attract each other, meaning
a north pole will attract a south pole, and a south pole will attract a north pole. This is the”pull” that
is felt when two magnets are brought together. You can’t have one pole without the other. If you cut
a magnet in half, each piece will have a north and south pole. If you continue cutting the magnet in
half over and over again, you will eventually get down to a single iron atom with a north and south
pole.
Examples of magnets include:
1. Simple bar magnets - the poles are at the opposite ends.
2. Horseshoe magnets - bent “U” shape, the poles at the ends.
3. Earth - magnetic field lines of Earth point toward the

geographic north pole and away from the geographic south pole.
This means that magnetic south is actually in the Arctic north, and
magnetic north is in the Antarctic south.
The Connection Between Electricity and Magnetism
When an electric current flows through a wire, a magnetic field
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Electromagnetic induction happens when a voltage is generated in a conductor by an interaction

with a magnetic field. It is the main principle involved in producing electricity for the world!
When a magnetic field passes through a conductor, electric charges in the conductor receive a “push”
from a force called the Lorentz force. This push generates a voltage in the conductor and causes
current to flow through it.
Specifically, the magnetic field passing through the

conductor has to change in some way for
electromagnetic induction to occur. Any way of
changing the strength or direction of the magnetic
field relative to the conductor satisfies this:
• moving a magnet toward or away from the coil
• moving the coil into or out of the magnetic field.
• rotating the coil relative to the magnet
It doesn’t matter how the change in the magnetic field is produced. Whether a charged particle
moves across the magnetic field lines or the magnetic field lines move across the particle - either
way, the particle gets a push.
Changing the net magnetic field in any way across a closed conducting circuit
produces an electric current in that circuit.
forms around the wire in a concentric circle pattern. When the current in the wire reverses direction,
the direction of the field lines reverse.
If the wire is bent into a loop, the magnetic field lines become concentrated inside the loop.
If the wire is bent into another loop, the concentration of magnetic field lines inside the double loop
is twice that of the single loop.
The magnetic field intensity increases as the number of loops is increased. Thus, a coil of wire
becomes an electromagnet when current flows through it. The magnetic field of an electromagnet
looks and performs like the magnetic field of an ordinary bar magnet with a north and south pole.
Magnetic field lines in an electromagnet reverse direction when the electric current reverses direction
- i.e., north and south poles reverse when current is reversed.
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SOUND AND LIGHT

WAVES
COURSE NOTES - PART 2

Section 4: Sound and Waves
Imagine attaching one end of a rope to a wall and then oscillating the other end up and down with
your hand. It is easy to imagine that you would create a wave of what we call crests and troughs
that propagate from your hand, through the rope, and towards the wall. All waves, whether they be
waves along a length of rope, ocean waves, or even sound waves, have several basic properties that we
have labeled below.
The medium of a wave is the source of atoms/molecules through which the wave propagates. The
rope was the medium in the previous example. Below is an illustration of a slinky (or spring) being
used as the medium of propagation:
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Imagine that we were interested in knowing how many wavelengths pass some point (say the half
way point between our hand and the wall) during some unit of time (in one second, for instance).
This is a measure of the waves’ frequency in Hertz (Hz) and would be equivalent to knowing how
many times a particle in the medium completes one cycle (moves up, down, then back up again) in
one second. Obviously, the frequency will depend both on the wavelength and the wave speed and
can be calculated as:
cycles wave speed

frequency = =
second wavelength
Sound waves are longitudinal waves which propagate through a source of atoms or molecules
(most often the molecules that make up the air we breathe). The frequency of these waves must be
between 20 and 20,000 Hz in order to be audible to the human ear.
The creation of sound

waves is much like the
creation of longitudinal
waves in the slinky, only
on a much smaller scale.
Like your hand, the
prongs of the tuning fork
begin vibrating. As a prong moves to the right, it collides with air molecules, knocking them out of
the way. These molecules in turn collide with other molecules, resulting in a pulse of high pressure,
or a compression, which propagates through the air. As the fork continues to vibrate, it produces a
series of high pressure/low pressure regions (compressions/rarefactions) in the air, resulting in
continuous ringing sound.
Sound travels at different speeds depending on the medium

generally moving faster through denser materials:
Example:
A traffic signal in a congested intersection turns red 20 times in 5 minutes. What

is the frequency of the traffic light in Hertz (Hz)?
Solution:
Because Hz is a unit of cycles per second. We can start by converting the 5

minutes to seconds:
5 min = 5⋅ 60 sec = 300 sec

We can now simply use our frequency equation to find the frequency of the light:
cycles 20 cycles !1 2
frequency = = = 0.067 Hz
sec 300 sec
Example:
The key of “middle C” on a piano produces a sound wave with a frequency of roughly 262 Hz. If the
air temperature is 20 degree Celsius (about 70 fahrenheit), what is the sound waves’ wavelength?
Solution:
Using the table on the previous page, we know that the sound wave will have a speed of 343 meter
per second. We can use our frequency equation again to solve for wavelength.
wave speed
frequency =
wavelength
wave speed
wavelength =
frequency
342 m/s
wavelength =
262/sec
wavelength = 1.3 m or 4.27 ft
When a wave encounters a boundary between two mediums (i.e. air to water, air to glass, or vice
versa) the wave can be reflected, transmitted, and absorbed. The fraction of the wave that
undergoes each of these interactions depends on the properties of the wave as well as the properties
of the two mediums.
Reflection occurs when the wave strikes the surface of a different medium and is returned to the
original medium.
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Wave interference is a process in which two or more waves overlap to form a resulting wave of
greater (constructive interference) or lesser amplitude (destructive interference).
Constructive Destructive
The phase difference between two waves is the degree to which the crests and troughs of one wave
overlap the crests and troughs of the second wave.
If the crests and troughs of each

wave overlap, they are said to be
in phase.
If the crests of one wave overlap

the troughs of the second wave
and vice versa, they are said to
be completely out of phase.
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The Doppler effect is the apparent change in frequency of a wave due to relative motion between
observer and the wave source.
If it is still a bit unclear how this occurs, focus on the fire truck as it moves toward the man. Imagine
the pink lines as being the crests (high pressure regions) of the sound wave. A crest leaves the siren
and travels toward the man. However, by the time the next crest leaves the siren, the fire engine has
now traveled some distance to the right depending on the trucks speed. So when the next crest leaves
the siren, it is now closer to the first crest than if the siren was stationary. Thus the wave in front of
the siren has shorter wavelength and higher frequency. Similarly, the crests are spaced further apart
behind the siren, producing waves of larger wavelength and lower frequency.
What if the wave source moves at the same speed (right) or

faster than (left) the waves it emits?
This results in constructive interference between each wave

greatly increasing the amplitude of the waves emitted.
The constructive interference is what creates a sonic boom

when a jet travels faster than sound.
The aircraft pushes so much air in front of it, creating a large

pressure in front of the craft and low pressure directly
behind it. Because lower pressure means lower
temperature, water vapor will often times condense into
“clouds” along this area of low pressure.
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Example (Sound and the Inverse Square Law):
The loudness, L, of a sound (measured in decibels, dB) is inversely proportional to the square of the
distance, d, from the source of the sound. The woman on the porch who is 20 ft from a lawn mower
experiences a sound level of 17.5 dB. How loud is the lawn mower for the man pushing the mower
who is 6 ft away?
Solution:
Because we know the loudness of sound follows the inverse square law, we may begin with the
following equation:
k
L(dB) =
d2
As with any inverse square law, we have a proportionality constant that we call k, that we need to first
solve for:
k = L ⋅ d2
k = 17.5 dB⋅ (20 ft)2
k = 7000 (dB⋅ ft 2 )
Now that we know the proportionality constant, we may calculate the loudness 6 ft away:
k
L(dB) =
d2
7000 (dB⋅ ft 2 )
L(dB) =
(6 ft)2
L = 194.4 dB Roughly 11 times louder.
Section 5: Light
Light is a packet of oscillating (which is much like vibrating) magnetic
and electric fields known as electromagnetic waves. Understanding
electromagnetic waves requires us to recall the concepts of electric and
magnetic fields from earlier in this text. Both fields can be produced by
charged particles, but the charges have to be in motion in order for a
magnetic field to be generated. An electric field is generated regardless
of whether the charge is moving or not. These fields are a property of
the space occupied around the charges and help to predict forces on
other charges.
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When we say “oscillating”, we can picture a charge flowing up and down. A magnetic field will be
generated, but will constantly be changing in both magnitude and direction as the charged particle
changes direction. A changing magnetic field will generate a voltage in a circuit whose plane is
perpendicular to the magnetic field lines. A voltage implies an electric field, even without a circuit
present, so a changing magnetic field will generate an electric field at any point in space where the
magnetic field is changing. So a symmetry exists in this scenario: a changing magnetic field will
generate an electric field and a changing electric field will also generate a magnetic field. A wave
involving these fields can propagate through space because they constantly regenerate each other. If
there is nothing to slow them down or impede the wave, like in a vacuum, the process can go on
forever.
A packet of light is known as a photon. A photon describes the particle properties of an

electromagnetic wave instead of the overall wave itself. We can picture an electromagnetic wave
being made up of individual particles and that particle is the massless entity known as a photon.
It is important to note that when we refer to light, we are talking about much more than just visible
light! Visible light makes up a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The
electromagnetic spectrum makes up the full range of light wave frequencies, which also includes
radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays.
Frequency is directly proportional to energy in light, meaning the higher the frequency of a light
wave means higher energy and lower frequency equals less energy.
It is likely that we are all familiar with what all of these types of radiation are associated. Radio
waves are not the waves of sound that you hear from a radio, but rather the waves that are
transmitted through space from the radio station to your receiver. Microwaves are used to heat up
food, as they are absorbed very well by fats, sugar, and water. Infrared is used in remote controls and
night vision goggles. Visible light is all that our eyes can see, and the colors that we perceive are all
different frequencies of visible light. Ultraviolet light is what gives a sunburn. X-rays are absorbed to
varying degrees by different objects inside our bodies, but are energetic enough to easily pass through
the skin. Gamma rays are used to destroy cancer cells, and are also given off by some of the most
energetic events in the universe, like supernovae explosions and during the formation of black holes.
Every single one of these types of waves is an electromagnetic wave like the light that we can see, but
just has a different wavelength, frequency, and energy.
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When photons of any light collide with matter, the can be transmitted, absorbed, or reflected.
Transmission is when the photons of light pass through a material.

Transmitted photons are passed from one atom to the next, like a relay
baton being passed from runner to runner.
Transparent materials transmit light through them, while opaque

materials do not transmit light. If a transparent object is colored, it is
because some colors (energies of visible light) are not being transmitted,
but other colors are transmitted.
The speed of light is 300,000,000 m/s in a vacuum. This is the universal speed limit, as nothing
travels faster than light in a vacuum. This is fast enough to travel around the Earth eight times in a
single second!
When light enters a material, it interacts with every atom of that material. The transmission of
photons from atom to atom takes time, so the speed of light is lowered while passing through a
transparent material.
Light travels slower through denser materials and faster through less dense materials. Note that this
is the exact opposite of sound waves, that travel fastest through denser materials!
The Speed of Light and the Size of the Universe
The Moon is approximately 240,000 miles away from Earth,

and it takes light only 1.2 seconds to travel from Earth to the
Moon. The Sun is 93 million miles from the Earth, and it
takes 8.5 minutes for light to travel from Sun to Earth. This
means that if the Sun suddenly went dark, we would still
receive light from it for 8.5
minutes!
Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is 5.75 x 1017 miles across, and it would take
light, traveling at 300,000,000 m/s, about 100,000 years to travel
from one end to the other. Consider the implications of this statement
- this means that even if humans could develop a means of space travel
that moved as fast as the speed of light, it would take thousands of
generations of humans with our current lifespan to make it from one
end of the Galaxy to the other!
In our local view, the Milky Way is incredibly large, but in the
grand scheme of the universe, it is very, very small. The picture
below was taken by the Hubble telescope and is one of the
Hubble Ultra Deep Field images. It focuses on a small region of
space in the Constellation, Fornax. Each illuminated area is a
galaxy. The estimated number of galaxies contained in this
picture is 10,000. This picture is only .00000000000000001%
of the observable universe!
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When a light wave encounters a smooth, reflecting surface like a flat mirror, the waves are reflected
away from the mirror with the same speed that they had before encountering the surface. The angle
of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, as stated in the Law of Reflection.
Law of Reflection
When light is reflected from a smooth reflecting

surface, the angle the reflected ray makes with the
surface normal is equal to the angle the incident ray
makes with the surface normal.
The image formed by a plane mirror is called a virtual image because the light never actually passes
through the point where the image is located. Although the image appears “in the mirror” as far
behind the mirror as the object is in front of the mirror, the
light never actually gets behind the mirror, it just appears to
come from points behind the mirror as it is reflected. The
image can be characterized as being right side up and the same
size as the object. There is a reversal, however, of right and
left: what appears to be the right hand of your mirror image is
actual the image of your left hand. The virtual images are
located at the position where the extended reflected rays
converge.
Curved mirrors will form a different virtual image than a flat

mirror. Convex mirrors are curved outward and the virtual image is smaller and closer to the mirror
than the object. Concave mirrors are curved inward and the virtual image is larger and farther away
than the object.
When light waves encounter a surface that is not smooth, it is reflected in

many different directions. This phenomena is called diffuse reflection.
Light bounces off textured walls to fill a room with light, but these walls
or bumpy. The Law of Reflection still holds true, but the normal is
affected by these bumps.
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The visibility of objects is primarily caused by diffuse reflection.

Diffusely-scattered light forms the image of the object in the observer’s
eye.
Diffuse reflection is
why it is easier to
see on a dry road
than a wet road.
Most objects you see are not emitting their own light, but reflecting light. The
color of the object we see is not the color (wavelength) of light the object
absorbs, but the color it reflects. This process is known as selective
reflection, meaning that the pigment of the object reflects specific
frequencies of light while the rest is absorbed. This is how we see different
colors.
Recall that the speed of light is lower through denser materials

than it is through empty space. Light travels at different speeds
in different materials. Refraction is the bending of a light ray
due to a change in speed of the wave when it changes mediums.
If the ray is not perpendicular to the surface, it is refracted.
The angle of refraction is the angle between the refracted ray
and the normal.
The difference in the speed of light in different materials is

usually described by a quantity called the index of
refraction, which is represented by the letter n. The index of
refraction is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum, c, to the speed of light, v, in some
material.
c
n=
v
n = index of refraction c = speed of light in a vacuum (m/s)
v = speed of light through material (m/s)
The amount of bending a light ray experiences depends on both the angle of incidence and the
indices of refraction of the materials involved, which determine the change in speed. A larger
difference in speeds will produce a greater difference in how far the ray travels in the two materials.
A larger difference in indices of refraction of the two materials therefore produces a larger bend in
the ray of light.
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Absorption is when the electrons in a material take some or all of the energy from the incident light
and neither transmit nor reflect it. This absorbed energy can cause the material to heat up. Light can
be transmitted, reflected, refracted, and absorbed to varying degrees depending on the material it
encounters.
Visible Light, Colors, and Vision
The visible light spectrum is the very narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that stimulates
the retina of our eyes and allows us to see. This region consists of a spectrum of wavelengths from
400-700 nanometers and contains all the different colors of the rainbow. Each individual frequency
and wavelength of the visible light spectrum corresponds with a particular color. So when light of
that particular wavelength strikes the retina of our eye, we perceive that specific color.
We know that we do not only see the colors of the rainbow (ROYGBIV) - the human brain can
interpret over 20,000 different hues of color, and all of these different shades that we see are related
to different wavelengths of light, the properties of different materials, and how our eyes see. When
you look at an object and perceive a certain color, you are usually not just seeing a single frequency of
light; there may be several frequencies striking your eye with varying degrees of intensity. Your eyes
and brain interpret the frequencies that strike your eye and the object is determined by your brain as
being a certain color.
When all the wavelengths of the visible light spectrum strike your eye at the same time, white light is
perceived. So white is not a color at all, but a combination of all the colors of the visible light
spectrum. Black, then, also is not defined as a color because it is the absence of all of the wavelengths
of the visible light spectrum.
There are other ways to produce white light. One way is by combining only three distinct frequencies
of light: red, green, and blue. Red, green, and blue are known as primary additive colors. (Please
note that this is different than the primary colors you may have learned about in art class! Those
colors are referring to pigments, whereas here we are referring to light.)
The addition of any of these primary colors of light with varying degrees of intensity can produce a
wide range of other colors. Many television sets and computer monitors take advantage of this by the
use of red, green, and blue light-emitting phosphors.
Adding together any two of the primary colors at

the same intensity will give us the primary
subtractive colors: cyan, magenta, and yellow.
!2 1
The subtractive colors can also be created by subtracting any of the primary additive colors from
white light.
Since cyan = white minus

red, it makes sense that
cyan + red would equal
white. This makes cyan
and red complementary
colors. Complementary
colors are two colors of
light that combine to make
white light. Following the
same logic, this means that
the other complementary
combinations are
magenta/green and
yellow/blue.
Since colors of light can be added together to create white light, white light can also be split into all
the different wavelengths of colors. Dispersion is the process of separating light into its different
colors. Prisms are a common way of dispersing light into the different colors. As
white light passes through a prism, the different colors (or frequencies) are refracted
at different angles. Different frequencies deviate from the
original path at different angles: the higher the frequency, the
more the deviation. Red will deviate the least, and violet will
deviate the most. Rainbows are a natural example of
R
dispersion. Each individual raindrop acts as a prism, and the
V light passing through it disperse to all the different colors.
Like sound, light will also experience the Doppler effect. This was discovered when studying the
light from distant stars. The color of stars moving away from us will shift to red, while the color of
stars moving toward us will shift to blue. The Doppler effect can still be defined as the apparent
change in frequency
due to the motion of
the source or the
motion of the observer,
but the different
frequencies perceived
in the case of light will
be different colors.
!2 2

Week 3 Course Notes

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Week 3 Course Notes

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WEEK 3 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE

COURSE NOTES - PART 1

Section 2: Electricity Important Names:

So, what precisely is the electric charge?

The electric charge is an intrinsic property of matter (just like

Different from gravity where the force of attraction between two

Nikola Tesla was an

An electric charge creates an electric field that

1. Thickness of wire: Thin wires resist electrical current more

2. Length of wire: Longer wires resist current more than shorter

3. Material of wire: All materials have resistance, but conductors

4. Temperature: Higher temperatures offer more resistance.

We should recall our discussion of gravitational potential energy in Week

Electric potential energy is also dependent upon

Electric power is measured in Joules per second (J/s) or watts (W)

To operate an electrical appliance, you need to

Devices connect to a circuit in one of two ways:

In a series circuit, there is only one way for electrons to travel, so

In a standard flashlight, the circuit connecting the voltage source (battery)

Total resistance in a series circuit is calculated by:

Four light bulbs are connected in series. Each light bulb in

Total resistance in a parallel circuit is calculated by:

Three bulbs are connected in parallel. If each of the bulbs has

Electrons have magnetic fields that create

Examples of magnets include:

1. Simple bar magnets - the poles are at the opposite ends.

2. Horseshoe magnets - bent “U” shape, the poles at the ends.

3. Earth - magnetic field lines of Earth point toward the

The Connection Between Electricity and Magnetism

When an electric current flows through a wire, a magnetic field

Electromagnetic induction happens when a voltage is generated in a conductor by an interaction

Specifically, the magnetic field passing through the

• moving a magnet toward or away from the coil

• moving the coil into or out of the magnetic field.

• rotating the coil relative to the magnet

SOUND AND LIGHT

COURSE NOTES - PART 2

cycles wave speed

The creation of sound

Sound travels at different speeds depending on the medium

A traffic signal in a congested intersection turns red 20 times in 5 minutes. What

Because Hz is a unit of cycles per second. We can start by converting the 5

5 min = 5⋅ 60 sec = 300 sec

If the crests and troughs of each

If the crests of one wave overlap

What if the wave source moves at the same speed (right) or

This results in constructive interference between each wave

The constructive interference is what creates a sonic boom

The aircraft pushes so much air in front of it, creating a large

Example (Sound and the Inverse Square Law):

A packet of light is known as a photon. A photon describes the particle properties of an

Transmission is when the photons of light pass through a material.

Transparent materials transmit light through them, while opaque

The Speed of Light and the Size of the Universe

The Moon is approximately 240,000 miles away from Earth,

When light is reflected from a smooth reflecting

Curved mirrors will form a different virtual image than a flat

When light waves encounter a surface that is not smooth, it is reflected in

The visibility of objects is primarily caused by diffuse reflection.

Recall that the speed of light is lower through denser materials

The difference in the speed of light in different materials is

Visible Light, Colors, and Vision

Adding together any two of the primary colors at

Since cyan = white minus