CLASS 1 – LIGHT

What is light? Light has both magnetic and electric properties. Light
consists of tiny particles called photons, and yet light also behaves like a wave.
This is called the Dual Nature of Light. We will study the wave-properties of light
in this class and save the particle properties of light for later.

I. The Speed of Light

Initial attempts to measure the speed of light did not go well. This is because
light travels extremely fast and scientists at first did not use distances that
were long enough to account for the high velocity of light.

In 1675 the Danish astronomer Olaus Roemer studied Io, the innermost moon
of Jupiter. Io revolves around Jupiter in 42.5 hours, but every so often it
disappears into Jupiter’s shadow. There was a regular pattern to the time it
took for Io to disappear into Jupiter’s shadow called a period. Roemer noticed
that if Earth was moving away from Jupiter, the measured periods were longer
than average. On the other hand, when the Earth was moving toward Jupiter,
the measured periods were shorter than average.

Io
Light coming from Jupiter’s
moon, Io, takes less time to
reach Earth at position 1 than
it does to reach Earth at
position 2. The speed of light
Earth 1 can be calculated by dividing
the extra distance the light
travels by the extra time it
takes for light to reach the
Earth.
Earth 2

The Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens was able to correctly interpret

Roemer’s results. Huygens proposed that if the Earth was moving away from
Jupiter, the light from Io had to travel a greater distance and thus the increase
in the period. The reverse was true if Earth was moving toward Jupiter: the
light had to travel a shorter distance.

In 1880 Albert Michelson performed an experiment to determine the actual

value of the speed of light. Michelson used a three-dimensional mirror with
eight sides. Light was directed at the mirror and then reflected to another
mirror on a mountain that was 35 km away. Since Michelson knew the
distance from the eight-sided mirror to the mountain top, he only needed to
know the time it took for the light to travel in order to calculate the speed of
light.

Michaelson was able to determine the time it took for the light to travel by
spinning the mirror at just the correct rate. He set up an eyepiece on the other
side of the mirror from the light source. If the mirror made exactly one eighth
of a rotation while the light traveled to the mountain and back, then the
mirror would be in a position to reflect the light into the eyepiece. If the
mirror rotated too fast or too slow, then the light would miss the eyepiece.

When the light ended up in the eyepiece, the time the light traveled to the
mountain and back was the same as the time it took the mirror to make one
eighth of a rotation. Michaelson obtained the number 299,920 km/s for the
speed of light and received the Nobel Prize in 1907 for his accomplishment.
Typically, the speed of light is rounded to 300,000 km/s.

eyepiece

Rotating stationary
eight-sided mirror
mirror

Only when the 8-sided mirror is

rotating at the correct speed
light source
will the light from the source
bounce off all three mirrors and
reach the eyepiece.
 The distance that light travels in one year is called a light-year. As fast as light
is, the universe is big. The nearest star to Earth (other than the sun) is Alpha
Centauri which is 4 light years away. It takes light 100,000 years to travel
across the entire Milky Way galaxy. There are many galaxies in the universe,
some of which are ten billion light years from Earth.

II. Electromagnetic Waves

direction of wave

magnetic field

electric field

The wave consists of an electrical portion (in red here) and a magnetic portion (in
blue here).

The electrical field is perpendicular to the magnetic field, and they are both
perpendicular to the direction in which the wave is moving (represented by the
black arrow).

We saw already that Faraday discovered that a moving electrical field generated a
magnetic field, and a moving magnetic field generated an electrical field.
 Thus, the electromagnetic wave which contains both, moves through space
regenerating itself as it goes.

The maximum velocity that the electromagnetic wave can travel is 300,000 km/s
and this maximum speed is achieved only in a vacuum such as space.

When electromagnetic waves interact with matter, they slow down.

This maximum value of 300,000 km/s is known as the speed of light and is equal
to the product of the wavelength and the frequency.

There are many different types of electromagnetic waves besides visible light.

These waves are characterized by the size of their wavelength. The entire range
of wavelengths is known as the electromagnetic spectrum.

Radio waves Microwaves Infrared Visible UV X-rays Gamma

radiation light rays

103 1 10-3 10-5 10-7 10-9 10-11 10-13

Radio waves are the largest wavelengths and the lowest energy while gamma rays
have the shortest wavelengths and are the highest in energy. (The longer the
wavelength, the lower in energy is the wave).

III. Light and Transparent Materials

When light falls on matter, the vibrating electric charges in the electromagnetic
wave cause the electrons in the matter to start vibrating. Certain materials such
as glass and water are transparent to light which means that they allow light to
pass through them.
To see why glass is transparent to light, let’s imagine that the electrons in an atom
are connected to the nucleus by imaginary springs. When light hits the material,
the electrons start to vibrate back and forth on these springs. Electrons have a
natural vibration frequency that depends on how tightly the electron is attached
to the nucleus.

For the electrons in glass, the natural vibration frequency is in the ultraviolet
range. This means that when ultraviolet light shines on glass, resonance occurs,
and the atom holds onto the energy in the vibration for a long time. The energy is
converted to heat as the atom collides with other atoms in this energetic state.
Since the light is converted to heat, glass is not transparent to ultraviolet light.

With visible light, however, the electrons vibrate with lower amplitudes and thus
the atom holds the energy for less time. Thus, there is a lower chance of
collisions with other atoms which would result in an energy loss in the form of
heat. Instead, the energy of the vibrating atoms is re-emitted as light. The
frequency of the emitted light is the same as the frequency of the light that
caused the initial vibration.

There is a time delay between the absorption of the light and its re-emission, and
this delay results in a lower speed of light through glass and other transparent
materials. In water light travels around 0.75c and in glass light travels around
0.67c, depending on the type of glass. When light exits a transparent material
and enters the atmosphere again, it travels at c.
 IV. Opaque Materials

Materials that do not allow light to pass through them are opaque. In opaque
materials, the light cast upon the object causes the atoms to vibrate, but these
vibrations become random kinetic energy and simply cause the object to become
warmer.

Metal objects are opaque but are shiny as well. This is because in metallic bonds,
the electrons farthest from the nucleus are not attached to any particular atom.
They are free to go between all the atoms, forming a sea of electrons. When light
hits a metal and starts these electrons vibrating, the energy is re-emitted as
visible light which is seen as a reflection.

V. Shadows

When light shines on an object in such a way that the object blocks some of the
light from passing through, a shadow forms. A shadow can have sharp edges or
blurry edges. A total shadow is called an umbra but a partial shadow with lighter
edges is called a penumbra. Sharp shadows are produced by a small light source
close to the object or by a larger source that is farther from the object. In both
cases, the sharp shadow occurs because light from slightly different directions
does not land behind the object. If light from a different source lands behind the
object or if light from a large source is only partially blocked by the object, a
penumbra forms and the shadow is no longer sharp.

A large light source produces a softer shadow, and a smaller light source produces a
harder shadow.
Vi. Polarization

Transverse waves can be created by shaking a rope. There are two different ways
to shake the rope: up and down so that a wave is created in the vertical plane and
left and right so that a wave is created in the horizontal plane. Both of these
waves are said to be polarized because they occur in only one plane.

When an electron vibrates, it behaves like the rope and gives off an
electromagnetic wave that is polarized. Electrons that vibrate in the vertical
plane give off vertical waves and electrons that vibrate in the horizontal plane
give off horizontal waves. Why then is light typically not polarized? This is
because the many different electrons in the light source are vibrating in many
directions relative to each other and when they emit light waves, these waves are
also in many different directions.

Light from a source can be polarized through the use of a polarizing filter. This
filter will only allow the light that is in the direction of the slits in the filter to pass
through. When an additional filter is added that has slits perpendicular to those
of the first filter, all light is eliminated. Polarizing sunglasses work in this manner.
The light that reflects from the shiny surface of water or roads is mostly
horizontally polarized. Thus, sunglasses with a vertical polarizing filter will
eliminate the glare.

Non-polarized
light vibrates in
all directions.
Only the vertical
component is able to
pass through the
vertical filter The vertical component is
unable to pass through
the horizontal filter
Polarizing filters are also used in movie theaters that show 3D movies. We see
objects in the world in three dimensions because each eye sees a slightly different
image. The brain combines these images together to provide depth. To simulate
this effect in the 3D movies, images are projected onto the screen through a pair
of polarizing filters. One filter polarizes light in the vertical direction and the
other filter polarizes light in the horizontal direction. This creates two separate
images that overlap and look blurry to the naked eye. When polarizing glasses
are put on, however, the images look three-dimensional to the viewer. This is
because the glasses polarize the light for each eye separately. For example, the
right eye might get vertically polarized light while the left eye gets horizontally
polarized light. Each eye will then see a slightly different image and the brain will
combine these images to create depth, just as happens in real life.
CLASS 2 – COLOR

Color is created when light of a certain wavelength or frequency is emitted

or reflected by an object and the brain then perceives this light as a color. Isaac
Newton showed that white light is composed of all the colors of the rainbow
when he used a triangular-shaped piece of glass called a prism to separate white
light into the colors of the rainbow. To show that this phenomenon was not a
property of the prism itself, he used a second prism to recombine all the colors
into white light.

White is not actually a color as it is simply a combination of all the colors of light.
Black is also not an actual color; it is the absence of light produced when all the
colors are absorbed by an object. Black objects typically do not absorb 100% of
the light that falls on them which is why you can see them.

I. Color by Scattering

Electrons oscillate at different frequencies in different materials. At the natural

resonate frequency of a material, the amplitude of the wave is large, and light
is absorbed because the atom holds onto the energy for a long time and
releases the energy as heat as it collides with other atoms. For frequencies
above and below the natural resonate frequency, light is reemitted since the
light energy does not transform to heat energy. If the material is opaque, then
the light bounces back toward its source. This is known as scattering.

Many materials absorb some frequencies of visible light and scatter the rest. If
an object is blue, this means that it scatters blue light and absorbs the other
colors of visible light. Since white light consists of all of the colors of the
rainbow, white objects scatter all visible light while black objects absorb all
colors of visible light.
 White scatters all the colors that shine Black absorbs all the colors that
on it. shine on it.

The color that an object appears depends on the light that shines on it. The
color of sunlight changes slightly throughout the day and throughout the year.
Incandescent light bulbs are redder in color while fluorescent bulbs are bluer
in color. Thus, objects tend to have their reds enhances when incandescent
light shines on them, but have their blues enhanced when fluorescent light
shines upon them. Candlelight tends to be more yellow in color and thus
objects will look more yellow in candlelight than in daylight.

II. Color by Transmission

If a transparent material has a color to it, it is because it transmits that color of

light. For example, a piece of blue glass appears blue because it transmits blue
light while absorbing all the other colors of visible light.

Only blue light passes

through blue glass.
The other
wavelengths are
absorbed by pigments
in the glass.
Why does a material absorb some colors of light while transmitting others?
It’s because the material contains a molecule called a pigment that absorbs all
the colors of visible light except for the color that is transmitted.

The electrons in the pigment absorb the frequencies/energies of light

necessary to take them to a higher energy. The frequency necessary to do this
depends on the particular pigment. If a frequency of light is not absorbed,
then it is transmitted.

III. Mixing Colors

When we consider the mixing of colors, we need to determine whether we are

speaking of colors of light or colors of pigments because the rules are different
for each of them. We will consider the mixing of colored light first. When all
of the frequencies of colored light are mixed together, white light results. One
can achieve the same affect, however, by mixing together only red, green, and
blue light. For this reason, red, green, and blue are called the additive primary
colors of light.

When only two of the primary colors are mixed together, the following color
combinations occur:
red + green = yellow

red + blue = magenta

blue + green = cyan

If we were to add in the missing color, we would get white according to the
following scheme:

yellow + blue = white

magenta + green = white

cyan + red = white

The color combinations above are called complimentary colors and they give us
an idea of what color an object will appear given the color of light that a particular
pigment absorbs. For example, if a pigment absorbs blue light, the object will
appear yellow and vice versa.

Now let us turn our attention to mixing pigments as you would do when painting.
You may already know that if you mix red, blue, and green paint, you do not get
white as you would with light; instead, you get a muddy brown color or grey color
depending on the quantities that are mixed. This occurs because pigments don’t
absorb precisely only one color of light. For example, blue paint absorbs red,
orange, and yellow light and scatters not only blue light, but also some violet and
green. Yellow paint absorbs blue and violet light and scatters mostly yellow light,
but also some red, orange, and green.

Absorbs Scatters
Blue: red, orange, yellow blue, violet, green
Yellow: blue, violet yellow, red, orange, green

When blue and yellow are mixed together, green is the only color that is not
absorbed by either pigment and so the color looks green. Mixing pigments is
called color mixing by subtraction since one color is subtracted from those that
are absorbed. Color mixing with light is called color mixing by addition.

Blue absorbs red, orange, and yellow, while yellow absorbs blue and violet, leaving only green.
In printing, the three primary colors are magenta, cyan, and yellow. Printers use
black ink as a fourth color and all other colors are made from these four inks by
overlapping tiny dots of each of the four colors. When viewed from a distance
the tiny dots look like many different colors to the human eye.

IV. Colors in Nature

Why is the sky blue?

The particles in the atmosphere scatter visible light, however, violet and blue
light are scattered the most, followed by the colors of green, yellow, orange,
and red. Red light is not scattered much at all compared to violet light. Since
violet light is scattered the most, we would see the sky as violet if our eyes
were sensitive to violet light, but they aren’t and so we see the next most
frequently scattered wavelength of visible light, blue. To our eyes, the sky is
blue.

Dust particles are larger than the oxygen and nitrogen molecules that typically
scatter visible light in the atmosphere. If there are a lot of dust particles in the
atmosphere, they will scatter the lower frequencies of red, orange, and yellow
due to their size. This makes the sky look white in color.

Why are sunsets red?

Since nitrogen and oxygen don’t scatter yellow, orange, and red as readily as
they scatter violet, blue, and green, these lower frequency
colors are transmitted through the atmosphere more than blue and violet are.
By the time the light reaches the Earth, redder and orange are in it than
blue and violet. At sunrise and sunset, the light must travel the greatest
distance through the atmosphere to reach the Earth. This means there is
more opportunity for the scattering of blue and violet and the sky and the sun
appear redder at sunset.

Sunrise/Sunset

Noon

Sunlight travels a longer path at sunrise or sunset than at noon. The longer the path, the more
blue that is scattered.

Why is the ocean blue?

When water comes out of the faucet or is sitting in a glass, it is colorless.
Why then does the ocean or a lake appear blue? Water is transparent to most
frequencies of visible light, however water molecules absorb some red light.
This means that water gradually absorbs red frequencies from the sunlight
that hits the water. As you go down in depth, the amount of red light
becomes less and less. When we look at the color wheel of light, we see that
the complimentary color of red is cyan. Without red, the light and thus the
water looks cyan which is a greenish-blue color. The surface of the water,
however, often looks bluish because of the reflection of the sky.
V. Atomic Spectra

When the atoms of an element are in the gas phase and energy is applied,
they glow. Each element has a different and characteristic color that is glows.
Neon gas glows a bright red while mercury vapor glows a bluish violet color.
Why does each element glow a distinctive color of light?

When the color of the light is analyzed, it can be shown to be a mixture of

distinct frequencies of visible light. Because not all the frequencies of visible
light are present, the ones that are there appear as lines in the same place that
they occur in the visible spectrum. Thus, the collection of frequencies for a
particular element is known as a line spectrum. It can also be called an atomic
spectrum. (Spectra is the plural of spectrum).

Each element has its own distinct pattern of frequencies because each
element has a distinct configuration of electrons. These electrons give off
distinct frequencies of light when they change energy states that result in the
line spectrum. Since the line spectrum is unique for each element, it can be
used to identify the element and thus can also be called an atomic fingerprint.

The atomic spectrum of hydrogen

The atomic spectrum of helium

CLASS 3 – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION

I. Reflection

When a wave is travelling in a particular type of matter, it sometimes

reaches a different type of matter. For example, when a wave is
travelling in the atmosphere, it often reaches water or cement or metal.
When a wave reaches the new type of matter and bounces back into the
original type of matter in which it was travelling, this is known as
reflection.

reflected wave

Some materials reflect nearly all frequencies of visible light. For

example, a light wave that hits a metal surface is reflected with close to
the same intensity of the incoming wave. On the other hand, materials
such as glass and water reflect some visible light but transmit the
majority of it.

If light is travelling in one direction when it hits a different surface, it

simply travels back in the direction from which it came, similar to the
way that a ball that is dropped straight downward onto a hard floor
bounces back up in the exact same direction.

What happens if you drop a ball onto the floor from an angle? Typically,
the ball bounces back up in a new direction but at an angle equal to the
one from which it was dropped. The same is true for a ray of light. The
angle at which the light ray hits the surface is called the angle of
incidence and the angle at which the light ray leaves the surface is called
the angle of reflection.

The law of reflection states that:

the angle of incidence = the angle of reflection.

Normal
Reflected Ray Incident Ray

q q
v v

Surface of mirror

If an object is placed in front of a flat mirror, the light rays that bounce
off the mirror do so in an equal but opposite direction as the waves that
originally struck the mirror. The waves then appear to originate from
the mirror and will form an image of the object when focused through a
lens such as that of the human eye.

When light rays fall on a surface that is rough instead of flat and shiny
like a mirror, the light rays are reflected in many different directions
with each individual light ray still obeying the law of reflection. This is
called diffuse reflection.

Whether or not a surface is considered smooth or rough depends on the

height of the bumps on the surface versus the wavelength of the light.
The surface is considered smooth or polished if the height of the bumps
on the surface is less than one eighth the wavelength of the light hitting
it. Thus, a surface can be considered smooth or rough depending on the
wavelength of the wave hitting it.

Sound waves can also reflect, and the reflection of a sound wave is
called an echo. Like light, sound waves reflect more from a smooth
surface than they do from a rough surface. If sound waves are not
reflected, then they are absorbed or transmitted.

Designers of the interiors of buildings must carefully control the amount

of sound waves that are absorbed versus the amount that is reflected
and the study of such properties is called acoustics. If the walls of a
room are too absorbent, the level of sound is lower. For concert halls
and theaters, this makes the sound dull and lifeless. On the other hand,
if the surfaces are too reflective, then there are multiple reflections
called reverberations and the sound becomes garbled.

You may have noticed that the walls of some concert halls have grooves
in them. This has the same effect as creating a rough surface to diffuse
the waves. In this way the sound comes at the listener from many
 different parts of the wall instead of only one part of the wall. You may
have also noticed that behind and above the stage there are highly
reflective surfaces. This is to direct the sound (and sometimes light)
toward the audience.

v v
v v
v v
v v
v v

II. Refraction

You may have seen that a straw or a pencil in a glass of water appears
bent or a tree sticking out of a lake appears offset. These are examples
of refraction. When waves enter a different type of material or through
varying temperatures and densities of the same type of material, the
speed of the waves changes which changes the direction of the light
rays.

Because of refraction, the depth of glass or water often appears less

than it actually is. Water in a pond or a pool appears to be only 75% of
its true depth, making any fish that swim by appear closer than it is. You
can also see this effect with a beverage in a thick glass. The thickness of
the glass appears less than it actually is, causing one to think there is
more beverage than there actually is.

When drawing the refraction of waves, lines called wave fronts are
often drawn to indicate the position of the crests of the wave. The
direction of the wave is perpendicular to the wave fronts and can be
represented by a ray.

Normal

Incident Ray Air

Wavefronts

Water

Refracted Ray

When light passes from one medium to another and the speed
decreases, the rays bend toward the normal. When light passes from
one medium to another and the speed increases, the rays bend away
from the normal.

The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a

particular material is called the index of refraction and relates to the
material.

Index of refraction = 300,000 km/s

Speed of light in material

Typically, the speed of light in air is 99.97% of what it is in a vacuum and

thus refraction is not noticeable. Since the temperature and density of a
substance affects the speed of light, significant refraction can occur
when a region of hot air is adjacent to a region of cold air. One such
occurrence of this is on hot days when there is a layer of hot air in
contact with the ground and a layer of cold air above it.
Light travels faster through hot air than cold air since the air molecules
are farther apart in hot air. Light refracts as it hits the hotter layer of air
and bends upward from the ground. This can cause a mirage as the light
that bounces off an object is bent upward.

Light travels through transparent materials at a speed less than c, but

how much less depends on the type of material and the frequency of
the light. When the frequency of the light is closer to the natural
frequency of a material, the light travels more slowly as there is more
absorption and reemission of the light. The natural frequency of most
transparent materials is in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum. Since
violet light has the closest frequency to ultraviolet light, violet light
travels slowest in transparent materials while red travels the fastest.

Because the different colors of visible light will travel at different speeds
in a transparent material, they each refract at a slightly different angle.
The separation of visible light according to the frequency of the wave is
called dispersion and is responsible for the creation of a rainbow.

When sunlight enters a raindrop, each frequency of visible light is

refracted into the water at a slightly different angle, causing dispersion.
When the light rays reach the other side of the droplet, they are partly
refracted as they enter the air and partly reflected back into the water
droplet. The second refraction increases the dispersion produced by the
first refraction.

sunlight

raindrop
 Because of the way that the light refracts out of the droplet, only one
color from each drop is able to enter your eye. The other colors land
either above or below your eye. To see all of the colors, you need to
look at a number of droplets that are at different heights in the sky. A
particular color will be seen at a particular angle between the sun and
the dispersed light; you can see this color anywhere on a circular arc at
this angle. This is why rainbows have their distinctive shape.

III. Total Internal Reflection

If a light originates underwater and shines upward toward the surface,

some of the light will be refracted and some of the light will be reflected
until a critical angle is reached. At this angle, the light points toward the
surface in such a way that it is entirely reflected back into the water.
This is called total internal reflection. The law of reflection is still
followed.

Refraction Air
Critical Angle Total Internal Reflection

i>c
c
i Water

i = the incident angle and c = the critical angle

A diamond has a critical angle of 24.6 degrees. This means that any light
ray that is more than 24.6 degrees from the normal to the surface will
reflect back into the diamond. The diamond is cut such that when light
enters it, it will undergo total internal reflection several times before
exiting the crystal, producing a wide range of colors.

Total internal reflection is also used in optical fibers to transport light

from one place to another. Optical fibers are used to shed light into
places where it is often difficult to see such as the interior of a car
engine or inside the human body. Light travels down certain fibers by
bouncing along through internal reflections and then it is reflected back
along others.
CLASS 4 – LENSES

When light enters glass from the atmosphere, it refracts and when light leaves
glass and re-enters the atmosphere, it refracts again. If glass forms a particular
shape, an image can form that appears larger, smaller, closer, or farther away
than the actual object.

i. Converging and Diverging Lenses

A lens is a piece of glass that is shaped so that it refracts the parallel rays
of light that enter it so that they cross each other and an image forms.
Lenses can either converge the light rays to a single point (a converging
lens) or diverge the light rays (a diverging lens). A converging lens is
thicker in the middle while a diverging lens is thinner in the middle. For
the converging lens, the wave fronts are slowed to a greater extent
through the middle than on the sides and thus converge. For the
diverging lens, the wave fronts are slowed more on the edges and thus
the wave fronts diverge.

Converging Lens

Diverging Lens
The principal axis of a lens is the line through the maximum curvature
on each side of the lens. For a converging lens, the focal point is the
point at which the beams of light that are parallel to the principal axis
converge. Any beams of light that are not parallel to the principal axis
will focus at points that are either above or below the focal point. The
focal point plus all of the points above and below it make up the focal
plane. A lens has two focal points and two focal planes since light rays
can enter from either side of the lens.

focal length focal length

focal point focal point

Principal axis

For a diverging lens, the beams of light parallel to the principal axis
diverge in a way that makes the light appear to come from a single
point. The focal length of both a converging lens and a diverging lens is
the distance from the center of the lens to one of the focal points. If the
lens is thin, both focal lengths are equal even if the amount of curvature
on each side is slightly different.

II. How Lenses Form Images

You probably have already observed that you can see more detail in an
object that is nearer to you than in one that is farther from you. This is
because standing closer to an object, you have a larger angle of view.
 A magnifying glass works by increasing the angle of view. Converging
lenses such as a magnifying glass will only enlarge an object when it is
between the focal point and the lens. The image produced by the
magnifying glass is farther from your eye than the actual image and is
called a virtual image. The light rays that enter your eye behave as if
they originated from this virtual image, but there is no actual image
there. If you placed a screen at this position, no actual image would
appear on it.

virtual image
focal point
actual image

If the image is beyond the focal point of a converging lens, the light from
the object converges there and the image is a real image. This image
can be focused on a screen, although it will appear upside down if it is
produced by a single lens. Converging lenses are used in this way to
project movies and slides onto a screen or to produce an image on film
in a camera.
 If a single diverging lens is used, the image is always virtual, smaller than
the object, and right side up, regardless of how far the actual object is
from the lens. The viewfinder of a camera uses a diverging lens to
estimate the proportions of the photograph to be taken.

Image Formation Summarized:

Position of Image real or Image right-side Size of the Placement of

Lens Type
Object virtual up or inverted image the image

Object and
Within one
Converging image are on
focal length of virtual Right-side up magnified
lens the same side
the lens
of the lens
If object is close
to focal point,
the image is far Object and
Beyond one
Converging away; if the image are on
focal length of real inverted
lens object is far opposite sides
the lens
from the focal of the lens
point, the
image is near.
Object and
Diverging image are on
virtual Right-side up Reduced
lens the same side
of the lens

Lens do not give images that are exactly like the object. Distortions in an image
are called aberrations and often need to be minimized by combining lenses.
Spherical aberrations result when the sides of the lens focus light slightly
differently than the center of the lens does. This can be corrected either by
covering the sides of the lens or by combining lenses.
Chromatic aberrations result from the fact that different colors of light refract
slightly differently. For example, red light (on one end of the spectrum) and blue
light (on the other end of the spectrum) will focus in a slightly different place.
Achromatic lenses combine simple lenses of different types of glass to correct for
this problem.

III. Ray Diagrams

A ray diagram can be used to determine the size and the location of the
image that a lens will produce. In order to construct the ray diagram,
the following must be known:

1) The focal length of the lens

2) The distance of the object from the center of the lens
3) The size of the object
4) The path of two rays from a point on the object; the point cannot be
on the principal axis. Typically, a point at the tip of the object is
chosen.

The paths of the rays for a converging lens can be determined as follows:

1) A ray of light will pass through the very center of the lens with essentially
no refraction.
2) A ray of light that is parallel to the principal axis will be refracted through
the lens so that it passes through the focal point in back of the lens.
 3) A ray of light that passes through the focal point in front of the lens will be
refracted by the lens so that it is parallel to the principal axis.

2
Image

Object 3

The place where any two of these rays intersect is the location of the image. The
distance of the point of intersection from the principal axis will give the size of the
image.

For a diverging lens, the path of rays is as follows:

1) A ray of light that emerges from the top of the object will refract through
the lens in the same direction as a line directly from the focal point
2) A ray of light that passes through the center does so without changing
direction.
3) A ray of light that is proceeding toward the focal point on the opposite side
of the lens will refract when it hits the lens so that it is parallel to the
principal axis.

Object Image
2
Observed from the side of the lens opposite the object, the three rays of light
appear to have originated from a single point on the opposite side of the lens.
This point is the position and height of the virtual image. It is closer to the lens
than the actual object, making it smaller than the actual object. It is right-side up.

IV. Optical Instruments That Use Lenses

The Telescope and Binoculars:

A simple telescope that uses lenses is called a refracting telescope. It forms a real
image of a distant object which is then magnified by the eyepiece which is
another lens. The eyepiece is within one focal length of the image produced by
the first lens, and it produces a larger, inverted virtual image of the initial image.

Binoculars are two of these telescopes side by side to form binoculars. In

binoculars, there are two prisms that turn the images right-side up.

The Compound Microscope:

A compound microscope uses two converging lenses with a short focal length that
are placed on the same side of the object to be magnified. The lens closest to the
object is called the objective lens and produces an enlarged real image that is
between the two lenses. The second lens is called the eyepiece and forms a
virtual image of the first image that is enlarged even more.

The Camera:

A camera contains a lens that forms a real, inverted image on light-sensitive film.
Both are placed in a light-tight box so that the only light that falls on the film,
enters through the lens. The amount of light hitting the film is further regulated
by the shutter which controls how long the film is exposed to the light and the
diaphragm which controls the size of the opening through which light passes. The
hole in the diaphragm is called the aperture and can often be varied to vary the
amount of light hitting the film. Most cameras use compound lenses (one lens
after another) to avoid distortions in the image.

V. Vision in Humans

The human eye can be compared to a camera. The amount of light that enters
the eye is regulated by the iris which surrounds the pupil, the actual hole through
which the light passes. The cornea is a transparent material that covers both the
iris and the pupil. Once light enters the eye through the pupil, it passes through
the lens and is focused on the retina at the back of the eye. The image formed is
upside down, however, your brain turns the images it receives from the retina
right-side up.

Cornea

Pupil Retina

Iris

Optic
Lens
Nerve

In a camera, the image is focused by varying the distance between the lens and
the film. In the eye, however, the cornea changes the thickness and shape of the
lens to vary the focal length as necessary.

Sometimes the human eye does not form images as it should. A person who is
far-sighted will form images behind the retina. People who are far-sighted have
to hold objects more than 25 cm away in order to focus on them properly. In
order to correct this, people who are far-sighted often wear glasses or contact
lenses that contain converging lenses. The light rays entering the eye are then
focused on the retina instead of behind it.

Normal vision Near-sighted

Far-sighted

On the other hand, a person who is near-sighted cannot see objects in the
distance in focus because those objects are focused in front of the retina. People
who are near-sighted will wear glasses or contact lenses that contain diverging
lenses that focus the light rays on the retina instead of in front of it.

Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is curved more on one side than the other
which results in the eye forming images that are not sharp. People with
astigmatism wear glasses that have lenses that are curved in one direction more
than the other to compensate.
CLASS 5 – DIFFRACTION AND INTERFERENCE

Light behaves both as particles and as a wave. Some properties of light are better
explained by using the particle properties of light and some properties are better
explained using the wave-like properties of light. Diffraction and interference are
two properties of light that are better explained by looking at light as a wave.

I. Huygens – Fresnel Principle

The Huygens-Fresnel Principle states that every point on any wavefront serves
as a source of new waves that travel outward in every direction. Initially the
wavefront appears curved, but as it spreads out, it appears more like a plane.

The Huygens-Fresnel Principle can be observed in water waves created in a

trough and made to pass through a small opening. When the waves start out
with straight wavefronts and pass through a rather large opening, the
wavefronts maintain their straight shape. When these same waves are made
to pass through a narrow opening, only a small part of the wave is able to pass
through and is seen to act as a point source for circular waves that spread out
as they clear the barrier.

When straight waves pass through an opening, the smaller the size of the opening, the
greater the bending of the waves at the edges.
II. Diffraction

Diffraction occurs when waves spread out around an obstacle and typically
involves interference. Diffraction can occur with all types of waves including
water waves, sound waves, and electromagnetic waves which include visible
light waves.

When light passes through an opening that is much larger than the wavelength
of the light, a sharp shadow is produced. If the light passes through a narrow
slit, however, a fuzzy shadow is produced because the light is diffracted by the
slit and spreads out in all directions after it clears the obstacle. The amount of
diffraction is dependent on the size of the obstacle versus the size of the
wavelength. Wavelengths that are large compared to the length of the
obstruction, create greater amounts of diffraction.

When the opening is large compared to the wavelength of the light, the shadow is sharp.

When the opening is narrow compared to the wavelength of the light, the shadow is fuzzy.
The wavelengths of AM radio waves are very long compared to the size of
most objects that obstruct their path, including buildings. Because of this, AM
radio waves diffract easily around buildings and other seemingly large objects.
By contrast, the wavelengths of FM radio waves are shorter and thus these
waves do not diffract around buildings and other large objects as well as AM
radio waves do. Thus, for many areas reception for AM radio stations is much
better than it is for FM radio stations. Since FM radio waves are not able to
diffract as much, they must be in the line of sight of the receiver while AM
radio waves easily diffract around buildings and hills.

Diffraction can cause significant problems in microscopy. If the object is the

same size as the wavelength of light illuminating it, the image of the object
becomes blurry due to diffraction. If the object is smaller than the wavelength
of light, it can’t be seen at all because of the diffraction. In order to remedy
this problem, microscopes often illuminate the object being observed with
light of shorter wavelengths, typically a beam of electrons. Such a microscope
is called an electron microscope and these microscopes are able to magnify
very tiny objects since the wavelength of an electron is extremely small.

III. Young’s Interference Experiment

Waves may interfere constructively to add together or destructively to cancel

each other out entirely or partially.

Constructive Interference Destructive Interference

Constructive interference produces a larger wave whose amplitude is equal to the

amplitude of Wave1 + the amplitude of Wave2

If the amplitudes are the same in destructive interference, the wave completely
disappears.
In 1801 Thomas Young performed an experiment with monochromatic light,
light consisting of a single color. Young placed a screen behind two pinholes
that were close together and when he allowed the monochromatic light to
pass through the pinholes, areas of brightness and darkness appeared on the
screen. The bright areas were due to light waves passing through both holes
in phase to give constructive interference. The dark areas were due to the
light waves passing through both holes out of phase to give destructive
interference. In this way, Young demonstrated that light had wave-like
properties.

Later Young’s original experiment was modified so that two slits are used
instead of two pinholes. Monochromatic light passing through the slits
diffracts and some waves constructively interfere while others destructively
interfere. This produces lines of brightness where the waves are in phase and
undergo constructive interference and lines of darkness where the waves are
out of phase and undergo destructive interference.

The screen is illuminated when the waves

interfere constructively, and it is dark
where the waves interfere destructively.

A device that consists of many double slit arrangements is called a diffraction

grating, and it is able to separate white light into different colors similar to the
way that a prism does. The difference is that a prism separates light into its
component colors due to refraction and a diffraction grating does so by
diffraction.

Examples of objects that use diffraction gratings include costume jewelry and
bumper stickers that diffract light into a rainbow of colors. A compact disc has
grooves on its surface that are able to diffract colors. In nature, birds such as a
peacock produce brilliant colors by having tiny diffraction gratings in their
wings.

IV. Iridescence

Iridescence occurs when light waves of different frequencies interfere with

each other in thin films. The result is a spectrum of colors. You may have seen
examples of iridescence in soap bubbles or gasoline or oil on wet pavement.

A thin film capable of iridescence consists of two surfaces that are close
together, both capable of reflection. When light reflects off of one of the
surfaces, it may undergo destructive interference with light that reflects off of
the other surface. When white light hits the surface, certain colors are
eliminated by destructive interference. Which color is eliminated depends on
the thickness of the film. When a color is eliminated, we see its
complimentary color. For example, if blue is eliminated, we see yellow and
vice versa.

Blue light waves

enter both
gasoline and water
The two reflected
beams cancel each
other out and there is
no blue light seen

wave reflected from wave reflected from

surface of water surface of gasoline
V. Lasers and Holograms

Lasers

Typical lamps emit light that is incoherent, meaning that the light waves have
many different frequencies and wavelengths that are out of phase with each
other. Even monochromatic light of a single frequency is incoherent because
the waves are still out of phase with each other. A beam of incoherent light
does not travel far before it begins to spread out and therefore becomes less
intense.

If the waves in a beam of light all have the same frequency and direction and
are in phase, the light is said to be coherent. There is no interference between
these waves. Coherent light will not spread out as it travels. A laser produces
coherent light. One atom emits a light wave, and this wave stimulates the
emission of light from a nearby atom which in turn stimulates the emission of
light in another atom and so on and so forth. All of the light waves are
generated in such a way that their crests line up.

Laser stands for light amplification by standard emission of radiation. A laser

does not generate energy. Instead, it converts energy by using the process of
stimulated emission to generate a beam of coherent light. Lasers are used by
surgeons to make fine cuts during surgery, to read product codes in the
scanners at cash registers, to read the music signals in CDs as well as many
other functions. Lasers are also used to produce holograms.

Holograms

A hologram is a three-dimensional image of an object. A laser beam is split

into two beams and each beam is directed by mirrors to its destination.
Ultimately both beams reach highly sensitive photographic film. One laser
beam shines on the object and is reflected by the object onto the film. The
second beam, the reference beam, is reflected from a mirror directly to the
film. The two beams undergo interference before they hit the film. Because
light reflecting off parts of the object that are closer travels a shorter distance
than light reflecting off parts of the object that are farther away, the
interference patterns produced are slightly different. This is what gives depth
to the object.
Beam Splitter

Laser Lens
Mirror

Object (Ice cream cone)

Lens

Mirror

Holographic Plate
When light falls on the holographic film, it is diffracted by the fringed pattern
on the film that has resulted from the reflected light. The diffraction produces
wave fronts that are identical to the original wave fronts coming off the object
from the reflected light. This creates a realistic three-dimensional image for
the eye.

If you cut the holographic film into any number of pieces, each piece still has
the entire image because every part of the hologram has received and
recorded light from the entire object. Holograms can also be magnified. If a
hologram is recorded with light of a short wavelength and then is viewed with
light of a longer wavelength, the image is magnified in the same proportion as
the wavelengths are to each other.
CLASS 6 – ELECTROSTATICS

I. Electric Charges

If you rub a balloon on your head and then place it on the wall, it will stick to
the wall. Why? Because of an electrical force between the balloon and the
wall. The electrical force is between negatively charged particles and
positively charged particles and since the balloon does stick to the wall instead
of falling down, we know that the electrical force is stronger than the force of
gravity. In fact, the electrical force is billions of times stronger than the force
of gravity.

The electrical force arises from the charges in atoms and unlike gravity, it can
be repulsive as well as attractive. The electrons in atoms are negatively
charged and repel each other. All electrons have the same mass and the same
amount of charge. The protons in the nuclei of atoms are positively charged
and also repel each other. Like charges repel each other but unlike charges
attract each other and so an electron and a proton experience an attractive
force.

+ + _
+

The protons are much more massive than the electrons, but the magnitude of
their charges is the same. Thus, atoms that are neutral in charge have the
same number of protons as electrons. If an electron is removed from an atom,
the atom gains a positive charge as there are now more positively charged
protons than there are electrons. Such a positively charged atom is called a
cation. Conversely, if an electron is added to an atom, the atom has a negative
charge as there are now more electrons than protons. Such a negatively
charged atom is called an anion. Any charged atom, whether positive or
negative, is called an ion.

Atoms become charged by the removal or addition of electrons, but not just
any electrons. It is the outermost electrons that are most easily removed and
when electrons are gained, it is the outermost electrons that they join. How
easy or difficult it is to remove electrons from a substance depends on how
tightly the substance holds its electrons.

Outermost electron
of a lithium atom

The atoms in rubber hold their electrons very tightly, making them very
difficult to remove. The atoms in fur, on the other hand, do not hold their
electrons as tightly. Thus, if you rub a rod made of rubber with fur, electrons
from the fur will transfer to the rubber, making the rubber rod negatively
charged and the fur positively charged. On the other hand, if you rub a glass
rod with silk, you’ll see the opposite effect: the rod become positively charged
and the silk become negatively charged. Electrons are held more tightly by silk
than by glass and so the electrons transfer from the glass to the silk.

In both cases, charge is transferred, but it is not created nor is it destroyed.

This is the principle of Conservation of Charge. Electrons are transferred or
received in whole numbers. You do not find fractions of electrons be
transferred from one object to another.
II. Coulomb’s Law

The equation for the force between two charges was discovered by Charles
Coulomb in the eighteenth century. Coulomb discovered that the force varied
directly with the size of the charges and inversely with the square of the
distance. Coulomb’s Law can be written as:

where q1 represents the size of the charge on the first particle, q2 represents
the size of the charge on the second particle, d represents the distance, and k
is Coulomb’s constant which has a value of 9.0 x 109 Nxm2/C2. The unit of
charge is the Coulomb (C) which is the charge on 6.24 x 1018 electrons.

You may have already realized that Coulomb’s Law looks very similar to
Newton’s Law of Gravitation:

The difference is that the force of gravity is only attractive whereas the
electrical force can be either attractive or repulsive. The proportionality
constant for gravity, 6.67 x 10-11 N is very small compared to the
proportionality constant for Coulomb’s Law which tells us that the force of
gravity is extremely small compared to the electrical force.

Since most large objects have essentially the same number of protons as
electrons, the electrical forces tend to balance out and thus the only
measurable force between two objects is gravity. At the atomic level,
however, the electrical force becomes important and plays a significant role in
holding molecules, compounds, and thus matter together.
III. Conductors and Insulators

Some materials, such as metals, conduct electricity very well, while other
materials, such as rubber, do not conduct electricity well at all. Materials that
conduct electricity well are called conductors while materials that are poor
conductors of electricity are called insulators.

Materials that are good conductors have electrons that are not tightly bound
to their atoms. Metals have outer shell electrons that are free to wander
throughout the metal structure. Materials that have tightly bound electrons
are poor conductors. Some materials behave as insulators at first but can be
changed so that they will behave as both insulators and conductors. These
materials are semiconductors. To turn these materials into semiconductors, a
few atoms in the crystal structure are replaced with another type of atom that
either adds or removes an electron. Materials such as germanium or silicon
are good semiconductors.

Superconductors are materials that will conduct current indefinitely once

electron flow is established. Superconductors work at very low temperatures
near absolute zero or at high temperatures above 100K.

IV. Putting a Charge on an Object

Friction and Contact

Friction can cause electrons to be transferred when one material rubs against
another. This occurs when fur rubs against a rubber stick, when you rub your
shoes on the carpet, or when you rub a balloon on your hair.

If a charged object comes into contact with a neutral object, some charge will
transfer to the neutral object, and this is called charging by contact. If the
object is good at conducting electricity, then the charge easily spreads
throughout it. If the object is a poor conductor, then it may be necessary for
the charged object to touch it in several places to obtain a charge throughout
it.

Induction
If a charged object is held near a neutral object that is a good conductor, a
charge can be induced in the neutral object even without the two objects
touching. Consider two metal spheres that are side by side. They are attached
to insulating material so that any charge transferred to the sphere will remain
on the sphere. A negatively charged rod is brought near one of the spheres
which causes the sphere to become positively charged as the electrons in the
sphere are repelled by the rod and then move onto the second sphere. The
sphere closest to the rod becomes positively charged while the sphere farthest
from the rod becomes negatively charged.

- --
- ++
- + -
- + -
- ++ - -
-

The two spheres must be attached to a material that does not allow charge to
move off the sphere so that grounding does not occur. Grounding happens
when charges have a path from the object to the ground.

Induction occurs when lighting strikes during a thunderstorm. Clouds form a

negative charge which in turn induces a positive charge on the ground below.
Lightning is an electrical discharge from the clouds to the surface of the Earth.
A lightning rod can be attached to the top of a building to prevent the building
from being struck by lightning. The rod collects electrons from the air which
prevents a large build-up of positive charge on the building through induction
and makes it much less likely that lightning will discharge from the clouds to
the building.

Polarization

Charging by induction can also occur with an insulator. Even though free
electrons aren’t available to travel through the insulator, the electrons within
the atoms or molecules of the material can arrange themselves so that one
side is more negative, and the other side is more positive. When the electrons
do this, the atom or molecule is polarized. If a negatively charged rod is
brought toward the material, the atoms or molecules arrange themselves so
that they are facing the negative charge.

--
+ -
+ -
-- +
+
-
-

If you rub a balloon on your hair, it becomes charged. When you touch the
balloon to the wall, it sticks because the balloon induces a charge on the
surface of the wall. The molecules in the wall are positively charged on the
side closest to the balloon and negatively charged on the side farthest from
the balloon.
CLASS 7 – ELECTRIC FIELDS AND ELECTRICAL POTENTIAL

I. Electric Fields

If you drop something, it falls to the ground. This is because two masses do
not need to touch to experience the force of gravity. There is a gravitational
field around the Earth and objects that are within that field will be attracted to
the Earth. If you push like poles of two magnets together, you can feel them
repel before they touch. This is because there is a magnetic field around each
of the magnets. Similarly, there is an electric field around an electric charge.

The force that two electric charges experience from being near each other can
be described as the interaction between their electric fields. An electric field
has a magnitude and a direction. By convention, the direction of the electric
field is the direction of the field toward a small positive test charge. Thus, if
the electric field is positive, it will point away from the test charge since like
charges repel. If the electric field is negative, it will point toward the test
charge since like charges attract.

The direction of the electric field can be represented by vectors that either
point toward a negatively charged particle or away from a positively charged
particle. The magnitude of the field is indicated by the length of the vectors;
the greater the strength of the electric field, the longer the vectors and vice
versa.
Since the electric field is actually three-dimensional, it is often useful to
describe it by using electric field lines which can also be termed lines of force.
If the lines are farther apart, the field is weaker. For a single charge, the lines
go to infinity, but for two opposite charges, the lines go from the positive
charge toward the negative charge.

II. Electric Shielding

Although there is no way to create a shield for the force of gravity, you can
shield the electric force so that it is not felt. Electric shielding occurs when an
object is surrounded by a conducting surface. When an electric field is
present, the free charges in the conducting surface will naturally orient
themselves so that all of their electric fields cancel each other out.

A simple example of this would be a metal sphere with a charge applied to it.
Every electron repels every other electron and thus all the electrons spread as
far from each other as they possibly can. This results in a uniform distribution
of electrons throughout the sphere which in turn results in an electric field of
zero. This is easiest to see with a positive charge in the center: any pull of the
charge in one direction is balanced by a pull of the charge in the opposite
direction. In fact, anywhere the positive charge is placed in the sphere, it will
experience a net electric field of zero.

Any conducting surface will act to create a net zero electric field, whether it is
symmetrical (as a sphere is) or not. The free electrons in the conducting
surface move until they collectively obtain positions that give a zero electric
field.

- - - -
- --
--
- --
-
- --
- - --

III. Electrical Potential

A charged object can have potential energy when it comes in the vicinity of
another like charge. The two charges naturally repel and thus for one charge
to become closer to the other, work must be done on the charge to move it.
The work done is equal to the potential energy gained by the charged object.
If the charge is released, it will accelerate away from the other charge and its
electrical potential energy will be converted into kinetic energy. Conversely, if
two objects are opposite in charge, work must be done to pull them apart.

In working with charges, we tend to use the electrical potential per charge
instead of the total electrical potential energy possessed by a group of
charges. This value is the total electrical potential energy divided by the
amount of charge and is called the electrical potential.

electrical potential = electrical potential energy

amount of charge
Electrical potential is measured in volts (V), named after Alessandro Volta, and
is commonly called voltage. Since potential energy is measured in joules and
charge is measured in coulombs

volt = joule
coulomb

This means that one volt equals one joule of energy per one coulomb of
charge.

IV. Storing Electrical Energy

Electrical energy can be stored in a capacitor. Nearly all electric circuits use
capacitors. Computer memory uses capacitors to store the strings of 1’s and
0’s that make up binary code. Photoflash units use capacitors to build up large
amount of energy over time which is then released almost instantly when the
flash is fired.

A simple capacitor can be constructed by connecting two conducting plates to

a device that will charge them, such as a battery. The plates should be parallel
to each other and separated by a small distance. The positive terminal of the
battery will pull electrons from the plate connected to it, leaving a positive
charge on the plate. These electrons then travel through the battery to the
other plate, which is connected to the negative battery terminal, giving the
plate a negative charge.

- -- -- +
+ ++
- -v -v +++
-v -v v- + ++
-v v ++
v vv v
-v +

simple capacitor
 The plates have equal but opposite charges. Charging stops when the
potential difference between the plates equals the potential difference
between the positive and negative terminals of the battery which is also equal
to the voltage of the battery. The greater the voltage of the battery and the
larger and closer the plates are to each other, the greater the charge that will
be stored. The energy stored in the capacitor comes from the electric field
between the plates and the work required to charge the plates.

Often the plates are constructed of thin metallic foil and are separated by a
thin sheet of paper which is then rolled up and inserted into a cylinder. A
capacitor will discharge its saved electricity when a path between the two
plates is created for the electrons. For this reason, the cylinder often has two
metal rods sticking from it to provide this path. If the voltage is high enough,
discharge can be fatal if you complete the circuit for the conducting path.

A Van de Graaff generator is often used to build up high voltages. You may
have seen one at a science museum or in an old movie where these machines
are often used to create lightning effects.

hollow metal sphere

charge carried up by rubber belt

Insulating cylinder

metal needles held at high

electrical potential deposit
electrons onto the rubber belt
To create a Van de Graaff generator, a large hollow metal sphere is placed
atop an insulating cylinder. A set of metal needles are held at a high electric
potential and continuously deposit electrons on a rubber belt as it moves past
them.

The rubber belt carries the charge up to the hollow metal sphere and deposits
it inside the sphere. Since electrons repel each other, they move to the
outside of the sphere where there is more space for them. This leaves the
inside surface available to receive more electrons which in turn move to the
outer sphere. The process repeats until the sphere has a very high voltage,
which can be up to a million volts.

When the voltage becomes too much, discharge occurs through the air. The
voltage can be increased to up to 20 million volts by increasing the radius of
the sphere or by placing the generator in an enclosed system that is filled with
gas at a high pressure. Van de Graaf generators are used to accelerate
charged particles that are then shot at the nuclei of atoms.
CLASS 8 – ELECTRIC CURRENT

I. Electric Current

Charge flows through an electrical conductor when there is a potential

difference, a difference in voltage between one end of the conductor and the
other. The flow of charge occurs until both ends achieve the same potential.
When there is no longer a potential difference, the flow of charge ceases. If a
flow of charge through a conductor is to continue over a period of time, the
potential difference from one end to the other must continue as well.

The flow of electric charge is called the electric current. The electric current
may consist of positively charged ions, negatively charged ions, or electrons.
Electric current is measured in amperes (A). An ampere is equal to 1 coulomb
per second.

When current flows through a wire, the wire does not have a net electric
charge. This is because the atoms of the wire are positively charged because
they have released an electron or two to roam freely throughout the atomic
network. The negatively charged electrons flow through the wire with the
number of electrons equaling the number of positive protons in the atomic
nuclei. The number of electrons entering one end of the wire equals the
number of electrons leaving the other end of the wire and so the net charge is
typically zero.

A voltage source provides a potential difference. Dry cells, wet cells, and
generators are able to effectively provide a potential difference for a long
period of time. Dry cells and wet cells function by converting chemical energy
into electrical energy while generators convert mechanical energy into
electrical energy. The potential energy per coulomb of charge is called the
electromotive force or emf for short.

Voltage is similar to water pressure in that it provided the “pressure”

necessary to move current through a circuit. To distinguish between voltage
and current, let us think of electrons flowing through a wire as water flowing
through a pipe. Water will only flow through the pipe if there is a difference in
water pressure from one end of the pipe to another. The pressure creates the
flow, but it is not what actually flows. The water is what flows. The same is
true for current. Current will not flow through a wire unless there is a voltage
difference, however it is not the voltage that actually flows; it is the current.

water flows from higher pressure to lower pressure

II. Resistance

The current that flows through a circuit depends on both the voltage and the
resistance of the conducting material. The resistance of the wire depends on
how willing the material is to electrons passing through it, as well as the
thickness and the length of the wire, and the temperature.

Thick wires have less resistance than thin wires and longer wires have more
resistance than shorter wires. Increased temperature typically means
increased resistance because with increased temperature the electrons have a
greater amount of movement. This greater amount of movement creates
greater resistance as the flow of the electrons is less streamlined.

Electrical resistance is measured in ohms, named after Georg Ohm, who tested
different types of wires and formulated what has become known as Ohm’s
Law. Ohm’s Law can be expressed as:

voltage = current x resistance

Ohm’s Law shows us that the amount of current flowing through a wire is
directly proportional to the current and inversely proportional to the
resistance. Low resistance wire such as copper easily allows current to pass
through it, but high resistance wire such as Nichrome converts electrical
energy to heat as the current passes through it. Light bulbs and heating
elements produce light and heat respectively by using high resistance wire.
Devices such as radios and television receivers often used resistors to slow the
amount of current before it reaches a particular component such as an LED, a
fan, or a light bulb.

III. Electric Shock

Current passing through the human body causes electric shock and the effects
can be deadly if the amount of current that passes through is too great. Ohm’s
law tells us that the amount of current is related to both the voltage and the
resistance. The amount of resistance your body offers depends on the state of
your body. If your skin is completely dry, the resistance is very high whereas if
your skin is wet, the resistance can be quite low.

Every year many people are killed by the current from 120-volt electric circuits
which are quite common in light fixtures and appliances. If you are standing
on the ground with shoes on and with dry skin, touching a faulty 120-volt
circuit will probably do you very little harm, particularly since your shoes will
provide a significant amount of resistance between you and the ground.

If on the other hand, you are standing barefoot in the bathtub, the current
produced by such a voltage can do quite a bit of harm as it passes through you
on its way to the ground. This is the reason why it is harmful to handle
electronic devices in the bathtub or other places where water collects.
You may have seen birds perched high upon an electric wire. They do not feel
any ill effects from the wire. This is because every part of their bodies is at the
same high potential as the wire. It is only a difference in potential within the
bird that will be harmful. In this case the current will pass through the path of
least resistance which will be through the bird.

You can receive an electric shock when the metal surface of an electric
appliance is at a different electric potential from those of nearby devices. If
you touch the surfaces of two of these devices, you become a pathway for the
current to transfer from the higher electrical potential to the lower one. In
some cases, the amount of current flowing through you can be dangerous or
even deadly so to prevent this, the outsides of electrical appliances are
connected to a wire which directly the current to the ground. This is done via
the round prong of a three-pronged plug. The two flat prongs are to carry the
current, but if the wire accidentally comes in contact with the surface of the
appliance, the current is directed to the ground via the third wire instead of
through a person.
IV. Direct and Alternating Current

Electric current can be DC (direct current) or AC (alternating current). With

direct current, the charge always flows in one direction. A battery will produce
direct current because the battery terminals always have the same charge
(positive or negative) and so the current always moves from the negative
terminal toward the positive terminal.

With alternating current, the electrons move in one direction first and then
change and move in the opposite direction, alternating back and forth
between the two. Alternating current is generated when the polarity of the
voltage is alternated. Even though the current is moving back and forth in
opposite directions, it still essentially flows from the power plant to the
electrical devices. An advantage to alternating current is that it can be
transmitted great distances without great heat loss from the wires. This is
because the voltage can be modified very easily allowing it to be transmitted
at high voltages before being reduced to lower voltages for use in appliances.

DC AC
Current
Current

Time Time

Alternating current changes direction over time

while direct current does not.

The current in a residence or business is AC, however the current in a battery-

operated device is DC. In order to plug in a battery-operated device and have
it operate on AC power, the device needs a transformer to lower the voltage
as well as a diode that allows electrons to flow in only one direction. Because
alternating current goes in two directions, only half of the electron flow will
enter the diode. The amount is not completely consistent, however, and so
the amount of current can vary. Thus, to maintain a continuous amount of
current, a capacitor is used as well.

The capacitor acts to store charge and since it takes time to add or subtract
electrons from the capacitor’s plates, it acts to slow down the changes in the
current flow, thereby producing a consistent effect.

V. Electric Power

The source of electrons in a circuit is the conducting material. Since most

current is AC, the electrons move back and forth very short distances about a
fixed point within their conductor. When you plug an appliance into an AC
outlet, it is energy and not electrons that flows from the outlet into the
appliance. The energy is carried by the electric field that is generated by the
electrons. The AC voltage of the circuit is the same as the number of joules of
energy that are transferred by each coulomb of charge that is made to move
back and forth.

Since the electrons in a current are within the conductor, when you receive an
electron shock, it is the electrons within your body that are part of the current.
No electrons move from an electrical wire into your body; only the energy that
they generate does. The energy causes the electrons in your body to move
back and forth, and this increased motion is increased energy.

Any charge moving in an electric circuit expends energy, unless it is in a

superconductor. This energy is converted into another form such as heat,
mechanical energy, or light. The rate at which electrical energy is converted
into another form is called electrical power. The formula for electrical power
is:

electric power = current x voltage

The units of power are watts, named for James Watts, inventor of the steam
engine. Watts are equal to ampere x volt or also joules/second.
CLASS 9 – ELECTRIC CIRCUITS

An electric circuit requires a closed path through which the electrons can flow.
It also requires a source of the electrons such as a battery. A circuit may
contain a switch which breaks the path and stops electron flow when open
and completes the circuit and allows electron flow when closed. Circuits
typically have devices that uses the electrical energy such as a light bulb. Such
a device is called a load. How the loads are connected determines if the circuit
is in series or in parallel. In series there is a single pathway for the electrons
to flow whereas in parallel, the loads form branches, each of which is a
separate path through which the electrons can flow.

I. Series Circuits

In a series circuit, the loads are connected one after the other. When the
switch is closed, the current immediately flows through each load as the
electrons flow all the way around the path of the circuit. Any break in the
pathway opens the circuit and stops electron flow; this includes a burnt-out
bulb.

switch
Because the current has only one path to follow, the current passing through
each load is the same. The total resistance to this current is equal to the sum
of the individual resistances of each of the loads on the circuit. The current in
the circuit follows Ohm’s Law with the resistance being the total resistance.

Ohm’s Law also applies to each load individually. The potential difference for
each load depends directly on its resistance since more energy is used to move
a coulomb of charge through a load with a high resistance than through a load
with a low resistance. The total voltage on a series circuit divides by the total
number of loads so that the sum of the potential differences for each load is
equal to the total voltage of the circuit.

A big disadvantage of a series circuit is that if one load is not working properly,
then the entire circuit will not work, and it can be difficult to determine which
load is the problem. Some strings of lights are connected in series and then if
one light bulb burns out, each connection must be tested with a new bulb until
the burn out bulb is found.

II. Parallel Circuits

Loads that are connected in parallel in a circuit are all connected to the same
two points on the closed path. Each load has its own path from one point to
the other and thus the current that passes through one load does not pass
through any of the other loads. If there is a problem with any one of the loads,
it does not interrupt the flow of charge to any of the other loads since each of
the loads operates independently of the others.

switch
In the parallel circuit, each load connects to the same two points, so the
voltage is the same across each load. The total current in the circuit divides
among the parallel branches. Current passes more easily into the loads with
low resistance, so the amount of current in each branch is inversely
proportional to the resistance of the load in that branch. Ohm’s Law applies
separately to each branch.

The total current in the circuit equals the sum of the currents in its parallel
branches. As the number of parallel branches increases, the overall resistance
in the circuit decreases. This means that the overall resistance of the circuit is
less than the resistance of any particular branch.

III. Schematic Diagrams

Electric circuits are often indicated by schematic diagrams in which particular

symbols are used for a particular element of the circuit. Resistance is shown
by a zig-zagged line while a straight line indicates no resistance. A battery is
represented by two parallel lines, one shorter than the other. The longer line
represents the positive terminal of the battery, and the shorter line represents
the negative terminal of the battery.

battery

open switch

closed switch

resistance
IV. Equivalent Resistance

If a circuit has several resistors, it is sometimes useful to know its equivalent

resistance. The equivalent resistance is the total resistance of a circuit where
in series or in parallel. It is the amount of resistance that a single resistor must
have in order to offset the total effect of all of the resistors in the circuit.

For a parallel circuit, the equivalent resistance is given by:

1 = 1 + 1 + 1 + … + 1
Rtotal R1 R2 R3 Rn

Where R1, R2, etc. are the resistance values of the individual resistors that are
connected in parallel.

If just two resistors are in parallel, the equivalent resistance can be found by
taking the product of the two resistances and dividing by the sum of the two
resistances.

Requivalent = R1 x R2
R1 + R2

For example, if two resistors in parallel each have a resistance of 4 ohms, the
total resistance will be 2 ohms. This is because only one half of the charge
flowing through the circuit can meet the 4 ohms of resistance in one branch.
There are more pathways available to the current and so there is less
resistance.

2W
4W

4W
To find the equivalent resistance for resistors in series, you simply need to add
together their respective resistances:

Rtotal = R1 + R2 + R3 + … Rn

V. Overloading and Fuses

The voltage that comes out of the wall outlets in a room is applied to devices
that are connected to these outlets by parallel circuits. As more devices are
connected, the current has more pathways to take which in turn lowers the
combined resistance of the circuit. A greater amount of current is then able to
flow in the lines which could reach a level that is unsafe or is overloaded. An
overloaded circuit is dangerous because it could become hot enough to start a
fire.

To prevent overloading and the resulting damages that might occur from it,
safety fuses are placed in series so that the current must pass through it
before it passes through the wall outlet. The fuse is constructed so that it will
heat up and melt if the current is too high. For example, if the fuse is rated at
20 amperes, a current that is above 20 amperes will melt the fuse. The part of
the fuse that melts is a wire ribbon that completes a circuit. Once it melts, the
circuit is broken and the current stops. The fuse is then said to be “blown.”

ribbon
current in

current out

The fuse allows overloading to be detected and fixed before a major

catastrophe occurs. In place of a fuse, circuit breakers may be used instead.
Circuit breakers used bimetallic strips or magnets to open the switch if the
current is too high. The advantage to circuit breakers is that they do not have
to be replaced the way that a blown fuse does. Instead, the switch can be
flipped back to the original position once the problem has been fixed.
CLASS 10 – MAGNETISM

Magnets have been known since ancient times and the name comes from the fact
that magnetic rocks were discovered in Magnesia, Greece. It wasn’t until the
1800’s, however, that a link between magnetism and electricity was discovered.
This led to the invention of electric meters to detect current and motors.

I. Magnetic Fields

The two ends of a magnet are called the magnetic poles. Like poles repel and
unlike poles attract. If you suspend a magnet from its center, one end will
point toward the north and one end will point toward the south. This is how
the poles obtained their names.

The magnetic poles cannot be isolated. If you have a north pole, you also have
a south pole. The two can only exist together. If you cut a magnet in half, you
cannot obtain separate poles; you simply have two new magnets. Even if you
cut a magnet so many times that you reach a piece that is only one atom thick,
you still have two poles!

Two magnets do not have to touch for the force of attraction or the force of
repulsion between them to be felt. This is because there is a magnetic field all
around the magnet through which the magnetic force is exerted. The shape of
the magnetic field is represented by magnetic field lines which emanate from
the north pole and curve around the magnet until they arrive at the south
pole.
If the lines are closer together, as they are at the poles, this means that the
magnetic field is stronger. The magnetic field lines are imaginary, but if you
wish to see an example of them, you can sprinkle iron filings around a magnet.
The filings will automatically organize themselves into the magnetic field lines.

Magnetic fields are generated by moving electric charges. In a magnet, the

moving electric charges are the electrons in the atoms that make up the
magnet. These electrons spin about their axes just as the Earth spins on its
axis, creating tiny magnets. If two electrons are spinning in the same
direction, their magnetic fields add together, but if two electrons are spinning
in opposite directions, their magnetic fields cancel each other. This is why you
don’t find many substances that are magnetic: in most substances the
magnetic fields created by the electrons all cancel each other. There are a few
elements such as iron, nickel, and cobalt where the magnetic fields don’t
entirely cancel, however, and each atom then becomes a tiny magnet.

The electron spins on its axis within its orbital.

Why do some pieces of iron have no magnetic properties? This is because the
iron must be magnetized in order to behave like a magnet. The magnetic field
of an iron atom is so strong that it can cause neighboring iron atoms to line up
into what are called magnetic domains. Each domain consists of billions of
iron atoms that are aligned with each other and functions as a magnet.

These domains can in turn be aligned with each other or they can be randomly
aligned. In an unmagnetized piece of iron, the domains are randomly aligned.
If a strong magnet is brought near a non-magnetized piece of iron, the
domains start to align with the direction of the magnetic field. When the
magnet is removed, the domains return to their random alignment due the
thermal motion that occurs naturally.

unmagnetized iron strongly magnetized iron

Permanent magnets are made by placing iron in a strong magnetic field to

align the domains. Softer iron alloys are easier to magnetize. (An alloy is a
mixture that contains iron and other elements). The iron can be tapped or
stroked with a magnet to help ensure that every single domain comes into
alignment. If a permanent magnet is dropped or heated, it becomes weaker
because some of the domains are then displaced from their alignment.

If one moving charge creates a magnetic field, then many moving charges do
as well. An electric current produces a magnetic field that forms concentric
circles about the wire that carries the current. The direction of the magnetic
field is relative to the direction of the current. If the direction of the current
reverses, the direction of the magnetic field reverses.

direction of current
II. Electromagnets

In an electromagnet, the magnetic field is produced solely by the electric

current. Electromagnets are used in motors, generators, loudspeakers, and
MRI machines, and other electrical devices. Typically, electromagnets consist
of wire wound into a coil, causing the concentration of the magnetic field lines
inside the hole of the coil to increase which in turn increases the strength of
the magnetic field through the hole. The magnetic field disappears when the
electric current is turned off which gives the electromagnet the advantage of
being controlled. The strength of the magnetic field can also be controlled by
changing the amount of current provided. A disadvantage, however, is that
electromagnets need current in order to work.

The magnetic field lines are concentrated inside the hole of the coil.

A superconducting electromagnet does not need any power, however. A

superconducting electromagnet is made using superconducting wire for the
coils. They must be cooled to very low temperatures (below 120 K) during
operation. Since superconducting wire has no electrical resistance, it can
conduct very large currents which will in turn produce very large magnetic
fields. Once the current is running in the closed loop of superconducting wire,
it will flow without power while still generating a magnetic field.
Superconducting electromagnets are used in MRI machines, in scientific
equipment such as NMR machines and particle accelerators, and in levitation
and propulsion systems for high-speed railway transportation.

III. Electric Meters and Motors

A static charge will not interact with a static magnetic field, however a moving
charge will experience a deflecting force. The force is greatest when the
charged particle moves perpendicular to the magnetic field lines and the force
becomes zero when the charged particle moves parallel to the magnetic field
lines. This means that a moving charge will be deflected when it crosses the
magnetic field lines, but not if it travels parallel to them. This fact is used to
spread electrons onto the inner surface of a television to create a picture and
Earth’s magnetic field is able to deflect charged particles coming from outer
space from cosmic rays.

When the current in a wire crosses a magnetic field, it also experiences a

deflecting force. This deflecting force causes the wire to actually move and if
the current in the wire is reversed, so is the direction of the deflecting force
and the direction in which the wire moves. The deflecting force is
perpendicular to both the field lines and the current and is a sideways force.

The amount of deflection that a wire experiences is proportional to the

amount of current moving through the wire and this may be used to construct
a galvanometer, a device that can detect and measure electric current. It may
be calibrated to measure current in amperes and then it is called an ammeter,
or it may be calibrated to measure voltage in volts in which case it is called a
voltmeter.

A common type of galvanometer works by allowing a coil to turn against a

spring within a stationary magnet. The greater the current, the greater the
deflection of the coil. If the current is made to change direction every time the
coil makes a half revolution, you have an electric motor.
 spring

N S

coil carrying the current

A simple DC motor uses a permanent magnet to produce a magnetic field near

where a rectangular loop of wire can turn about its axis. When the current
flows through the loop, it must move in one direction on one side of the loop
and in the opposite direction on the other side of the loop in order to make a
complete path. This forces the loop to turn due to the deflection in the
magnetic field. A device called a commutator reverses the direction of the
current each half a revolution so that the loop will continue turning in the
same direction.

N S

conducting loop
commutator

Simple DC motor
Larger motors are made by replacing the permanent magnet with an
electromagnet attached to a power source. Many loops of wire are wound
around an armature, an iron cylinder that rotates when the current passes
through it.

IV. Earth’s Magnetic Field

The Earth itself is a huge magnet with a north pole and a south pole. The
magnetic poles do not actually align with north and south according to the
earth’s axis which is what we call the north pole and the south pole. This
means that compasses do not actually point to true north and this discrepancy
is known as magnetic declination.

Most scientists believe that the source of Earth’s magnetic field is moving
charges underneath its surface. Due to the size of the Earth, the speed of such
moving charges would not have to be that great in order to create the
observed magnetic field. Another possible source of the magnetic field,
however, is the convection currents that come from the core due to
radioactive decay in combination with the rotation of the Earth.

Geological evidence suggests that Earth’s magnetic field is not stable. Iron
atoms in the molten state will align themselves with Earth’s magnetic field.
When the iron hardens, the direction of the magnetic field at the time is
recorded in the orientation of the magnetic domains and this slight magnetism
can be measured. By looking at the rocks from different geological time
periods, scientists have determined that throughout the history of the Earth
there have been times when the magnetic field has essentially disappeared
and then reversed itself. Over twenty reversals have occurred over the past 5
million years, however the timing of the reversals is not uniform and thus it is
not easy to predict when the next reversal will occur.
CLASS 11 – ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION

Once it was known that an electric current in a wire produced a magnetic field, it
was natural to ask if the reverse were true as well. Could a magnetic field create
a current in a wire? The answer was yes and in 1831 Michael Faraday and Joseph
Henry independently showed that this was true. The discovery made possible the
electricity that we use today.

I. Electromagnetic Induction

Both Faraday and Henry discovered that an electric current could be produced
in a coiled wire by moving a magnet in and out of the coil. No voltage source
was needed; the movement of the magnet alone was sufficient. This
phenomenon is called electromagnetic induction. The amount of voltage that
is induced in the wire depends on how quickly the magnet moves through the
wire; the greater the speed, the greater the voltage that is produced.

The faster the magnet moves

in an out of the wire and the
greater the number of loops in
the wire, the greater the
voltage that is produced.

The amount of voltage induced, and the amount of current produced in the
wire also directly depends on the number of loops in the wire that move in a
magnetic field. Pushing the magnet into four times as many loops will give
four times as much voltage, however you will also need a greater force to push
the magnet into a greater number of loops. This is because the coil acts as an
electromagnet which resists the motion of the magnet going in and out of the
loops. As the number of loops increases, the amount of current flowing also
increases, and this increases the power of the electromagnet and thus its
resistance.
These observations can be summarized by Faraday’s Law which states that the
amount of induced voltage in a coil is proportional to the product of the
number of loops in the wire and the rate at which the magnetic field changes
within these loops. In equation form, Faraday’s Law can be written as

Emf = -N x DF
Dt

Where N = the number of loops, F = the magnetic flux (related to the strength
of the magnetic field and the area) and t = time.

The amount of current induced depends on the induced voltage and the
resistance of the coil and the circuit to which it is connected. For a high
resistance wire and a low resistance wire with the same number of loops and
the same rate at which the magnetic field changes within the loops, the
voltage induced in each wire will be the same. The current flowing through
each wire will be quite different, however, with the low resistance wire having
much more current.

II. Generators

When plunging a magnet in and out of loops of wire, the induced voltage is
observed to alternate in direction. As the magnet moves into the loops, the
magnetic field inside the coil increases and the induced voltage is in a
particular direction. As the magnet leaves the loops, the magnetic field inside
the coil decreases and the voltage is induced in the opposite direction. The
frequency of the changing magnetic field within the loops is equal to the
frequency of the induced alternating voltage.

Often times, it is not the magnet that actually moves; instead, it is the loop.
When a loop is rotated inside a stationary magnet, it is called a generator. A
generator is the opposite of a motor. A motor converts electrical energy into
mechanical energy while a generator converts mechanical energy (necessary
to turn the coil) into electrical energy.
When the loop rotates, there is a change in the number of magnetic field lines
within it. When it is parallel to the north and south ends of the magnet, it
encloses the maximum number of magnetic field lines and when it is
perpendicular to the poles, it encloses no magnetic field lines at all. As the
loop rotates, the magnetic field inside the loop changes with the maximum
occurring every half rotation. The voltage induced by the generator alternates
as the loop rotates and thus the current that is produced is alternating current
(AC).

turn

N S

conducting loop

What is described here is a simple generator. The generators used in power

plants to produce electricity are far more complex. They consist of huge coils
of many loops that are wrapped around an iron core, similar to armature of
the complex motors we discussed earlier. The armature is connected to a
series of paddle wheels which is called a turbine. Powerful electromagnets
produce a powerful magnetic field. The energy provided to the power plant by
wind, falling water, petroleum, or nuclear energy is used to turn the turbine
within this magnetic field. Wind and falling water are able to turn the turbine
directly. Petroleum and nuclear energy are used to convert water to steam
and as the steam rises, it turns the turbine.
III. Transformers

A transformer transmits electrical energy between circuits and is often used to

adjust the voltage levels between these circuits. The voltage may need to be
increased or reduced before going from one circuit to the next. To make a
transformer, a pair of coils is needed. One coil is attached to a battery while
the other is attached to a galvanometer. By convention, the coil attached to
the battery (the power source) is referred to as the primary (input) and the coil
attached to the galvanometer is referred to as the secondary (output).

The coils are placed side by side and as soon as the switch is closed and
current runs in the primary coil, it also runs in the secondary coil by induction;
the two coils do not need to be connected or even to touch. The current in
the secondary coil is only a brief surge, however. When the switch in the
primary coil is opened, another brief surge of current occurs in the secondary
coil, this time in the opposite direction.

The reason that current runs in the secondary coil is because it is close enough
to the primary coil that it is within the magnetic field of the primary coil.
Whenever the magnetic field in the primary coil is changed, it induces a
voltage in the secondary coil. If an iron core is placed within both coils, the
magnetic field is intensified, and thus greater surges of current will be
observed in the secondary coil.

Iron core

primary coil

secondary coil
In a transformer, the primary coil is powered by alternating current instead of
using a switch. The rate at which the magnetic field changes in the primary
and secondary coils is equal to the frequency of the alternating current. The
transformer can be used to either step up or step down the voltage.

Let’s say the primary coil has one loop with a voltage of 1V provided by the
alternating source. If the secondary coil had only one loop, then a voltage of
1V will also be induced in it. If, however, there were two loops in the
secondary coil, then each loop would have 1V induced in it, for a total of 2V.
This allows the voltage to be stepped up and for every increase in the number
of loops, the voltage increases by the same power. For example, if the number
of loops in the secondary coil is four times as great as the number of loops in
the primary coil, the voltage in the secondary coil will be four times as great.

8 loops 4V
2 loops 1V

By the same process, the voltage can be stepped down by decreasing the
number of loops in the secondary coil compared to the number of loops in the
primary coil. The relationship between the primary and secondary voltages
and the number of loops (turns) is given by:

primary voltage = secondary voltage

number of primary turns number of secondary turns
The rate at which energy is transferred from the primary coil to the secondary
coil is given by the power. If the heat loss is minimal the according to the Law
of Conservation of Energy

power in (primary) = power out (secondary)

Since electric power is equal to the voltage times the current, we can also say

(voltage x current)primary = (voltage x current)secondary

From the above equation we can see that if the voltage is greater in the
secondary (than the primary), the current will be smaller and if the voltage is
smaller in the secondary, the current will be greater.

IV. Power Transmission

Most electric energy used today is AC because it can travel over great
distances at a high voltage (and low current) and then be stepped down using
transformers. It is important that low current be used so that the wires don’t
heat significantly, leading to large energy losses from heat escaping into the
environment. Even with low resistance wire, losses can be great over great
distances with higher currents.

V. Electromagnetic Waves

Faraday’s Law can be expressed in terms of magnetic and electric fields: A

changing magnetic field creates an electric field and the magnitude of the
electric field is proportional to the rate at which the magnetic field changes.
The direction of the electric field is perpendicular to the direction of the
changing magnetic field.

The complimentary law to Faraday’s Law was put forth by James Clerk
Maxwell: A changing electric field creates a magnetic field and the magnitude
of the magnetic field is proportional to the rate at which the electric field
changes. The direction of the magnetic field is perpendicular to the direction
of the changing electric field.

An electromagnetic wave is composed of a changing magnetic field and a

changing electric field that are perpendicular to each other as well as to the
direction of the wave. Because a changing magnetic field creates an electric
field and a changing electric field creates a magnetic field, the two fields
regenerate each other. No matter is needed for the wave energy to be passed
along and thus the electromagnetic wave can travel through the emptiness of
space.

In the 1860’s Maxwell put forth four equations that describe electromagnetic
waves that have come to be known as Maxwell’s Equations. Maxwell’s
equations showed that in order for the magnetic and electric portions of the
wave to continuously regenerate each other, it was necessary for the wave to
travel at the speed of light in a vacuum. Maxwell was able to calculate the
value of the speed of light using his equations. He determined the value of the
constants in his equations by performing simple laboratory experiments with
electric and magnetic fields. Maxwell found the speed of light to be
approximately 300,000 km/s. Maxwell’s equations did not place any
restriction on the wavelength of electromagnetic waves. The entire range of
wavelengths which includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation,
visible light, ultraviolet light, x-rays, and gamma rays is called the
electromagnetic spectrum. The different wavelengths have different energies
and different frequencies, but they all travel at the same speed in a vacuum,
the speed of light.
CLASS 12 – MOLECULES AND SOLIDS

I. Bonding in Molecules

When two atoms join together, a chemical bond has been formed. There are
two main types of chemical bonds: covalent and ionic. Many bonds are
actually in between these two types of bonds in terms of their bond
characteristics.

To see how a covalent bond is formed, let us take the example of two
hydrogen atoms forming a covalent bond. As the two atoms come close
together, their electron clouds overlap, and the electrons can move around
either nucleus. This is sometimes called a sharing of electrons.

The positively charged nuclei (in black) are

attracted to the concentration of negative
charge between them and a bond is
formed.

The negatively charged electrons spend much of their time between the two
positively charged nuclei, each of which is attracted to the other. This
attraction between positive and negative charges, holds the atom together.
The H2 molecule overall is more stable than the two individual hydrogen atoms
because it is lower in energy. This is because when the molecule forms, the
electrons have more space to occupy which lowers the overall energy.

In order to separate the two hydrogen atoms, the bond of the H2 molecule
must be broken. The energy necessary to break a bond is called the bond
energy or the bond dissociation energy.

In an ionic bond, the electron(s) of one type of atom spend their time with the
other type of atom. This leads to one type of atom having a negative charge
and the other type of atom having a positive charge. The electrostatic
attraction (positive and negative) creates a bond and holds the two ions
together.

Na Cl

Na gives an electron to Cl and Cl accepts an electron from Na

becomes positively charged. and becomes negatively charged.

Na+ Cl-

A covalent bond in which the electrons are truly shared equally occurs
between diatomic molecules such as H2, O2, and Cl2. For bonds where the
atoms are different, the electrons typically spend more time with one atom
than the other. These molecules are polar meaning that one part of the
molecule has a partial positive charge while the other part of the molecule has
a partial negative charge due to the unequal sharing of the electrons. An
example of a polar molecule is water. The electrons spend more time with
oxygen than with hydrogen, giving the oxygen a partial negative charge and
the hydrogen a partial positive charge.

d = partial
II. Potential Energy Diagrams for Molecules

A potential energy diagram for two atoms in a molecule plots the potential
energy versus the distance between the two atoms. Let us look at the
potential energy diagram for the H2 molecule where r is the distance between
the two atoms. When r is large, the potential energy decreases as the atoms
come toward each other because the electrons between the two nuclei are
attracted to the positively charged nuclei and vice versa. When r becomes too
small, however, the potential energy increases because the positively charged
nuclei are too close and begin to experience a repulsive force. There is no
room for the electrons between the two nuclei and thus without the
negatively charged particles, only repulsion remains.

Optimal r

Increasing
Potential
Energy

Attractive Force

Binding Energy
Repulsive Force

Increasing r

There is an optimal distance between the two atoms where attractive effects
are more than the repulsive effects. The distance gives the greatest stability
for the atom and is the lowest energy on the potential energy diagram,
represented by a well. The lowest point on the well is the binding energy, the
amount of energy necessary to separate the two atoms to infinity where the
potential energy equals zero.
 Often the potential energy diagram will include a hump in between the
distance of infinity and the binding energy. The peak of this hump is called the
activation energy and represents the energy needed to get over the hump in
order to reach the binding energy as the atoms come toward each other. The
activation energy is often due to the fact that bonds must be broken before
new ones can be formed. For example, in the creation of water from H2 and
O2, the bonds in the H2 and O2 molecules must first be broken to give H atoms
and O atoms respectively, before they can come together to make H2O. The
activation energy represents the amount of energy necessary to break these
bonds.

Activation
Energy

Increasing
Potential
Energy Binding
Increasing r
Energy

Repulsion Attraction Repulsion

III. Van der Waals Bonds

Bonds exist both within a molecule and between molecules. The bonds within
a molecule are much stronger than the bonds between molecules. Bonds
between molecules are the result of electrostatic attraction (the attraction of
positive and negative charges). A dipole is a molecule that has a positive end
and negative end. Dipoles can either be permanent or temporary.
Molecules that are permanent dipoles can interact with each other through
dipole-dipole interactions where the partially positive end of one molecule is
attracted to the partially negative end of another molecule and so forth.

H Cl ----- H Cl
d+ d- d+ d-
attraction

The HCl molecules arrange themselves so that the partial positive portions are next to the
partial negative portions.

Another type of interaction between molecules is the dipole-induced dipole.

In this case a permanent dipole induces a dipole in a nearby non-polar
molecule (which has no separation of charge) because the partially positive
end of the permanent dipole can attract electrons in the non-polar molecule,
creating a separation of charge.

e e e e
e e e e
e e e e e e
e e e e

Temporary dipoles are formed when electrons randomly end up on one side of the molecule.

Non-polar molecules can experience a temporary dipole even when they are
not next to a permanent dipole because the electrons can randomly end up on
one side of the molecule, creating a partially negative side of the molecule,
leaving a partially positive charge on the other side of the molecule. The
partially positive end induces a dipole in a neighboring molecule and a chain
reaction occurs where more temporary dipoles are induced. Such dipoles do
not last long but they tend to form over and over. These very weak bonds
between molecules are called van der Waals bonds and the forces involved in
creating them are called van der Waals forces.

When one of the atoms in a dipole-dipole is hydrogen and the other atom is
nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine, a hydrogen bond is formed. A hydrogen bond is
typically stronger than an ordinary dipole-dipole interaction which in turn is
stronger than a van der Waals bond. Although hydrogen bonds are relatively
weak compared to covalent bonds, they play an important role in holding DNA
and proteins together.

Hydrogen Bond

IV. Band Theory of Solids

Why are some materials good conductors while others are good insulators? It
has to do with whether or not the material has room for more electrons.
When a large number of atoms come together to create a solid, they share
their spaces for electrons, creating a band that is essentially continuous,
meaning that any electron from any atom can move anywhere within the band
that it wishes.

For a conductor, the band where new electrons would go has room for more
electrons and thus a current will flow readily through such a material. For an
insulator, however, this same band is already full of electrons and electrons
cannot pass through; there is no room for them to maneuver. (This full band is
called the valence band). Technically another band exists (the conduction
band) which would allow the electrons to pass through, but for the electrons
to reach it requires too much energy. Thus, no current will flow through an
insulator.

Semiconductors such as silicon or germanium are a special case where the

available conduction band is low enough in energy that electrons actually can
reach it. At room temperature, not many electrons will be able to reach the
conduction band, but with an increase in temperature, more electrons will
have the ability to jump up to the conduction band, leaving room for other
electrons to pass through the material.

V. Semiconductors and Doping

Germanium and silicon are the most commonly used elements for
semiconductors, however they are only able to be used once an impurity is
introduced into their crystal structure. There are two types of impurities that
can be introduced and the process of introducing them is known as doping.

Atoms of silicon and germanium both have four electrons on their last shell of
electrons. (Electrons fill in the shells starting with the one closest to the
nucleus and when that one is full, they move to the shell next farthest from
the nucleus and so on. The shells can be likened to the stories of a building
except that they are three-dimension and thin rather like the shell of an egg).
Both silicon and germanium share their four electrons within the crystal
structure which is built to accommodate atoms with four outer shell electrons.

Arsenic is an element that contains five electrons on its last shell. This means
that when arsenic is introduced as an impurity into a crystal structure of silicon
or germanium and it tries to fit in, there is an extra electron. The extra
electron wanders around the crystal structure. With a number of arsenic
atoms added, there are a number of extra electrons which can carry an electric
current. This type of doping produces an n-type semiconductor because the
extra electrons carry the current through negative charges (n).
 Arsenic atom with an extra Gallium atom with one less
electron that is free to electron that creates a
move about the structure. “hole” in the structure.

Gallium is an element that contains only three electrons on its last shell. This
means that when gallium is introduced as an impurity into a crystal structure
of silicon or germanium, there is an electron missing, leaving a “hole” in the
lattice structure. Electrons from one of the nearby atoms (silicon or
germanium since they are so plentiful compared to the gallium), can “jump”
into the hole, but this leaves a new hole in the atom from which they came. In
this way electrons can also travel through the crystal structure and a current
can flow. This type of semiconductor is called a p-type semiconductor
because the holes are positive (p) after an electron leaves but before a new
one jumps into it.
CLASS 13 – NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIOACTIVITY

I. Radioactive Particles

In the late 1800’s, a scientist named Henri Becquerel was trying to determine the
origin of x-rays. X-rays very high energy electromagnetic waves, but this was not
known at the time. Becquerel speculated that x-rays might originate from
phosphorescence and set up an experiment to test this.

You may be familiar with the phenomenon of phosphorescence from glow in the
dark toys. When objects phosphorescence, they glow after having been exposed
to energy (light) after the energy source has been removed.

Becquerel’s experiment used the element uranium which was known to

phosphoresce. Becquerel exposed the uranium to sunlight so that it would
phosphoresce and then placed it on top of an envelope that contained a piece of
film. Becquerel assumed that the x-rays produced by the phosphorescence would
penetrate the paper and leave a dark spot on the film exactly where the uranium
had been.

Uranium exposed Uranium placed on top of Film is developed and there is

to sunlight envelope with film inside a spot where the uranium was

When Becquerel performed the experiment, he indeed saw a spot was produced
on the film exactly where the uranium had been on the envelope. The problem
occurred when Becquerel placed the uranium on top of the envelope without it
being exposed to sunlight. According to Becquerel’s theory, if there was no
sunlight, there would be no phosphorescence and thus no x-rays produced and
therefore no spot would be on the film when he developed it.
The problem was that Becquerel still saw a spot anyway even though the uranium
had not phosphoresced! Something in the uranium had penetrated the paper
and left a spot on the film. Becquerel turned the investigation over to his
assistant, Marie Curie.

Using instruments designed by her husband, she was able to isolate two
radioactive elements: radium and polonium. The first element that she
discovered, polonium, she named for her native Poland. This marked the
discovery of radioactivity and for their efforts, Becquerel, Marie Curie, and her
husband Pierre were awarded the Nobel Prize.

Radioactivity is a spontaneous emission of radiant energy and/or high energy

particles from the nucleus due to the fact that the nucleus is unstable. As
radioactive elements emit rays and particles, their atomic numbers and atomic
masses change until a stable nucleus arises. Radioactive elements are unstable
either because their nucleus is too large or because their ratio of neutrons to
proton is too large. (It should be approximately 1:1 for stability).

When speaking of radioactive particles or rays, there are two terms to consider:

1) Penetrating power – how far the particle or ray can penetrate

2) Ionizing power – how much ionization or damage the particle or ray can
cause

We may also wish to understand how the nucleus changes in both atomic number
and atomic mass upon the release of a particular radioactive particle. The
following chart compares the penetrating power and ionizing power of a few
common types of radioactive particles, however there are other types of
radioactive particles that can also be released. When a radioactive element
releases particles, it is said to decay.
A few types of radioactivity:

Type of radiation Penetrating power Ionizing Power Result of loss

Alpha particle Low; can be easily High; alpha 2 protons and 2

(a particle) stopped by paper particles are large neutrons lost so
atomic #
Large decreases by 2;
Helium nucleus atomic mass by 4
Beta particle Medium; can be Medium Atomic #
(b particle) stopped by heavy increases by 1;
clothing or thick atomic mass stays
Medium in size walls the same
Gamma ray High; can be Low Energy; no change
(g ray) stopped by lead in atomic # or
atomic mass
Electromagnetic
radiation

The beta particle can be thought of as a high energy electron released from the
nucleus. If we consider a neutron = proton + electron removing the electron has
the effect of converting a neutron to a proton -> the mass stays the same, but the
atomic number increases by 1.

II. Half-life

Eventually radioactive elements decay to a stable isotope (a non-radioactive

element) but this takes time. That time is governed by the half-life of that
isotope.

The half-life (t1/2) is the time that it takes for exactly half of any quantity of that
isotope to decay.
Example: Kr-93. Half-life of 1.3 seconds The atomic mass number of an
element is written after the dash
100g initial amount as in Kr-93 or as a superscript as
50g 1.3 seconds in 93Kr. The atomic number of an
element (the number of protons)
25g 2.6 seconds
can be found on the periodic
12.5g 3.9 seconds table.
6.25g 5.2 seconds

An isotope must pass through 10 half-lives for the radioactivity to be considered

negligible. Each isotope has its own half-life and there is no known way of
changing or speeding up the half-life of a particular isotope.

Consider the half-lives of the following elements:

Isotope Half-life
Pu-239 2.4 x 104 years
U-238 4.5x109 years
C-14 5730 years

Some radioactive elements are around for a very long time!

III. Radiocarbon Dating (C-14 Dating)

In the upper atmosphere N-14 combines with neutrons from cosmic rays to form
C-14 (and a hydrogen atom)

14
14
CO2 C6H12O6 – the plant
photosynthesis contains glucose
with some C-14

This C-14 gets incorporated into CO2 which plants then use for photosynthesis and
thus C-14 is incorporated into living plants and animals at a consistent rate – until
the organism dies.
The C-14 decays back to N-14 with a half-life of 5730 years.
Compare artifacts to new plant material (100% C-14)

50% C-14 of new plant material: one half-life has gone by (5730 years)

25% C-14 of new plant material: two half-lives have gone by (5730 x 2 = 11, 460
years)

There are some restrictions to C-14 dating.

1) The sample must originate from something that lived. Organic molecules
contain carbon, and thus living organisms will incorporate C-14 into their
structures.

2) The limit to C-14 dating is around 50,000 years because this is

approximately ten half-lives of C-14. After 10 half-lives of any radioactive
element, there is not enough radioactivity that it can be detected.

IV. Binding Energy

The Laws of Conservation of Mass and Conservation of Energy do not hold true
when the nucleus does not remain intact as in the case of radioactivity or in
the case of fission (the splitting of the nucleus).

A helium atom consists of two protons, two neutrons, and two electrons. It
makes sense that the mass of the particles separately should weigh the same
as the mass of the atom. This is not true, however. The mass of the separate
particles actually weighs more than the atom does.

He e- e- N
N P P
This discrepancy is known as the mass defect.

Where did the extra mass go when the helium atom was formed? It was
converted to energy to hold the nucleus together and is called the binding
energy. It is this energy that is released when fission occurs in a nuclear
reactor.
CLASS 14 – EFFECTS AND USES OF RADIATION

I. Transmutation of Elements

When a nucleus releases alpha particles or beta particles, it changes into a

different type of element. This is because the number of protons in the
nucleus changes. This change from one type of element to another is called
transmutation. A nuclear reaction occurs when one nucleus it hit by another
nucleus or by something such as an alpha particle or a beta particle or a
gamma ray.

Many radioactive elements made in the laboratory are made through nuclear
reactions. Nuclear reactions also occur routinely in nature such as the reaction
between N-14 and a neutron to produce C-14 and a proton. Nuclear reactions
can be written as follows:

atomic number

where n represents a neutron and p represents a proton.

In any nuclear reaction, the electric charge and the nucleon number must be
conserved. The nucleon number is the number of protons plus the number of
neutrons. Energy is also conserved in a nuclear reaction.

For example, if a reaction has more mass in the reactants than in the produces,
the missing mass would be converted to energy under E = mc2 and would be
observed in the kinetic energy of the product particles. If the total mass of the
products is greater than the total mass of the reactants, there must be
sufficient kinetic energy from a bombarding particle to make up this
difference.

The best particle to bombard the nucleus is the neutron. This is because the
neutron is neutral and thus it does not repel the nucleus the way that charged
particles such as the proton and the alpha particle do. By bombarding
uranium with neutrons, scientists were able to produce new elements with
atomic numbers higher than uranium: neptunium and plutonium were the first
to be produced.

II. Nuclear Fission

In 1938 Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann were bombarding uranium with
neutrons. Thus far nuclear reactions had only been observed to knock out
small particles from the nucleus such as a proton or a neutron or an alpha
particle. At first this is what Hahn and Strassmann observed as well, but one
day they obtained an isotope of barium which is about one third the size of a
uranium atom and thus quite large compared to any previous observations.

The isotope of barium was determined to have been observed due to fission,
the splitting of the uranium nucleus. Fission occurs much more readily with
the rare uranium isotope U-235 than it does with the much more common
uranium isotope U-238. Fission releases an enormous amount of energy
although the amount of energy released from one atom is still quite small on a
practical scale.

Each fission reaction releases neutrons as well. Physicists realized that these
neutrons could be used to start fission reactions of other uranium atoms in a
chain reaction. If this chain reaction could be self-sustaining, then much more
energy could be released at once. In order for this to occur at least one
neutron produced by fission must split at least one other atom. This does
occur and allowed for scientists to produce nuclear power. The energy from
fission is used to heat water to steam which turns the turbine to make
electricity.
 Chain Reaction

Kr-92

Energy

U-235
Ba-141

Kr-92 Kr-92

Energy
Energy
Neutron
U-235
U-235
Ba-141
Ba-141

Kr-92

Energy
U-235

Ba-141

III. Radiation Therapy

There are two main uses of radiation in medicine. One is as therapy for
diseases such as cancer and the other is as a diagnostic tool for the detection
of certain diseases.

Cancer is caused by unregulated cell growth and this mass of growing cells is
called a tumor. These growing cells are particularly susceptible to radiation, so
it is possible to kill them by exposing them to radiation. Some normal cells will
also be killed, however and this is one reason why people who undergo
radiation therapy are often feeling unwell in the days after treatment.

To minimize the effects of the radiation on normal cells, the beam of radiation
is often rotated around the patient while focused on the tumor. In this way
the normal cells take turns receiving radiation while the tumor is always
receiving radiation.

Sometimes a tiny source of radiation is inserted directly into the tumor. The
radiation will eventually kill the majority of the cancerous cells around the
device.

Radiation is not as effective a treatment when the cancerous cells are not
localized. In this case it is difficult to kill a significant number of cancerous cells
without the radiation also doing significant damage to the body.
IV. Uses of Radiation in Medicine

For radioisotopes that are used in medicine, the following is best:

1) They should have a short half-life, so they won’t be in the body for a long
time

2) They should not emit alpha particles since alpha particles have high ionizing
power and thus can do a lot of damage.

3) They should concentrate in one area of the body so any unwanted damage
that is done to the body is localized.

Radioisotopes are often used in medical research as tracers. Tracers allow

molecules of interest to be followed in the body due to their radioactive tags.
A particular molecule such as glucose is made with radioactive elements such
as C-14 or H-3. The radioactivity can be detected outside the body and will
give an idea as to the movement of these tagged molecules within the body.

One of the uses of tracers is in a PET scan. PET stands for positron emission
tomography. PET scans are able to provide images of certain regions of the
body. For example, a PET scan of the brain is able to determine if certain areas
of the brain are impaired.

In preparation for a PET scan, the patient is fed glucose that has been
prepared with a radioactive isotope that emits positrons. Positrons are the
equivalent to electrons in mass but have opposite charge. The glucose
localizes in the brain and when the positrons are emitted, they combine with
electrons in the brain to produce gamma rays. The gamma rays then travel
outside of the body and are therefore able to be detected. This allows an
image to be made of the brain telling where the radioisotope is present and
where it isn’t. If the labeled glucose isn’t getting to an area, then that area is
damaged.
Another example of a tracer is Xe-133 which is used to diagnose respiratory
problems. The patient inhales air containing Xe-133 which goes to the lungs
along with oxygen. The air goes only to healthy lung tissue and not impaired
lung tissue. The chest is scanned for radiation. Any area of the lungs that is
impaired will be indicated by less radiation because not as much Xe-133 (and
oxygen) will be present.

Areas with no radiation are impaired

Fe-59 is a tracer that is used to diagnose anemia (a low red blood cell count).
Hemoglobin is the molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen to all the
cells. The oxygen is bound by an iron atom. When the patient is given Fe-59,
it will be incorporated into hemoglobin and then can be scanned to provide an
indirect count of the red blood cells.

Tc-99 is used to diagnose brain tumors since technetium concentrates in brain

tissue. Rapidly dividing cancer cells incorporate more of the radionucleotide
than normal cells do. A scan will show radiation hot spots that can help locate
the tumor.
CLASS 15 – ELEMENTARY PARTICLES

I. Elementary Particle Physics

The study of the particles that make up atoms and their properties is called high-
energy physics or elementary-particle physics. Scientists needed a source of
these particles in order to study them. Originally in the 1930’s, physics used
cosmic rays which are even higher in energy than gamma rays and come from
space toward the Earth. When cosmic rays hit the upper atmosphere, the collide
with molecules of oxygen or nitrogen and destroy them creating elementary
particles. Physicists would often set up their experiments on mountain tops so
they could be even closer to the source of cosmic rays.

Scientists had to detect the elementary particles by seeing how they affected the
matter and looking at the changes in the matter – they couldn’t see the
elementary particles! After Ernest O. Lawrence invented the cyclotron, it was no
longer necessary for scientists to use cosmic rays to study elementary particles.
A cyclotron is a machine that can accelerate particles and scientists were then
able to accelerate particles to very high speeds and then allow then to collide with
other particles to create elementary particles.

Smaller particle accelerators are used in medicine. The gamma rays used in the
radiation treatment of cancer are produced by accelerating a beam of electrons
to a very high speed and then directing them at a block of copper. When the
electrons stop abruptly, gamma rays are emitted.

II. The Grand Unified Theory

We have already looked at two of the four fundamental forces in the universe:
gravity and the electromagnetic force. The remaining two fundamental forces are
the strong force and the weak force. The strong force is the force that holds the
nucleus together and the weak force is the force that tears the nucleus apart (in
radioactive elements for example when particles escape the nucleus)
Scientists believe that the force between two particles is created by a third
particle called the gauge particle, which is an exchange particle. For example, the
gauge particle for the electromagnetic force is the photon and the force that
holds a refrigerator magnet onto a refrigerator is created by photons being
exchanged back and forth between the magnet and the metal of the refrigerator.
The gauge particle for each of the forces is listed below although it should be
noted that the graviton has never been detected or observed and currently exists
only in theory.

Force Gauge particle

Gravity graviton
Electromagnetic photon
Strong force gluons
Weak force W and Z

Scientists believe that all four of these fundamental forces may be different
aspects of single underlying force. This is called the grand unified theory or the
unified field theory.

To understand how the four fundamental forces could actually be different

aspects of the same force, think of ice, liquid water, and steam. They appear to
be different substances, but actually they are all just different forms of H2O. If
you raise the temperature high enough, they will all become steam and thus they
will be in the same form. According to the unified field theory, the same is true
for the four fundamental forces; they appear different but if you raise the
temperature high enough, they will all be the same.

Such high temperatures necessary for the unification of all four fundamental
forces are predicted to only have existed in the very early days of the universe.
Through particle accelerators, scientists are able to come close to these high
temperatures and currently have observed the unification of the electromagnetic
and the weak forces.
 III. Classification of Elementary Particles

There are three main categories of elementary particles.

1) Leptons
Leptons do not participate in the strong force that holds the nucleus
together. They do, however, interact via the weak force as well as the
gravitational force and if they carry a charge, through the electromagnetic
force. The leptons include the electron, the muon, the tau, and three types
of neutrinos, a light particle that hardly interacts with matter at all.

2) Hadrons
Hadrons interact primarily through the strong force. The hadrons are
divided into the mesons and the baryons. The proton and the neutron are
examples of baryons.

3) Gauge Bosons
The photon and the W and Z particle comprise this category.

IV. Antiparticles and Antimatter

For almost every particle in the universe, there is an antiparticle that has
the same mass but opposite charge and magnetic characteristics. For the
electron its antimatter twin is the positron. A positron has the same mass
as the electron but is positively charged. The photon and a few other
particles do not have distinct antiparticles. In other words, we view them
as being their own antiparticles.

When a particle and an antiparticle meet, they both cease to exist. They
extinguish each other and their masses are converted to energy. This
process is called annihilation.
V. Quarks

The leptons are considered to be elementary particles on their own

because they do not seem to break down further and they don’t seem to
have any internal structure to them. This is not true of the hadrons. They
have an internal structure and are not considered to be elementary
particles. They are considered to be made of quarks, point-like elementary
particles.

Quarks have never been observed in the laboratory, but the concept has
brought order and predictability to the collection of elementary particles.
One reason scientists think that free quarks have never been observed is
because of quark confinement. Free quarks only existed in the very early
days of the universe and after that once a quark is assigned to a particular
hadron, it is forever.

Quarks have fractional charges: +/- 1/3 or +/- 2/3 and form the hadrons in
triplets or pairs. There are 6 quarks and 6 antiquarks. The quarks are
labeled as:
Up
Down
Strange
Charm
Top
Bottom

Thus, the truly elementary particles would be considered to be the six

quarks, the six leptons, and the three gauge bosons.

VI. The Standard Model

The type of each quark (up, down, strange, charm, top, or bottom) is
referred to as the quark’s flavor. According to quark theory, each quark
can have one of three colors: red, blue, or green. The antiquarks have
colors of antired, antigreen, and antiblue.
Baryons consist of three quarks, one of each color, while mesons consist of
a quark and anti-quark pair of the same color/anticolor. Since the primary
colors of light are red, green, and blue and combine to make white light,
the baryons are said to be white, and the mesons are said to be colorless.

+2/3 +2/3 +2/3 -1/3

u u u d
d d

-1/3 -1/3
proton neutron

The Pauli exclusion principle says that no two electrons (or particles) are
alike, however not all particles obey this principle. Those that do are called
fermions. The proton, the electron, and the neutron are examples of
fermions. Those particles that don’t follow the exclusion principle are
called bosons. Bosons have spin numbers that are integers (0,1,2, etc.)
while fermions have half integer spins (1/2, 3/2, etc.).

Matter is made up mainly of fermions, but the forces arise from the
interaction of bosons. Quarks are fermions and should therefore obey the
exclusion principle. Because some of the quarks seemed to be exactly the
same, in violation of the exclusion principle, the color was added to the
quarks to give them a distinction, thus making each slightly different and in
line with the exclusion principle.

The strong force between quarks is often called the color force. The
particles that transmit the color force are the gluons. There are eight total
gluons, all massless and six of them have a color charge, the quality of
having a color similar to having a positive or negative charge.

Unlike the electromagnetic force, the strength of the color force increases
with increasing distance. If two quarks are very close, the force between
them is very small and this is referred to as asymptotic freedom.
CLASS 16 – ASTROPHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY

Astrophysics is the application of the techniques and ideas of physics to the study
of space while cosmology is the study of the universe as a whole.

I. Stars and Galaxies

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is comprised of around 1011 stars that have a
combined mass of around 3 x 1041 kg. It has a diameter of around 100,000
light years and its depth is around 2000 light years. Its center bulges and from
it extend spiral arms. The Sun is 28,000 light years from the center of the
galaxy which places it much closer to the edge than to the center.

When we look into the sky, we can see faint cloudy patches both within the
galaxy and outside of it. Some of the patches are actually star clusters in
which the numbers of stars are so great that they appear to us in the sky as
clouds. Others are glowing clouds of gas or dust which are called a nebula.

Outside of our galaxy are other galaxies that are similar to ours with spiral
arms. These extragalactic galaxies are quite far away. For example, the
Andromeda galaxy is over 2 million light years away. The farthest galaxies that
we can detect are over 1010 light years away. Galaxies tend to be grouped into
galaxy clusters with anywhere between just a few galaxies to up to many
thousands of galaxies in a single cluster. Galaxy clusters are in turn organized
into superclusters.

II. The Birth and Death of Stars

Scientists believe that stars are born when gaseous clouds of mostly hydrogen
fragment and contract due to gravity. Each fragment contracts toward its
center of mass and is called a protostar. As the particles of the protostar
accelerate toward the center, their kinetic energy increases and eventually the
kinetic energy becomes high enough to overcome the repulsion forces that
typically keep hydrogen nuclei from coming too close to each other. Once this
occurs, the hydrogen nuclei can begin to fuse together. The fusion takes place
at the center of the star where the temperature is high enough and the net
effect is to combine for hydrogen nuclei to form helium, although the process
is slightly different in stars more massive than our Sun. The fusion produces
enough pressure to balance the gravitational contraction and the new star is
now stabilized.

non-burning envelope

helium

hydrogen fusion

The hydrogen fuses to form helium which is denser than hydrogen and so
tends to collect in the core. As the core of helium grows, the hydrogen
continues to fuse in a shell around it. Eventually enough of the hydrogen
within the core has been consumed for the production of energy to decrease.
When this occurs, there is no longer enough of an outward force to prevent
the large gravitational forces from causing the core to contract and heat up.
The hydrogen in the shell around the core then fuses even more intensely,
causing the outer envelope of the start to expand and cool. The star becomes
redder and larger in size, becoming what is known as a red giant.

As a star’s outer envelope expands, the core is shrinking and heating up until it
reaches a temperature hot enough for the helium nuclei to fuse together to
ultimately form carbon. If the mass of the star is great enough, elements of a
higher atomic number can be created from the fusion reaction. With a
massive star, it can contract further and heat up even further eventually
becoming like a large nucleus composed of neutrons. The star contracts to
form a neutron star which then is predicted to explode in a supernova or
collapse into a black hole. If the star is less massive, the star collapses and
cools, forming first a white dwarf and then continuing to lose energy until
finally its light goes out and it becomes a black dwarf.

III. Gravity and the Curvature of Space

Gravity is the dominant force in the universe because it is capable of acting

over very large distances and it is always attractive. Newton’s Universal Law of
Gravitation shows discrepancies, however, when applied to a cosmological
scale. Einstein was able to resolve these issues with his theory of gravity
within his general theory of relativity.

Einstein’s special theory of relativity states that the laws of physics must be
the same for all frames of reference, but it only applies to uniformly moving
reference frames. The general theory of relativity deals with reference frames
that are accelerating.

Einstein’s principle of equivalence states:

You cannot do an experiment to determine if you are accelerating or if you are

experiencing a gravitational field.

For example, if you were in a free-falling elevator near the surface of the Earth
and you dropped a book, the book would hover right next to your hand. This is
because gravity would be pulling the book down at the same rate that the
elevator was falling. On the other hand, if you could somehow be in an
elevator in the middle of space that was accelerating upward at 9.8 m/s2, the
book would appear to fall to the ground just as if you were on Earth.

There are two types of mass that must be considered with the principle of
equivalence: inertial mass and gravitational mass. Inertial mass is governed by
Newton’s Second Law, F = ma, which states that the greater the mass, the
greater the force needed to produce a particular acceleration on the mass.
Gravitational mass is governed by Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation
which states that the force of gravity between two masses is proportional to
the product of the two masses. Again, there is no experiment that can detect
a difference between inertial mass and gravitational mass and thus another
way to state the equivalence principle is to say that inertial mass and
gravitational mass are equivalent.

Let us now think about the gravitational effects of a large mass on light.
Consider again the elevator in space. If the elevator is not moving, a beam of
light should be able to pass directly through a hole in the elevator from one
side to another. If the elevator is accelerating straight upward, the light beam
travels through the hole and appears to curve downward, missing the hole on
the other side. This is because the elevator moves upward during the time
that it takes for the light beam to travel across the elevator.

If the elevator is not accelerating, If the elevator is accelerating

the light beam travels straight upward, the light beam bends.
across.

According to the equivalence principle, an upwardly accelerating elevator is

the same as a downward gravitational field which means that a gravitational
field would exert a force on a beam of light and bend it.

When scientists tested this theory, they found that light indeed was bent by a
gravitational field. Light must travel the shortest distance between two points
in order for the speed of light to be the maximum speed. If light can follow a
curved path, then this curved path must be the shortest distance between two
points. This suggests that space must be curved due to gravity, and this is a
basic tenet of the theory of general relativity.

According to Einstein’s theory, space-time is curved, particularly near massive

bodies. Is this true? The answer is unknown as there are still no experiments
that have detected any curvature of space.

IV. The Expanding Universe

The theory that the universe is expanding with distant galaxies speeding away
from us, was first proposed by Hubble in 1929 and was based on the Doppler
shift of light emitted by stars. Recall that the Doppler effect is created when a
source of light (or sound) is either approaching or moving away from an
observed. If the source of light is approaching, the frequency is higher, and
the wavelength is therefore shorter. If the source of light is moving away, the
frequency is lower, and the wavelength is longer. Longer wavelengths are
shifted toward the red end of the visible light spectrum, and this is known as
redshifted. Shorter wavelengths are shifted toward the blue end of the visible
light spectrum, and this is known as blue shifted.

Hubble determined that light from distant galaxies was generally redshifted,
meaning that the source of light was moving away from Earth. Furthermore,
the amount of the shift seemed to be proportional to the distance of the
galaxy from Earth. Thus, the velocity of the galaxy moving away from Earth
was proportional to the distance of the galaxy from Earth. Mathematically this
can be expressed as:

v = Hd

where v = velocity, d = distance and H is a constant called the Hubble

parameter. The equation is known as Hubble’s Law. Hubble’s Law only works
well for distant galaxies, not closer galaxies. This is thought to be because only
distant galaxies would be relatively unaffected by the random motion of the
galaxy itself.
V. The Big Bang Theory

The expansion of the universe would suggest that at some point in time, the
parts of the universe were much closer together than they are now. This is the
basis for the Big Bang Theory that says that the universe began as a single
point and then as a result of a giant explosion around 10 to 15 billion years ago
the size of the universe has expanded greatly.

All evidence that scientists have collected point to the universe beginning
around 10 to 15 billion years ago. In the 1960’s scientists discovered cosmic
microwave background radiation which was an important piece of evidence
that points to the validity of the Big Bang Theory. To see why this is so, we will
have to imagine the very early days of the universe after the Big Bang. The Big
Bang released tremendous amount of energy which would be accompanied by
an incredibly high temperature. This temperature would be so high that no
atoms could form. The universe only existed as photons and elementary
particles.

In this stage of the universe, matter and radiation co-existed together, not as
separate entities. As the universe expanded, it cooled as the energy spread
out over a large area. When the temperature had cooled enough, atoms were
able to form, and the radiation was then separated from the matter and able
to spread throughout the universe. This radiation is represented by the cosmic
microwave background radiation which comes toward Earth from all directions
in the universe and with an equal intensity.