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Rays and wavefronts. In optics, a ray is an idealized geometrical model of light or other electromagnetic radiation, obtained by choosing a curve that is perpendicular to the wavefronts of the actual light, and that points in the direction of energy flow.
Light exerts physical pressure on objects in its path, a phenomenon which can be deduced by Maxwell's equations, but can be more easily explained by the particle nature of light: photons strike and transfer their momentum. Light pressure is equal to the power of the light beam divided by c, the speed of light.
For light rays travelling from a material with a high index of refraction to a material with a low index of refraction, Snell's law predicts that there is no θ 2 when θ 1 is large. In this case, no transmission occurs; all the light is reflected. This phenomenon is called total internal reflection and allows for fibre optics technology. As ...
Gamma rays, at the high-frequency end of the spectrum, have the highest photon energies and the shortest wavelengths—much smaller than an atomic nucleus. Gamma rays, X-rays, and extreme ultraviolet rays are called ionizing radiation because their high photon energy is able to ionize atoms, causing chemical reactions. Longer-wavelength ...
Geometrical optics, or ray optics, is a model of optics that describes light propagation in terms of rays. The ray in geometrical optics is an abstraction useful for approximating the paths along which light propagates under certain circumstances. The simplifying assumptions of geometrical optics include that light rays:
[1] [2] It encompasses a broad spectrum, classified by frequency and wavelength, ranging from radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. [3] [4]. All forms of EMR travel at the speed of light in a vacuum and exhibit wave-particle duality, behaving both as waves and as discrete particles called photons.
The new cosmic ray was detected by the Telescope Array experiment, which brings together 507 different stations in a grid of in the Utah desert to detect cosmic rays and other phenomena.
A photon (from Ancient Greek φῶς, φωτός (phôs, phōtós) ' light ') is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force.