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Lecture 06 - The Nature of Light
Summary
1. Temperature
2. Light as a Wave
3. The Electromagnetic Spectrum
4. Colors & Spectra
5. The Doppler Effect
Temperature Celsius Fahrenheit
Water Boils 100! 212"
Water Freezes 0! 32"
To convert between Celsius
(Tc) and Fahrenheit (Tf):
5
TC = (TF ! 32 )
9
Kelvin 0!
• Uses the same scale as celsius,
but with the zero point shifted
down.
• How far down?
0 K = -273!
0K
• Temperature measures the kinetic motion of atoms.
• 0 K represents the state of minimum atomic motion,
called “Absolute Zero”.
Q: A star’s temperature is 6000 K. What is its
temperature in degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit?
In degrees Celsius the star’s temperature is:
6000 - 273 = 5727!.
In degrees Fahrenheit it is:
9
( 5727 ) + 32 = 10,341"
5
The Wave Nature of Light v = f!
Text
The Color Spectrum
• Newton theorized that light consisted of tiny
fast-moving particles.
• He showed that color was a fundamental
property of light by showing that a prism does
not add color to light.
• White light is made up of light at many different
wavelengths, all traveling at the same speed.
• The speed of light in a vacuum is about 300
million meters per second (186 thousand miles
per second).
• The actual color we see is a manifestation of the
system that sees it (our eyes, nerves and brain).
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Blocked by Blocked by Blocked by
ozone and water and high-
oxygen carbon altitude
dioxide electric
charges
The Colors of Planets and Stars
Materials on the surfaces and atmospheres of
the planets:
I) absorb some wavelengths
II) and reflect combinations of wavelengths
These combine to appear as the colors we see.
Color as a measure of temperature
Wien’s Law:
2, 900, 000
!max =
T
Blackbody Radiation:
• Radiation from a theoretical object that is a
perfect absorber and emitter of radiation.
• Almost all objects of interest in astronomy
can be approximated as blackbodies.
The Stefan-Boltzmann Law
“The hotter an object is, the more radiation it emits.”
F = !T 4
F = Energy Flux (energy emitted per unit time per unit area)
T = Temperature (Kelvin)
# = Stefan-Boltzmann constant (relates Flux & Temperature)
Types of Spectra
Continuous Spectrum:
• A continuous spectrum contains an entire range of
wavelengths rather than separate, discrete wavelengths.
• Examples include the heated filament of a lamp and a
glowing piece of iron in a blacksmith’s forge.
Many continuous spectra have “absorption lines”
Absorption Lines
Emission Lines
If gases are heated until they emit light, a spectrum of
bright lines appears.
Kirchhoff’s Laws
1. A hot, dense glowing object (a solid or a dense gas)
emits a continuous spectrum.
2. A hot, low-density gas emits light only at certain
wavelengths, producing a line spectrum.
3. When light having a continuous spectrum passes
through a cool gas, dark lines appear in the
continuous spectrum.
Neils Bohr connected Kirchhoff’s Laws and
matter in 1913 with his model of the atom.
Electron Photon • Electrons orbit a nucleus
with certain energies.
• An electron can move
from one energy level to
another, changing the
Nucleus energy of the atom.
• The energy of a photon
determines the frequency
of light associated with
the photon.
The energy of the photon is related to its frequency
by the equation:
E = energy of the photon
E = hf f = frequency of the photon
h = Planck’s constant
• An emission spectrum is made of discrete wavelengths
of light.
• These wavelengths correspond to the energy
transitions permitted within the atom of an element.
• Emission spectra are valuable for identifying elements
by their unique spectral “fingerprint”.
The Solar Spectrum
The photosphere (the visible surface of the Sun)
emits a continuous spectrum.
The Solar spectrum shows absorption lines
because light must pass through the Sun’s
atmosphere (and the Earth’s atmosphere).
The Doppler Effect
• The Doppler effect is the observed change in
wavelength of waves from a source moving
towards or away from an observer.
• It is most well known as a change in pitch of
sound waves when a speeding car or train
blowing its horn passes by.
• In front of the moving source one hears higher
frequency sound.
• Behind the source one hears lower frequency
sound.
The Doppler Effect in Astronomy
Galaxy moves away from us
Spectrum is red-shifted
Measuring the Doppler motion of Stars
Star moves
towards us:
Spectrum is
blue-shifted.
Star moves
away from us:
Spectrum is
red-shifted.
Summary
1. Temperature
2. Light as a Wave
3. The Electromagnetic Spectrum
4. Colors & Spectra
5. The Doppler Effect
