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    Optics is the study of light's behavior and properties when it interacts with matter. There are three types of light, visible, ultraviolet and infrared light. Studying light is helpful because light is an electromagnetic wave. Therefore, studying light also helps physicists understand more about electromagnetic radiation which is involved in X-rays, radio waves and microwaves.

    Optics is divided into two main fields of study: geometrical optics and physical optics. Geometrical optics is when light is considered to travel in a straight light. The light can be refracted by a medium to travel in a different direction. Physical optics is when light is considered to be an electromagnetic wave. Each field is useful when studying different properties.

    Optics is a major area of research in physics and engineering. Optical physics and engineering research is generally in the fields of electromagnetic or quantum properties of light. Lasers, visual systems and cameras are just a few examples of everyday technologies that use optical technology. Since the invention of lasers in 1960, lasers have become a multi-billion dollar industry with applications of supermarket barcode scanners, to fibre-optic communications and laser eye surgery. Optics has also help aid in the research of atmospheric properties and optical phenomena’s such as the blue sky. This phenomenon occurs due to Rayleigh scattering which redirects higher frequency sunlight back into the field of view.

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    Electromagnetism & optics

    2. a. A fixed volume charge distribution of constant charge density p_0 is contained within a rectangular box centered at the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system (x, y, z). The box has dimensions w X w X d, where d << w ( i.e. you can model the sheet as infinite in the x and y directions). i) Find the total charge insid

    Electromagnetism and Optics

    The diagrams attached represent the polarization states of light. In each case the wave is traveling along the x-axis in the positive x direction. i) Which diagram represents linear polarized light at 45 degrees? ii) Which diagram represents left circular light? Explain. iii) Which diagram represents un-polarized light?

    Optics Question: Power of Focal Length

    a) The far point of an eye is 75cm in front of the the eye. What power of focal length should the prescribed spectacles be in order for the eye to distinctly see a distant object? b) With these spectacles, the near point is 25cm in front of the eye; where would it be without them? c) A person with normal vision (near point

    Optics Question: Light Traveling Through Different Medias

    A beam of light traveling in air (n=1.00) falls on a layer of oil (n1=1.465) which is exactly 1.000cm thick and which rests on a layer of water (n=1.333) of thickness d2 cm. Angle of incidence is 19 degrees. (a) Find the physical path length, l1 of the ray in the oil. (b) Find the optical path length, OPL1, of the ray in the o

    Optics Example Question on Lenses

    Find graphically the image formed by a thin converging lens of: (a) a real object at the left of the first focal point; (b) a real object between the first focal point and the lens; (c) a virtual object between the lens and he second focal point; (d) a virtual object a the right of the second focal point.

    Understanding Lenses.

    Learning Goal: To learn the quantitative use of the lens equation, as well as how to determine qualitative properties of solutions. In working with lenses, there are three important quantities to consider: The object distance s is the distance along the axis of the lens to the object. The image distance s' is the distance alo

    Optic problem

    ** Please see the attached file for the complete problem description ** Please show how to solve the following four questions: 4) Consider an optical fiber having a core index of 1.46 and a cladding index of 1.45. (please see the attachment for the illustration) a) What is the critical angle for this core-cladding inte

    10 problems about light, wave length, focal length, telescope, polarized beam

    (Please refer to the attachment for detailed description of the problems) 1. An object is placed 30 cm to the left of a converging lens of focal length f1= + 20 cm. A second lens sits 40 cm to the right of the first lens. The two- lens system produces an overall magnification of M= + 2.0. What is the focal length (f2) of the

    Optics: Wavelength of a beam of light reflected by surface of oil

    A layer of oil of thickness 200nm floats on top of a layer of water of thickness 400nm resting on a flat metallic mirror. The index of refraction of oil is 1.24 and that of the water is 1.33. A beam of light is normally incident on these layers. What must be the wavelength of the beam if the light reflected by the top surface o

    Collection of light energy by mirrors for telescope

    It has been proposed that six 1.8 m diameter mirrors in the multiple mirror telescope be replaced by a single 6.5m diameter mirror, which would fit into the existing mount. By what factor would this replacement enhance the amount of light collected by the telescope?

    Image of a lightbulb looking through the convex lens

    Figure is shown in the attached file. A lightbulb is 15cm in front of a convex mirror of radius of curvature 10cm; a convex lens of focal length 25cm is 5cm beyond the lightbulb. Where do you see the image of the lightbulb if you look through the convex lens at the mirror?

    Refraction of light rays through a plate of glass

    Because of refraction in the plate of glass, an object viewed through an ordinary window will seem somewhat nearer than its actual distance. a) Consider the rays that strike the glass at a small angle of incidence (nearly normal). Show that if an object is at distance l from a window, the image is at a distance that is shorte

    Stand from the camera in order to fit in the frame

    The actual frame size of "35-mm" film is 24 mm x 36 mm. You want to take a photograph of your friend, who is 1.66 m tall. Your camera has a 62.0 mm focal length lens. How far from the camera should your friend stand in order to produce a 36.0 mm-tall image on the film?

    Optics: Twelve Problems on Different Properties of Light

    1. A dentist uses a mirror to examine a tooth that is 1.00 cm in front of the mirror. The image of the tooth is formed 10.0 cm behind the mirror. Determine (a) the mirror's radius of curvature and (b) the magnification of the image. 2. An object is placed 40.0 cm from a concave mirror of radius 20.0 cm. (a) Find the location

    Ray Optics: Concave Mirror

    Please answer and explain the following Concave mirror is placed near one end of an optical bench. It is aimed to make an image offside from the light source projected onto a screen. Initially the light source is placed 3 m from the mirror. The screen is moved until the image comes into focus on the screen. What would be t


    A lens has a focal length f = - 10 cm (the negative focal length indicating that it is a diverging lens). An object is put in front of lens at a distance of 15 cm. Where will the image appear? Calculate the image distance i. Is it a real or virtual image? What is the magnification of the lens? Is the image larger or smaller than

    Doube-slit experiment

    The first order maximum caused by a double slit illuminated with light of wavelength 645 nm is found at some spot on a screen. The light source is changed to a new wavelength which places its second order (m=2) maxima at the same spot where the 645 nm first order maxima used to lie a) what is the wavelength of the new light sou

    Wave Optics : Interference

    Two spherical waves with the same amplitude, A, and wavelength, lamda, are spreading out from two point sources S1 and S2 along one side of a barrier. The two waves have the same phase at positions S1 and S2. The two waves are superimposed at a position P. If the two waves interfere constructively at P what is the relationship b

    Wave Optics: Interference and Diffraction

    1. Two waves shown in the attachment with the same amplitude, A, and wavelength, lamda, and traveling in the same direction. Initially the sources (dot at the origin) are also at the same point. The source of the second wave is then displaced by a distance sigma x. a) For what values of sigma x will the superposition of the two

    Wave Optics (Interference)

    4. A card containing two slits separated center-to-center by 0.1mm, is illuminated by a red laser (lambda = 632:82nm). If the fringes on an observing screen are to be 10mm apart, how far away (in m) should the screen be? 5. Two parallel slits 0.1mm apart are illuminated and it is found that the fifth bright fringe is at an an

    double-slit interference

    1. Blue light at 480nm impinges perpendicularly on a pair of very narrow parallel slit apertures separated by 0:15mm. A fringe pattern appears on a screen 2m away. How far (in mm) from the central axis on either side will we find the second-order (m = 2) bright bands? 2. Red plane waves from a ruby laser (lambda= 694.3nm) in

    Optics: Interfering Waves

    N interfering waves of the same amplitude E_0 have relative phase-shift α with respect to one another (that is, the first wave is E_0, the second wave E_0 e^(iα), and so on, up to E_0 e^i(N-1)α). Find the amplitude and phase of the resulting disturbance.

    7 Conceptual Questions on Ray and Wave Optics.

    32. When a beam of white light passes perpendicularly through a flat pane of glass, it is not dispersed into a spectrum. Why not? 35. Light of what color is scattered most of atmosphere? Least? 36. If the earth had no atmosphere, what would the color of the sky be during the day? 39. Radio waves are able to diffract

    Wave Optics: Diffraction through transmission grating.

    I have this problem which I'm not sure how to do. I understand the diffraction grating and all the formulae that describe diffraction with only a grating but I'm not sure how to do calculation when a grating is in combination with a lens. Could you please just explain how I should do this problem, but don't do any calculations t

    Ray Optics: spherical mirrors and lens

    A thin double convex lens of focal length f = +15 centimeters is located at the origin of the x-axis, as shown in the attachment. An object of height 8 centimeters is placed 45 centimeters to the left of the lens. a.) On the figure in attachment, draw a ray diagram to show the formation of the image by the lens. Clearly sho

    Wave Optics: Interference of light: Newton's Rings

    The drawing shows a cross section of a plano-concave lens resting on a flat glass plate. (A plano-concave lens has one surface that is a plane and the other that is concave spherical.) The thickness t is 1.35 * 10^-5 m. The lens is illuminated with monochromatic light (lambda vacuum = 570 nm), and a series of concentric bright a