Geometric Optics: Crash Course Physics #38

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

Science

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Overview

Sunlight, moonlight, torchlight, and flashlight all come from different places, but they’re the very same thing: light. It’s what makes it possible for us to see the world around us, so it’s worth a close, hard look. For instance, how does light travel? When you flip that switch in the bathroom to brush your teeth, how does light move from the light bulb, to the mirror, and into your eyes? This video explores the ray model, reflection and refraction, diverging and converging lenses, and ray diagrams.

Science (2015) Grade(s): 09-12 - Physics

SC15.PHYS.10

Plan and carry out investigations that evaluate the mathematical explanations of light as related to optical systems (e.g., reflection, refraction, diffraction, intensity, polarization, Snell’s law, the inverse square law).

UP:SC15.PHYS.10

Vocabulary

  • medium
  • model
  • graph
  • image distance
  • object distance
  • focal point
  • magnification
  • critical angle
  • refraction
  • reflection
  • diffraction
  • interference
  • constructive interference
  • destructive interference
  • principal axis
  • center of curvature
  • intensity
  • inverse
  • angle of incidence
  • angle of reflection
  • angle of refraction
  • index of refraction
  • speed of light
  • system
  • velocity
  • polarization
  • minima
  • maxima
  • order
  • slit width
  • slit separation
  • object
  • image
  • real
  • virtual
  • inverted
  • erect
  • spherical aberration
  • chromatic aberration
  • total internal reflection
  • law of reflection
  • Snell's lLaw
  • prism
  • ray
  • concave
  • convex
  • plane
  • divergent
  • convergent
  • ray diagrams

Knowledge

Students know:
  • How light interacts at boundaries of different media.
  • The wave properties of light.
  • Basic trigonometric equations.
  • How to do graphical analysis.
  • Inverse and inverse square relationships.
  • Types of images and how images are formed.
  • Appropriate units of measure.
  • How to identify a system.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Develop an appropriate experimental procedure.
  • Create a data sheet.
  • Collect and organize experimental data.
  • Follow written and verbal instructions.
  • Make measurements using standard units.
  • Effectively manipulate laboratory equipment.
  • Work safely in collaborative lab groups.
  • Manipulate equations.
  • Interpret graphical data.
  • Solve mathematical equations.
  • Draw a light ray diagram and identify the location of an image.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • The behavior of light is predictable mathematically allowing the development of optical devices to improve vision macroscopically and microscopically.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Planning and Carrying out Investigations

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

CR Resource Type

Audio/Video

Resource Provider

PBS

License Type

Custom

Accessibility

Video resources: includes closed captioning or subtitles
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