Week 31 Reflection

This week in physics we began our new unit, which deals with light waves. We began by turning off the lights in the room and observing a laser going through different medium, including glass and water. We observed that the light of the laser can be reflected or refracted. This means that the light beam can remain straight or become bent due to how it reacts with the surface. For example, when he laser was shown through a glass of water, the laser refracted and bent when going through the water. 

We also looked at the electromagnetic system, it's different waves, and the visible color range. I learned that an electromagnetic wave is a transverse wave that does not require a medium to travel. The electromagnetic spectrum from greatest to least wavelength is radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma rays. As you follow the spectrum from left to right, the wavelength distance decreases, the frequency increases, and the energy increases. With the increased energy, the speed of the waves also increases. The visible color range from left to right is red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Humans see these colors because of three cells in our eyes that controls the colors of red, green, and blue. These colors mix to form other colors of the visible color range. 

In addition, we also learned about cancer and how it can be caused by light rays. The smaller the light wave, the more energy the wave has. The greater the energy, the greater the capability of the light wave to penetrate your skin and cells. If the light wave does penetrate a cell, it can damage the cell's DNA and cause the damaged cell to multiply other damaged cells. These defective cells can clump together and can form tumors in the body. When doctors attempt to kill the cancer, they have to kill the defective cells without damaging the healthy ones, which has proved to be very difficult.