Light and Transparent Materials

How does light pass through transparent materials?

• Light is absorbed by the atoms and reemitted as heat.

• Light is completely reflected by the atoms in the material.

• Light passes through materials whose atoms absorb the energy and immediately reemit it as light.

• Light is scattered in all directions by the atoms in the material.

What is light described as in the context of electromagnetic waves?

• A) A type of sound wave

• B) A form of matter

• C) Energy carried in an electromagnetic wave

• D) A chemical reaction

What happens to electrons in matter when light strikes it?

• A) The electrons are removed from the matter.

• B) The electrons remain stationary.

• C) The electrons in the matter are forced into vibration.

• D) The electrons convert light into electrical energy.

Just as a sound wave can force a sound receiver into vibration, what can a light wave force into vibration?

• Air particles

• Water molecules

• Charged particles in materials

• Sound waves

How does the response of a material to light depend on the frequency of light?

• The response does not depend on the frequency of light.

• The response depends on the frequency of light and the natural frequency of electrons in the material.

• The response depends only on the intensity of light.

• The response depends on the frequency of light and the size of the material.

At what rate does visible light vibrate?

• 100 million times per second (10^8 hertz).

• 100 billion times per second (10^11 hertz).

• 100 trillion times per second (10^14 hertz).

• 100 thousand times per second (10^5 hertz).

What characteristic must a particle have to respond to ultrafast vibrations of light?

• A particle must have a very high inertia.

• A particle must have a very large mass.

• A particle must have very little inertia.

• A particle must be stationary.

What property do materials that transmit light have?

• They are opaque.

• They are transparent.

• They are reflective.

• They are absorbent.

How do materials that are springy (elastic) respond to vibrations?

• They respond equally to all frequencies.

• They do not respond to vibrations.

• They respond more to vibrations at some frequencies than at others.

• They amplify all vibrations.

What does the natural vibration frequency of an electron depend on?

• The electron's mass.

• The temperature of the material.

• How strongly it is attached to a nearby nucleus.

• The electron's charge.