Chapter 5 Lecture

Chapter 5:
Light and Matter:
Reading Messages
from the Cosmos

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 Light and Matter: Reading Messages from
the Cosmos

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 5.1 Light in Everyday Life

• Our goals for learning:

• How do we experience light?
• How do light and matter interact?

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 How do we experience light?

• The warmth of sunlight tells us that light is a

form of energy.
• We can measure the flow of energy in light in
units of watts: 1 watt = 1 joule/s.

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 Colors of Light

• White light is made up of all the colors of the

rainbow.
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 How do light and matter interact?

• Emission
• Absorption
• Transmission
• Transparent objects transmit light.
• Opaque objects block (absorb) light.
• Reflection/scattering

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 Reflection and Scattering

• A mirror reflects light • A movie screen

in a particular scatters light in all
direction. directions.
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 Interactions of Light with Matter

• Interactions between light and matter determine

the appearance of everything around us.
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 Thought Question

Why is a rose red?

A. The rose absorbs red light.

B. The rose transmits red light.
C. The rose emits red light.
D. The rose reflects red light.

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 Thought Question

Why is a rose red?

A. The rose absorbs red light.

B. The rose transmits red light.
C. The rose emits red light.
D. The rose reflects red light.

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 What have we learned?

• How do we experience light?

• Light is a form of energy.
• Light comes in many colors that combine to
form white light.
• How do light and matter interact?
• Matter can emit light, absorb light, transmit
light, and reflect (or scatter) light.
• Interactions between light and matter
determine the appearance of everything
we see.

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 5.2 Properties of Light

• Our goals for learning:

• What is light?
• What is the electromagnetic spectrum?

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 What is light?

• Light can act either like a wave or like a particle.

• Particles of light are called photons.

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 Waves

• A wave is a
pattern of motion
that can carry
energy without
carrying matter
along with it.

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 Properties of Waves

• Wavelength is the distance between two wave

peaks.
• Frequency is the number of times per second
that a wave vibrates up and down.
Wave speed = wavelength × frequency
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 Light: Electromagnetic Waves

• A light wave is a vibration of electric and

magnetic fields.
• Light interacts with charged particles through
these electric and magnetic fields.

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 Wavelength and Frequency

wavelength × frequency = speed of light =

constant
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 Particles of Light

• Particles of light are called photons.

• Each photon has a wavelength and a frequency.
• The energy of a photon depends on its
frequency.

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 Wavelength, Frequency, and Energy

λ×f=c
λ = wavelength, f = frequency
c = 3.00 × 108 m/s = speed of light

E = h × f = photon energy!
h = 6.626 × 10-34 joule × s = Planck's constant

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 Special Topic: Polarized Sunglasses

• Polarization describes the direction in which a

light wave is vibrating.
• Reflection can change the polarization of light.
• Polarized sunglasses block light that reflects off
of horizontal surfaces.

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 The Electromagnetic Spectrum

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 Thought Question

The higher the photon energy,

A. the longer its wavelength.

B. the shorter its wavelength.
C. energy is independent of wavelength.

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 Thought Question

The higher the photon energy,

A. the longer its wavelength.

B. the shorter its wavelength.
C. energy is independent of wavelength.

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 What have we learned?

• What is light?
• Light can behave like either a wave or a particle.
• A light wave is a vibration of electric and magnetic
fields.
• Light waves have a wavelength and a frequency.
• Photons are particles of light.
• What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
• Human eyes cannot see most forms of light.
• The entire range of wavelengths of light is known as
the electromagnetic spectrum.

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 5.3 Properties of Matter

• Our goals for learning:

• What is the structure of matter?
• What are the phases of matter
• How is energy stored in atoms?

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 What is the structure of matter?

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 Atomic Terminology

• Atomic number = # of protons in nucleus

• Atomic mass number = # of protons + neutrons

• Molecules: consist of two or more atoms

(H2O, CO2)
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 Atomic Terminology

• Isotope: same # of protons but different # of

neutrons (4He, 3He)

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 What are the phases of matter?

• Familiar phases:
• Solid (ice)
• Liquid (water)
• Gas (water vapor)
• Phases of same material behave differently
because of differences in chemical bonds.

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 Phase Changes

• Ionization: stripping of
electrons, changing atoms
into plasma
• Dissociation: breaking of
molecules into atoms
• Evaporation: breaking of
flexible chemical bonds,
changing liquid into solid
• Melting: breaking of rigid
chemical bonds, changing
solid into liquid

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 Phases and Pressure

• Phase of a substance depends on both

temperature and pressure.
• Often more than one phase is present.
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 How is energy stored in atoms?

Excited states

Ground state

• Electrons in atoms are restricted to particular

energy levels.
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 Energy Level Transitions

• The only allowed

changes in energy
are those
corresponding to a
transition between
energy levels.

Not allowed Allowed

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 What have we learned?

• What is the structure of matter?

• Matter is made of atoms, which consist of a nucleus
of protons and neutrons surrounded by a cloud of
electrons.
• What are the phases of matter?
• Adding heat to a substance changes its phase by
breaking chemical bonds.
• As temperature rises, a substance transforms from a
solid to a liquid to a gas, then the molecules can
dissociate into atoms.
• Stripping of electrons from atoms (ionization) turns
the substance into a plasma.

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 What have we learned?

• How is energy stored in atoms?

• The energies of electrons in atoms
correspond to particular energy levels.
• Atoms gain and lose energy only in amounts
corresponding to particular changes in
energy levels.

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 5.4 Learning from Light

• Our goals for learning:

• What are the three basic types of spectra?
• How does light tell us what things are
made of?
• How does light tell us the temperatures of
planets and stars?
• How does light tell us the speed of a
distant object?

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 What are the three basic types of spectra?

• Spectra of astrophysical objects are usually

combinations of these three basic types.

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 Three Types of Spectra

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 Continuous Spectrum

• The spectrum of a common (incandescent) light

bulb spans all visible wavelengths, without
interruption.

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 Emission Line Spectrum

• A thin or low-density cloud of gas emits light

only at specific wavelengths that depend on its
composition and temperature, producing a
spectrum with bright emission lines.
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 Absorption Line Spectrum

• A cloud of gas between us and a light bulb can

absorb light of specific wavelengths, leaving
dark absorption lines in the spectrum.

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 How does light tell us what things are
made of?

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 Chemical Fingerprints

• Each type of atom

has a unique set of
energy levels.
• Each transition
corresponds to a
unique photon
energy, frequency,
and wavelength.

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 Chemical Fingerprints

• Downward transitions produce a unique pattern

of emission lines.

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 Chemical Fingerprints

• Because those atoms can absorb photons with

those same energies, upward transitions
produce a pattern of absorption lines at the
same wavelengths.

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 Chemical Fingerprints

• Each type of atom has a unique spectral

fingerprint.

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 Chemical Fingerprints

• Observing the fingerprints in a spectrum tells us

which kinds of atoms are present.

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 Chemical Fingerprints

Example: Solar Spectrum

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 Energy Levels of Molecules

• Molecules have additional energy levels

because they can vibrate and rotate.

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 Energy Levels of Molecules

• The large numbers of vibrational and rotational

energy levels can make the spectra of
molecules very complicated.
• Many of these molecular transitions are in the
infrared part of the spectrum.
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 Thought Question

Which letter(s) label(s) absorption lines?

A B C D E

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 Thought Question

Which letter(s) label(s) absorption lines?

A B C D E

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 Thought Question

Which letter(s) label(s) the peak (greatest

intensity) of infrared light?

A B C D E

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 Thought Question

Which letter(s) label(s) the peak (greatest

intensity) of infrared light?

A B C D E

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 Thought Question

Which letter(s) label(s) emission lines?

A B C D E

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 Thought Question

Which letter(s) label(s) emission lines?

A B C D E

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 How does light tell us the temperatures of
planets and stars?

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 Thermal Radiation

• Nearly all large or dense objects emit thermal

radiation, including stars, planets, you.
• An object's thermal radiation spectrum depends
on only one property: its temperature.

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 Properties of Thermal Radiation

1. Hotter objects emit more light at all frequencies

per unit area.
2. Hotter objects emit photons with a higher
average energy.

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 Thought Question

Which is hottest?

A. a blue star
B. a red star
C. a planet that emits only infrared light

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 Thought Question

Which is hottest?

A. a blue star
B. a red star
C. a planet that emits only infrared light

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 Thought Question

Why don't we glow in the dark?

A. People do not emit any kind of light.

B. People only emit light that is invisible to our
eyes.
C. People are too small to emit enough light for us
to see.
D. People do not contain enough radioactive
material.

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 Thought Question

Why don't we glow in the dark?

A. People do not emit any kind of light.

B. People only emit light that is invisible to our
eyes.
C. People are too small to emit enough light for us
to see.
D. People do not contain enough radioactive
material.

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 Example: How do we interpret an actual
spectrum?

• By carefully studying the features in a spectrum,

we can learn a great deal about the object that
created it.

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 What is this object?

Reflected sunlight:
Continuous spectrum
of visible light is like
the Sun's except that
some of the blue light
has been absorbed—
object must look red.
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 What is this object?

Thermal radiation:
Infrared spectrum
peaks at a wavelength
corresponding to a
temperature of 225 K.

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 What is this object?

Carbon dioxide:
Absorption lines are
the fingerprint of CO2
in the atmosphere.

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 What is this object?

Ultraviolet emission
lines: Indicate a hot
upper atmosphere

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 What is this object?

Mars!

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 How does light tell us the speed of a distant
object?

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 Measuring the Shift

• We generally measure the Doppler effect from

shifts in the wavelengths of spectral lines.

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 Measuring the Shift

• The amount of blueshift or redshift tells us an

object's speed toward or away from us.

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 Measuring the Shift

• Doppler shift tells us ONLY about the part of an

object's motion toward or away from us:

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 Thought Question

I measure a line in the lab at 500.7 nm. The same

line in a star has wavelength 502.8 nm. What can I
say about this star?

A. It is moving away from me.

B. It is moving toward me.
C. It has unusually long spectral lines.

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 Thought Question

I measure a line in the lab at 500.7 nm. The same

line in a star has wavelength 502.8 nm. What can I
say about this star?

A. It is moving away from me.

B. It is moving toward me.
C. It has unusually long spectral lines.

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 Rotation Rates

• Different Doppler
shifts from different
sides of a rotating
object spread out its
spectral lines.

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 Spectrum of a Rotating Object

• Spectral lines are wider when an object rotates

faster.
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 What have we learned?

• What are the three basic type of spectra?

• Continuous spectrum, emission line
spectrum, absorption line spectrum
• How does light tell us what things are made
of?
• Each atom has a unique fingerprint.
• We can determine which atoms something is
made of by looking for their fingerprints in the
spectrum.

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 What have we learned?

• How does light tell us the temperatures of

planets and stars?
• Nearly all large or dense objects emit a
continuous spectrum that depends on
temperature.
• The spectrum of that thermal radiation tells
us the object's temperature.
• How does light tell us the speed of a distant
object?
• The Doppler effect tells us how fast an object
is moving toward or away from us.
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