Question

(a) When an electromagnetic wave interacts with a material, what main three phenomena can occur?

(b) Illustrate these three possible phenomena with a single drawing.

(c) Provide a real world example of each with sunlight as the light source.

Answer 1

(a). & (c).

Basically waves interact with 3 ways :

(i) reflection- it occurs when waves bounces back from a surface they cannot pass through

For e.g - light form sun when falls on any surface ,reflects the light . When the reflected light enter our eyes we can see the object.

(ii) refraction- it occurs when light bends as they enter new medium.

For e.g- light from sun bends as it passes from air to water , this bending of light make the object appear much closer than they are actually.

(iii) diffraction- it occurs when waves passes through an opening in an obstacle.

For e.g.- sound waves bend around corners much more than light does.thats why we can hear not see around corners.

(b).