My Journey through Physics II, Senior Year

Christine Kyla M. Espejo

Sir Sonny P. de Leon Ph.D
Self reflection:
Coming into Physic II was something that I was very much afraid of. Last year Physics I is okay for me. I can
understand most of the lesson and I can count on my fingers those lessons that confused me too much. And maybe
its easy for me because our previous teacher doesnt give us lot of work to do. But then, I understand the changes.
Im now in my 4
th
year being a high school student so I must get used to do a lot of work cause soon Im going to be
a college girl.
For instance, one thing that I learned in Physics II is that an image is a visual reproduction of an object
formed by a mirror or a lens. Incident rays coming from an object strike a mirror or a lens may form an image after
being reflected or refracted. Mirrors produce images by reflecting light. Lens produce images by allowing light to go
through (refraction). And the study of image formation using rays is central to geometric optics. And we also tackled
about the nature of im
I have always held a particular interest in Physics as it pertains to the scientific giants who laid at the
foundation of physics and when it also pertains to the different branches of physics. Because of this, I found it
challenging to stay entertained during our discussion
I was absolutely captivated by the discussions on waves. Because it discusses the different kind of waves
such as light waves, water waves, stadium waves, earthquake waves, waves on a string, slinky waves, etc, its
nature; transverse and longitudinal waves, wherein a transverse matter moves in the medium back and forth
perpendicularly to the direction that the wave travels while in longitudinal wave matter moves in the medium parallel
to the direction of the wave. There are five wave terms, the frequency, period, amplitude, wavelength and speed.
Frequency (f) is the number of waves produced in a given point in each second (Hertz=1/sec). Period (t) is the time
needed to produce a wave in a given point. Amplitude (a) is the height of the wave. Wavelength () is the distance
between two successive compressed parts. The wave speed (f) or (/t) depends on the properties of the medium.
The properties are; elasticity, temperature and density. Elasticity is directly related to speed. The density is inversely
proportional to speed while temperature is directly proportional to speed. There are different ways in determining the
speed of transverse wave. Different medium have different formula. There are three different mediums, the vibrating
string, the liquid and lastly the gas.
A wave reflects, refracts and diffracts. Before we learn about the three, we were introduced with some terms
that will be essential in our study. Those are normal, wave front, ray, and incident. Normal is an imaginary line. The
wave front is the actual wave. The ray is a vector arrow that is drawn perpendicularly to the wave front. It is the
direction of the wave. The incident is very important, it is the incoming wave. Reflection exists when a wave reaches
a boundary of a medium and it bounces back. We have a law in reflection that the angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection. Refraction is being observed when a wave passes from one medium to another. The boundary
changes the speed and the direction of the wave. Refraction is the reason why the pencil looks thicker in water. If the
refracted wave is towards the normal, it slows down. Diffraction is like refraction, the only difference is it was done
with an opening or a slit. We have different wave interaction; the constructive, two positive amplitude, and the
destructive have one positive and one negative amplitude. We have the fixed end where the wavelength is the same,
speed is the same, amplitude is the same and the position is opposite. Another is free end, where the wavelength,
speed, amplitude and position are all the same. Last is the change in medium, it is divided into two parts; reflected
and transmitted. In reflected the wavelength, speed and amplitude is all the same but the position is opposite. In the
other hand, the transmitted waves wavelength is shorter, the speed is slower, the amplitude is shorter and the
position is the same.
Another additional information is the Law of Reflection stating that the angle of incidence and angle of
reflection is equal with each other. Another thing is that there are two types of Interference the Constructive (when
add together gives off a greater amplitude) and the Destructive (opposite of Constructive, lower amplitude is the
result). Next idea is about the boundary behavior of a wave, in which it is the behavior of a wave when it reaches the
end of its medium and that end is called 'boundary'. There are three types of boundary behavior and those are the
Fixed End Boundary, Free End Boundary, and the Change in Medium.
After some quite time, the next topic was about standing waves. Where in based on the PowerPoint
Presentation given to us standing waves we're defined as waves that produce when two waves with the same
frequency interfere with one another while traveling in opposite directions along the same medium. And based on the
definiton that I could recall about standing waves, It is called standing waves sue to the fact that it appears to stand
frozen in space and the main reason in the formation of sound source. And like other waves, standing waves have
parts as well and those parts are called Antinodes (areas of maximum amplitude) and Nodes (areas of zero
amplitude). Alongside Standing waves, Harmonic and Modes were discussed as well. With a general formula of
_n=2L/(n ) where n=1,2,3 and the other formula related to this topic is f_n=V/_n =n V/2L where n=1,2,3 as
well. While the nth harmonic has frequency; f_n=V/_n =n V/2L = nf_1.
Standing waves are produced when two waves with the same frequency interfere with one another while
travelling in opposite directions along the same medium. It is called because it appears to stand frozen in space.
Standing waves are responsible in the formation of sound in sound sources such as vocal chords and musical
instruments. They are produced whenever a wave is confined in boundaries. There are many parts of Standing wave.
The points, sometimes, described as point of no displacement are referred as Nodes.
The points that undergo the maximum displacement during each vibrational cycle of the standing wave are called
Antinodes. We also learned harmonics and modes. The nth harmonic has frequency f, n= v/_n =nv/2L=nf_1
We should always remember that the first harmonic is the fundamental tone, the second harmonic is the first
overtone, and the third harmonic is the second overtone and so on.
We did also discussed the Electromagnetic waves, wherein in this area we further made a conversation about Radio
waves, Microwaves, Infrared Radiation, Visible light, Ultra Violet, X-ray and Gamma Rays. In which the Radio waves
have the longest wavelength in a the Electromagnetic Spectrum and the shortest is the Gamma Rays but in terms of
Frequency the one with the highest frequency is the Gamma Rays and the lowest is Radio waves.
Moving forth we did also discussed the Index of Refraction. The index of refraction (n) of a material is a
dimensionless constant obtained by dividing the speed of light (c) in a vacuum by the speed of light (v) in that
material; n = c /v. Then goes with the topic with light under Optics, in which we discussed the real nature of light
stating that the propagation of light is best described by a wave model, but understanding emission and absorption
requires a particle approach.
And lastly we tackled about optics. Optics is branch of physics which deals with the behavior of light and
other electromagnetic waves. There are two types of physics: Geometric Optics, branch of optics representing waves
in terms of rays, and physical optics the branch of optics dealing specifically with wave behavior.
How will you describe light? Light is a form of energy visible to the human eye that is radiated by moving
charged.
Here are the characteristics of light:
1. Our primary source of light is the sun.
2. Light travels in straight lines at a speed of 186,000miles per second.
3. Light waves travel faster than sound waves!
4. Light energy from the sun travels through space , reaches earth, and some of it turns to heat energy and
warms the earths air.
5. Light from the sun also travels to the cells of green plants (producers) and is stored as energy.
6. When light reaches an object, it is absorbed, reflected, or passes through it.
7. Light travels in straight lines:
8. Light travels VERY FAST around 300,000 kilometres per second.
9. Light travels much faster than sound.
The propagation of light is best described by a wave model, but understanding emission and absorption requires
a particle approach.
What happen to an atom when it absorbs and emits light? When a photon, or packet of light energy, is absorbed
by an atom, the atom gains the energy of the photon, and one of the atoms electrons may jump to a higher energy
level. The atom is then said to be excited. When an electron of an excited atom falls to a lower energy level, the atom
may emit the electrons excess energy in the form of a photon.