If you want to play a fun game and (optionally) learn about the curious behaviour of light, then Quantum Game is for you! The nature of light has divided opinion in physics for literally thousands of years, from the time of Pythagoras and Aristotle in ancient Greece to the current day. In the seventeenth century, … Continue reading Quantum Game
Light and Heat
It is obvious to say that hot objects emit (give off) both visible light (a glow) and heat (that we can feel but not actually see). This is true of bonfires, light-bulbs and even our Sun. The connection between heat and light is taken completely for granted in everyday life: the glow of a hot … Continue reading Light and Heat
EMS Short Study Course
NASA has created an excellent self-contained short study course that covers the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) from an astronomy perspective. This resource therefore has double value for GCSE Physics as it supports learning across the topics of both waves and space. The course comprises four introductory sections, eight units on parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and … Continue reading EMS Short Study Course
Using the EMS to Observe Earth
When we look down on the Earth from an aircraft, we are observing the surface of the planet using visible light in a qualitative way - which means that we are simply sensing (seeing) rather than measuring the amount of light reflected. By using instrumentation, we can extract much more meaning from our observations by … Continue reading Using the EMS to Observe Earth
Telescopes in Space
Why do we put telescopes in space? The reason is not to get "closer" to the things we are trying to observe! Although the Earth's atmosphere extends much further, we generally think of space as starting about 100 km above the Earth's surface (see here for more details) and that's a tiny distance compared even … Continue reading Telescopes in Space
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Given that electromagnetic (EM) waves all have various things in common*, it makes sense to put them in order. We do this using their wavelength or frequency: it doesn't matter which one we choose because as wavelength increases, frequency decreases (and vice versa). Putting the different types of EM waves in order creates a spectrum … Continue reading The Electromagnetic Spectrum
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