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And Then There Was Light Trivia Quiz

Visible light is a very small band within the electromagnetic spectrum. Physicists consider the entire spectrum to be light. How much do you know about light?

A multiple-choice quiz by drbabe. Estimated time: 3 mins.

Author
drbabe

Time
3 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
331,514

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
758

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Red light has a wavelength of about 700 nm. What is this measurement in meters? Hint

0.000000007 meters

700 meters

0.00000000007 meters

0.0000007 meters

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Question 2 of 10

2. What is the interaction of light with matter called? Hint

optics

materials science

mechanics

aerodynamics

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Question 3 of 10

3. When light passes from one medium to another it often bends. What is this bending called? Hint

diffraction

refraction

reflection

calefaction

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Question 4 of 10

4. What type of electromagnetic waves can have wavelengths on the order of meters? Hint

TV and radio waves

x-rays

Gamma rays

microwaves

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Question 5 of 10

5. What type of radiation is used in radiography? Hint

ultrasound

gamma rays

x-rays

microwaves

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Question 6 of 10

6. How do microwaves cook food? Hint

Conduction

Excitation of water molecules

Convection

Transmutation

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Question 7 of 10

7. What is another name for heat? Hint

Infrared radiation

Ultrasound

Ultraviolet radiation

Gamma radiation

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Question 8 of 10

8. What is the quantity that is the rate that a body radiates per unit time? Hint

luminance

luminosity

illumination

lustrousness

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Question 9 of 10

9. What is the speed of light in the centimeter-gram-second(cgs)system? Hint

30,000,000,000 cm/second

1 billion miles per second

186,000 miles per second

500,000 meters per second

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Question 10 of 10

10. Which of the following technologies does not use electromagnetic radiation? Hint

sonar

microscopy

radar

fiber optical telephony

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Red light has a wavelength of about 700 nm. What is this measurement in meters?

Answer: 0.0000007 meters

One nanometer is one billionth of a meter, so 700 nm is six zeros after the decimal point before the seven.

2. What is the interaction of light with matter called?

Answer: optics

In addition to interaction with light, optics includes instrumentation used to detect it. Optics are used to study very small features such as atoms and very large objects such as galaxies. Originally optics for both purposes were made of glass.

3. When light passes from one medium to another it often bends. What is this bending called?

Answer: refraction

Refraction makes it appear that an object is bent because the speed of light is different in two materials with different indices of refraction.

4. What type of electromagnetic waves can have wavelengths on the order of meters?

Answer: TV and radio waves

TV and radio waves are on the long end of the EM spectrum. They can be meters long. Since wavelength is inversely proportional to energy, these are the lowest energy waves. On the other end of the spectrum are x-rays and gamma rays, which have short wavelength and high energy.

5. What type of radiation is used in radiography?

Answer: x-rays

X-rays are waves that are energetic enough to pass through the human body, but are less harmful than gamma rays. Microwaves and ultrasound have longer wavelengths and thus are less energetic.

6. How do microwaves cook food?

Answer: Excitation of water molecules

The microwaves have just the right energy to causes stretching of the bonds in water molecules. This stretching and the resulting relaxation releases energy in the form of heat.

7. What is another name for heat?

Answer: Infrared radiation

Infrared is so named because it has waves just longer than the visible spectrum, whose longest wavelengths are perceived by the human eye as the color red. Ultraviolet is on the other end of the spectrum, has waves short than the color violet.

8. What is the quantity that is the rate that a body radiates per unit time?

Answer: luminosity

Luminance is luminosity in a given direction.

9. What is the speed of light in the centimeter-gram-second(cgs)system?

Answer: 30,000,000,000 cm/second

Light travels at the rate of 3 x 10 to the tenth power cm/s in the centimeter-gram-second (cgs)system and 186,000 mi/s in the American system. The cgs is now obsolete, but useful for this particular constant. The meter-kilogram-second (mks) system is no longer used. These units, however have been adopted as standard in the international system (SI)of units.

10. Which of the following technologies does not use electromagnetic radiation?

Answer: sonar

Sonar uses sound waves, which are not transverse waves like the EM spectrum. Radar typically uses radio waves and fiber optic telephony transmits laser radiation. Microscope use a variety of types of light. Visible light is the radiation used to view objects as small as one micrometer, but electron microscope using an electron beam allow imaging of features as small as 10 nanometers.

Source: Author drbabe

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
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