How Light Behaves
How does light usually travel through empty space?
In a straight line.
What happens when light hits a surface and bounces off?
Reflection.
What can happen when an object absorbs light?
The object can become warmer.
What produces sound?
Vibrations.
Can sound travel through materials other than air?
Yes. Sound can travel through solids, liquids, and gases.
What happens when an object blocks light?
A shadow can form.
Why can you see yourself in a mirror but not clearly in a piece of paper?
A mirror has a smooth, reflective surface that reflects light in a way that forms an image.
Two bottles of water sit in sunlight. One is painted black and one is painted white. Why might their temperatures be different?
The surfaces absorb different amounts of light.
What happens to the pitch of a sound when something vibrates faster?
The pitch becomes higher.
What is an echo?
A sound that reflects off a surface and comes back to you.
A flashlight shines toward a wall. You place a book in front of the flashlight. What will happen to the light?
he book will block the light and make a shadow.
A red ball is in a room with white light. What color of light does the ball reflect into your eyes?
Red light.
A student wants to find out which color of paint causes water to heat up the most. What should the student change between the bottles?
The color of the paint.
Two strings are the same except one vibrates faster than the other. Which string will make the higher-pitched sound?
The string that vibrates faster.
Why might a room with lots of soft materials, like carpets and curtains, have less echo?
Soft materials can absorb sound.
Light travels from air into water. What can happen to the light when it enters the water?
The light can change direction.
A red object is placed under only blue light. What might the object look like?
It may look very dark or black because there is little or no red light for it to reflect.
A black bottle and a white bottle are placed in the same sunlight for the same amount of time. Which bottle would you predict will heat up more?
The black bottle.
A student changes an instrument so that its vibrations happen more slowly. What will happen to the pitch?
The pitch will become lower.
You clap your hands in an empty gym and then clap in a room filled with carpets, curtains, and furniture. Where would you expect a stronger echo?
In the empty gym.
A student shines a flashlight at a clear glass of water. The light changes direction when it enters the water. What property of light does this demonstrate?
Refraction—the light changes direction when it moves from one material into another.
Explain the path of light that allows you to see a red apple sitting on a table.
Light from a source hits the apple, red light reflects from the apple, and that reflected light enters your eyes.
Why is it important for the bottles in a light-and-heat investigation to start with the same amount of water and the same starting temperature?
So the test is fair and the paint color is the main variable affecting the results.
A student notices that changing the length or tightness of a string changes the sound it makes. What is changing about the string that affects the sound?
The way the string vibrates, including how quickly it vibrates.
Two materials are tested to see how well they transmit sound. Why might the sound reach a listener differently through the two materials?
Different materials can transmit sound differently, including at different speeds.