Chapter 5: Light & Matter

“Well, we all shine on

Like the moon and the stars and the sun”
— John Lennon

Credit: Cosmic Perspective

 Light
• We see objects through the way light has interacted with them
• Light is captured by the chemical receptors in our eyes and
interpreted by our brain

Light interacts with matter in 4 basic ways:

• Emission:
• Light generated by a source (Sun, lightbulb, etc.)

• Absorption:
• Light is absorbed by matter (e.g., heating of skin by sunlight)

• Transmission:
• Some material allow light to pass through, though its speed may
change (e.g., glass, water)

• Reflection/Scattering:
• Bouncing of light from matter
 Interaction of Light with Matter
• We see objects through the way light has interacted with them
• Light is captured by the chemical receptors in our eyes and
interpreted by our brain
Emission

absorption
reflection scattering
Emission
transmission
absorption
scattering

absorption
scattering

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.3

 Reflection and Scattering
• We see objects through the way light has interacted with them
• Light is captured by the chemical receptors in our eyes and
interpreted by our brain

A mirror reflects A movie screen (as most

light in a particular objects) scatters
direction. light in all directions.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.2

 What is Light?
• Light can act either like a particle or like a wave.
– Think of particles as things.
– Think of waves as patterns.
• Particles of light are called photons.
• Visible light is an example of an electromagnetic wave.
• All electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light (in
vacuum).
 Electromagnetic Waves

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.5

• A light wave is a vibration of electric and magnetic fields.
• Light interacts with charged particles through these electric
and magnetic fields.
 Wavelength & frequency
The wavelength, λ, is the distance from one wavecrest to the next.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.5

The frequency, f, is the number of waves that pass a fixed point in

one second. (In other words, the number of times the electric &
magnetic fields vibrate up and down per second at a given point)
1 Hertz = 1 wave per second
 Speed
The wavelength λ is the distance from one wavecrest to the
next.

The frequency f is the number of waves that pass a fixed point

in one second.

Thus, the wave is travelling at a speed equal to λ × f.

λ × f = speed of the wave = c = speed of light (for EM waves).

Wavelength (l) x frequency (f) =
speed of light (c) = constant
λ νf = c
c
λ=
νf
1 GHz = 109 Hz c
νf =
λ

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.6

 The Speed of Light
In a vacuum, light travels at a constant speed:
• the speed of light!

In formulas, “The Speed of Light” is usually denoted by c (from

the Latin celeritas, meaning speed).
8
• c = 2.99792458 x 10 m/s
8
• c = 3 x 10 m/s
5
• c = 3 x 10 km/s

• Light travels slower in a medium such as glass or water

Refraction
• Light travelling through
glass (or other media) is
scattered
• This causes refraction, a
change in direction when
light enters or leaves glass
• Blue light is scattered more
than red light
• The separation of white light
into colours is called
“dispersion”
 Visible Part of
Electromagnetic Spectrum

wavelength of visible light

(1 nm = 1 nanometer = 1 x 10-9 m)

A spectrum is the
separation of light into its
wavelength/frequency
content
Graphing Spectra

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.14

 Energy of Electromagnetic waves
• Electromagnetic waves (light) also behave like particles (!)
• These particles are called photons
• Each photon is characterized by the wavelength and
frequency of its associated electromagnetic wave
• The energy of a photon depends on its frequency:
• the higher the frequency, the higher the energy

E=hf

h = Planck’s constant = 6.626 x 10-34 Joule s

• Note that the energy of light is more conveniently reported

in terms of Power: the amount of energy per time.
• The unit of Power is the Watt (1 Watt = 1 Joule/s)
 i>clicker Think, Pair, Share (AA)
Q1: How much energy is required to power a 100-watt
light bulb for 100 seconds?

A. 10,000 Watts
B. 10,000 Joules
C. 1 Watt
D. 1 Joule
E. 100 Watts
 i>clicker Think, Pair, Share
Radio waves are electromagnetic waves
(AA)
The frequency 100 MHz (100 million cycles per second
= 108 cycles per seconds) is right in the middle of the
FM dial on your radio.
And recall: speed of light c = 3 x 108 m/s

Q2: What is the wavelength of these waves?

A. 30 cm 𝜆𝑓 = 𝑐
B. 3 meters
C. 30 meters
D. 300 meters
E. 3 kilometers
Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.7
 Electromagnetic Spectrum

Long Low
Radio Low energy
wavelength frequency
Infrared
Red
Visible Green
Blue

Ultraviolet
X-rays
Gamma Short High High
rays wavelength frequency energy
 i>clicker Think, Pair, Share (AA)
Q3: Red light has a lower energy per photon than blue
light. Therefore, red light has

a) higher frequency, shorter wavelength than blue light

b) lower frequency, longer wavelength than blue light.
c) lower frequency, shorter wavelength than blue light.
d) higher frequency, longer wavelength than blue light.
e) a district in Amsterdam named after it!
 i>clicker Think, Pair, Share (AA)
Q4: Which of the following statements about x-rays and
radio waves is not true?

A. X-rays have shorter wavelengths than radio waves.

B. X-rays and radio waves are both forms of light, or
electromagnetic radiation.
C. X-rays have higher frequency than radio waves.
D. X-rays have higher energy than radio waves.
E. X-rays travel through space faster than radio waves.
 The Structure of Matter
Electrons have electric charge = -1
Protons have electric change = +1
Neutrons have electric charge = 0

10-15 m

Each dot is not an electron!!

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.8
 i>clicker Think, Pair, Share (AA)
Q5: If a 10-15 m atomic nucleus was the size of our Sun, how
far would the 10-10 m electron cloud stretch out?

A. About 0.5 AU, a little farther than Mercury

B. About 1 AU, as far as Earth
C. About 5 AU, almost to Jupiter
D. About 10 AU, just beyond Saturn
E. About 500 AU, more than 15 times
farther than Neptune
 An Atomic Primer
Atomic number: the number of protons in the nucleus
– An element always has the same atomic number
Atomic mass number: combined number of protons and
neutrons

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.9

 An Atomic Primer
Molecules: Combinations of two or more atoms
– e.g., O2, H2O, NH3, CH3CH2OH, C60, C8H10N4O2
– The subscript in a molecule indicates the number
of atoms of a given element.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.9

 An Atomic Primer
Isotope: same # of protons, but different # of neutrons
– e.g., 12C vs. 13C vs. 14C

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.9

Q6: Ifi>clicker Think,
a proton inside Pair,
the nucleus of anShare (AA)
atom suddenly
changes into a neutron, and the atom retains its original
number of electrons, what properties of the atom would
change?

A. only its atomic number

B. only its atomic mass number
C. only its electrical charge
D. both its atomic number and atomic mass
number, but not its electrical charge
E. both its atomic number and electrical
charge, but not its atomic mass
 Phases of Matter
Phases of same material behave differently because of
differences in chemical bonds.

Credit: Adapted from Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.10

Phase Changes
ti on
i n a
b

Total thermodynamic energy

e c om
R

of system
Credit: Public Domain at Wikimedia Commons
 Phase Changes

Ionization: stripping of electrons, changing

atoms into plasma
Dissociation: breaking of molecules into atoms

Evaporation: breaking of flexible chemical

bonds, changing liquid into gas
Melting: breaking of rigid chemical bonds,
changing solid into liquid

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.10

 Phases and Pressure
• Phase of a substance depends on both temperature and
pressure.
• Often more than one phase is present.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.11

 How light interacts with matter
Emission of light by an object: transfer of energy (of electrons at atomic level)
into photons (and vice-versa for absorption)

Energy Level Transitions

(Hydrogen Example)
Excited states

No transition possible

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.12

Spectroscopy: learning about matter through
spectra

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.14

 Emission Line Spectrum
A thin or low-density cloud of gas emits light only at specific
wavelengths that depend on its composition and temperature,
producing a spectrum with bright emission lines.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.14

Emission Line Spectrum:
Chemical Fingerprints
Each type of atom has
a unique set of energy
levels.

Each transition
corresponds to a
unique photon energy,
frequency, and
wavelength.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.15

 i>clicker
Q7: In Think,
the diagram below, Pair,
which Share
transition (AA)
represents an
electron that absorbs a photon with 10.2 eV of energy?
Emission Line Spectrum:
Chemical Fingerprints

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.15

 Emission Line Spectrum:
Chemical Fingerprints
• Each type of atom has a unique spectral fingerprint.
• Observing the fingerprints in a spectrum tells us which kinds
of atoms are present.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.16

 Energy Levels of Molecules
Molecules have additional energy levels because they can
vibrate and rotate.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.18

 Energy Levels of Molecules
• The large numbers of vibrational and rotational energy levels
can make the spectra of molecules very complicated.
• Many of these molecular transitions are in the infrared part of
the spectrum.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.18

 Absorption Line Spectrum
• A cloud of gas between us and a light bulb can absorb light of
specific wavelengths, leaving dark absorption lines in the
spectrum.
• Because those atoms can absorb photons with those same
energies, upward transitions produce a pattern of absorption
lines at the same wavelengths as emission spectrum.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.14

Absorption Line Spectrum:
More Chemical Fingerprints

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.15

 Continuous Spectrum
The spectrum of a common (incandescent) light bulb
spans all visible wavelengths, without interruption.

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.14

 i>clicker Think, Pair, Share (AA)
Q8: Thermal radiation is defined as

a) radiation produced by a hot object.

b) radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum.
c) radiation that depends only on the emitting
object's temperature.
d) radiation in the form of emission lines from an
object.
e) radiation that is felt as heat.
Continuous Spectrum Example
Thermal Radiation

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.20

Blackbody Radiation from a stove
 Continuous Spectrum:
Thermal Radiation
Nearly all large or dense objects emit thermal radiation,
including stars, planets, you.

An object’s thermal radiation spectrum depends on only one

property: its temperature.

• No dependence on chemical composition!

• The colour that an object glows (due to heat) gives its
temperature!
Properties of Thermal Radiation

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.19

Emission and Reflection
Seeing room
temperature objects
• When you see a person,
you are seeing visible light
from some light source
scattered off the person.

• But people have T around

300 K, and emit infrared
radiation which can be
detected with a special IR
camera… or by a snake!
 Properties of Thermal Radiation
Stefan-Boltzmann Law:

Hotter objects emit more light per unit area at all frequencies
(at all wavelengths).
Flux: emitted power (per square meter of surface)
Flux = σ T 4
W -8
where σ , the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, = 5.7 ×10
m2 K 4

Remember to always use T in Kelvin

Q9: Ifi>clicker Think,
the power a Star Pair,
1 is 4 times Share
larger (AA)
than the power of
Star 2, how different are their temperatures?
Assume both stars are the same size

a) Star 1 is 1.4 times hotter than Star 2

b) Star 1 is 2 times hotter than Star 2
c) Star 1 is 4 times hotter than Star 2
d) Star 1 is 8 times hotter than Star 2
e) Star 1 is 16 times hotter than Star 2
 Properties of Thermal Radiation
Wien's Law:
Hotter objects emit photons with a higher average energy
(shorter average wavelength).

λmax : wavelength of maximum intensity

2.9 ×10 6 nm
λmax =
T
Temperature must be in Kelvin

Wavelength given in units of nanometer = 10-9 meter

Example:
What is the peak wavelength if T = 2900 K?

Wien’s Law: lmax = 2.9 x 106 nm / T

(gives answer in nm=10-9m)

lmax = 2.9 x 106 nm / (2.9 x 103)

= 103 nm = 1000 nm = 1 micron = 10-6 m
Q10: What colour will a Star with T=2900 K appear?
(Assume someone with normal colour vision.)

A. Black
B. White Wien’s Law: lmax = 2.9 x 106 nm / T
C. Red
D. Green lmax = 2.9 x 106 nm / (2.9 x 103)
E. Blue = 103 nm = 1000 nm

Red = 700 nm
Green = 500 nm
Violet = 400 nm
The Blackbody Spectrum

• A spectrum is a plot of intensity of

light versus wavelength.
• Left shows the spectrum of bodies
with different temperature
• The light is brightest at a wavelength
called lmax
• For 10,000 K temperature,
lmax = 290 nm (ultraviolet)
• Although the peak is in the UV, the
object still emits visible light, so we
can see it. It would appear blueish.
 Interpreting an Actual Spectrum
(light from Mars)
Observed Spectrum Continuum Solar Spectrum

Credit: Adapted from Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.25

By carefully studying the features in a spectrum, we

can learn a great deal about the object that created it.
 Interpreting an Actual Spectrum
(light from Mars)
Observed Spectrum Continuum Solar Spectrum

Credit: Adapted from Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.25

Reflected sunlight: Continuous spectrum of visible light

is like the Sun’s except that some of the blue light has
been absorbed — object must look red.
 Interpreting an Actual Spectrum
(light from Mars)
Observed Spectrum Continuum Solar Spectrum

Credit: Adapted from Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.25

Thermal radiation: Infrared spectrum peaks at a

wavelength corresponding to a temperature of 225K.
 Interpreting an Actual Spectrum
(light from Mars)
Observed Spectrum Continuum Solar Spectrum

Credit: Adapted from Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.25

Carbon dioxide: Absorption lines are the fingerprint of

CO2 in the atmosphere.
 Interpreting an Actual Spectrum
(light from Mars)
Observed Spectrum Continuum Solar Spectrum

Credit: Adapted from Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.25

Ultraviolet emission lines: Indicate a hot upper

atmosphere.
Waves and the Doppler Effect

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.21

 Waves and the Doppler Effect

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.21

 Waves and the Doppler Effect
Terminology:

Longer wavelength
Light source moving away from us:

“red shifted”
wavelength longer than expected
Red shifted

Light source moving toward us:

Shorter wavelength
wavelength shorter than expected
Blue shifted
“blue shifted”

Note: Red-shift, blue-shift

terminology is used even if
the light is not in the visible
part of the spectrum
Measuring relative speed

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.22

 The Doppler Shift
Measures Radial Velocity
Doppler shift tells us ONLY about the part of an
object’s motion toward or away from us:

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.23

 The Doppler Shift
Measures Radial Velocity
• Radial velocity =
component of relative
velocity vector in our
“line of sight”
• Positive Radial velocity
means star is moving
away from the Earth
• Or: Earth is moving
away from the star

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.23

 Using Doppler Shift to
Measure Radial Velocity

λshift − λrest
vradial = ×c
λrest
where
vradial is the radial velocity Credit: Wikipedia User Hallows AG

c is the speed of light (RAdio Detection And Ranging)

λrest is the rest wavelength of a specific spectral line
λshift is the shifted wavelength of the same line
Example:
You measure a line in the lab at 500.7 nm. The
same line in an observed spectra has wavelength
502.8 nm. What is the radial velocity of this object?

λshift − λrest
vradial = ×c
λrest
502.8 nm − 500.7 nm 8 m
= × 3.00 ×10
500.7 nm s
6 m 1 km
= 1.26 ×10
s 10 3 m
= 1.26 ×10 3 km/s
Example:
You measure a line in the lab at 500.7 nm. The
same line in an observed spectra has wavelength
502.8 nm. What is the radial velocity of this object?

λshift − λrest
vradial = ×c
λrest
502.8 nm − 500.7 nm 8 m
= × 3.00 ×10
500.7 nm s
6 m 1 km Wavelength of
= 1.26 ×10 moving object is
s 10 3 m
longer. This means it
= 1.26 ×10 3 km/s is moving away from
us (red shifted)
 Doppler Shift of Stars

• Since stars have

absorption lines, we can
see the lines move to
different colours if the
stars moves!
• This is how we measure
the speeds of stars
relative to us

©Richard Pogge (OSU)

Observation of Doppler Shifts in the
star’s spectrum
Broader Emission / Absorption Lines in
Rapidly Rotating Objects

Credit: Cosmic Perspectives Fig. 5.24