PHYS 106 - N/The Nature of Light and Color

Credit(s): 3
Lecture: 3
Non-Lecture: 0
General Education Area(s): Natural Sciences

The evolution of our understanding of the nature of light will be presented, from Newton’s corpuscles to Maxwell’s electromagnetic waves to the modern view of wave-particle duality. Along the way, many optical phenomena will be investigated in lecture demonstrations and in the laboratory, including lenses, prisms, rainbows, photography, interference, diffraction, the photoelectric effect, and atomic spectra. Simple algebra, trigonometry and geometry will be employed. Cannot be counted toward the physics major. (Not open to students with prior credit for physics courses numbered PHYS 113 or higher without department approval.) Offered every spring.

Corequisite(s): PHYS 107.