Physical Science: Pointers and Review Guide

Ancient Greeks and their contributions/findings to ancient astronomy

The earth was once believed to be flat until the study of the following Greeks:
Pythagoras and Plato
• Earth is spherical
• Sphere is the most perfect shape

Anaxagoras
• He was able to explain what causes the phases of the moon
• According to him, the moon shone only by reflected sunlight

Eudoxus
• Proposed a system of fixed spheres
• He believed that the Sun, the moon, the five known planets and the stars were attached to these
spheres.
•
Aristotle
• Earth is spherical
• Considered the position of the stars and the shadow of the Earth formed during eclipse

Aristarchus
• The very first Greek to profess the heliocentric view
• Sun was many times farther than the moon and it was much larger than the Earth

Eratosthenes
• Earth is curved
• Measured the angle of the sun made with vertical direction
• Calculated the circumference of the Earth

Hipparchus
• Observed the brightness of 850 stars and arranged them into order of brightness or magnitude

Claudius Ptolemy
• Earth was the center of the universe
• Sun, moon and other planets move in circular orbits around the Earth

Compare and Contrast of the Models and Descriptions of Ancient Greek Astronomers
Eudoxus Aristotle Aristarchus Ptolemy Copernicus
Center of the Earth Earth Sun Earth Sun
universe
Is Earth No No Yes No Yes
rotating?
Concentric Concentric Concentric Circles Concentric
spheres spheres circles attached to circle
Shape concentric
spheres
Aristotle’s observations (and conclusions) of a spherical Earth
 Disappearing ships
 Positions of the North Star
 The shape of the Moon and the Sun
 Curved shadow cast during eclipses

Phases of the Moon

Effects of the Movements of the Moon
(See previously attached PowerPoint file)

Some astronomical terms (movement of different celestial bodies)

Diurnal motion
 is the apparent daily revolution of the celestial sphere around the celestial poles as a direct
effect of the Earth’s rotation on its axis.
 It is the apparent movement of stars and other celestial bodies around Earth.

Annual motion
 is the apparent yearly movement of the stars as observed from Earth as direct effect of the
Earth’s revolution around the Sun.

Retrograde motion
 actual or apparent motion of a body in a direction opposite to that of the direct motions of
most members of the solar system or of other astronomical systems with a preferred direction
of motion.

Precession of the equinoxes

 sometimes simple called precession
 is a slow rotation of the whole pattern of stars around the ecliptic axis, one revolution taking
26,000 years.

Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

First Law – Law of Ellipses
 The actual path followed by the planets was elliptical, not circular, with the Sun at one focus of
the ellipse
 Kepler found out that Mars moves in an ellipse around the Sun after he calculated a
discrepancy of 8 minutes of arc between what was expected from a circular orbit.

Second Law – Law of Equal Areas

 The line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
 This law describes how fast a planet moves in its orbit. A planet moves fastest when it is
nearest the Sun and slowest when it is farthest from the Sun, and still, the same area is swept
out by the line in equal amounts of time.

Third Law – Law of Harmonies

 Relationship between the periods of the planet or the time it takes a planet to complete one
revolution and the planet’s distance from the Sun.
 The square of an orbit’s period is proportional to the cube of the average distance between the
planet and the Sun
Galilean and Aristotelian Conceptions of Motion
(See previously uploaded video)

Newton’s First Law of Motion

 Newton’s first law of motion is also called Law of Inertia.
Inertia - property of an object to resist change.
- It refers to the tendency of an object to persist in its state of rest or uniform motion
in a straight line.

 Law of inertia states that a body maintains its state in the absence of unbalanced forces.
Balanced force - force that acts on objects that are not moving
- force with the same magnitude and opposite direction
example: tug-of-war – both teams are applying equal amount of force to pull a rope

Unbalanced force – force that acts on objects that are moving toward a specific direction
- It causes a change in motion of a body.
- A force in which the net force is
example: A table is moving forward because you are pushing it in a specific direction.

 Newton’s first law of motion applies to objects at rest and objects that are moving.
Examples of first law of motion:
 A passenger tends to move forward when the car suddenly stops.
 A seatbelt acts as an external force to prevent the driver from moving forward.
 A moving car remains in uniform motion and is retarded by the force applied on brakes.

 Friction – force that acts on objects that are in contact with one another.
 It is the force that resists motion when two surfaces slide, roll, or rub against each other.
 It works in opposite direction of the force that is applied to make an object move.
 The surfaces in contact may be between two objects or between an object and air or
water.
o A rough surface produces greater friction and slows down the motion of an object.
o A smooth surface produces less friction that can speed up the motion of an object.
Waves and the Electromagnetic Spectrum
WAVES
- disturbance that propagates in matter or vacuum
Any disturbance in a medium (solid, liquid, gas) creates vibrations or oscillations.

MECHANICAL WAVES
- waves that require medium to propagate

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
- waves that do not require a medium to propagate

CLASSIFICATION OF WAVES
TRANSVERSE WAVE
- a wave where the elements in the medium move perpendicular to the direction of a wave motion to its
vibration

LONGITUDINAL WAVE
- a wave that moves parallel to the direction of vibration of the elements in the medium

Any wave has the following characteristics:

CREST
- the highest point in a transverse wave

TROUGH
- the lowest point in a transverse wave

PHASE
- a condition where two or more points in a wave are moving with the same direction, speed, and
displacement

AMPLITUDE
- is the distance from the normal line to the crest

PERIOD
- the time it takes for a certain crest or trough to travel a distance of one wavelength

WAVELENGTH
- the length of space between two crests or two troughs

FREQUENCY
- is the number of crests that pass a certain point within one second
PROPERTIES of WAVES

REFLECTION
- behavior where incident waves return as reflected waves with the same frequency and wavelength as the
incident waves
- bouncing back of light waves as it encounters another medium

Types of Reflection:
Specular reflection – light bounces back as it hits a smooth surface. The reflected rays are parallel to each other.
Example: When an incident light strikes the surface of a mirror 45o with the normal, the light will
also be reflected at 45o

Diffused reflection – light bounces back from a rough surface. The reflected rays are scattered in different
directions.
Example: The light the moon receives from the Sun is reflected to the Earth. The course surface of the
moon causes the light to be scattered in different directions. Each ray of light is reflected at
an angle as the incident light.
REFRACTION
- behavior where incident waves bend, causing reflected waves to have different angle, speed, and wavelength
Examples:
Low to high index of refraction: A spoon appears to be bended when partly submerged in a glass of
water.
High to low index of refraction: When sunlight enters or leaves a water droplet, the light seems to be
bent. From air to water, light is bent toward the normal, while from water to air, light is bended away
the normal.

DIFFRACTION
- behavior where waves travel through narrow slits or gaps and around the edges of the barriers, producing
bow-shaped waves.

INTERFERENCE
- combination of waves in a medium thereby creating bigger or smaller waves or no wave at all

i. Constructive Interference
- addition of two crests or two troughs in the same
direction resulting to waves with bigger amplitude

ii. Destructive Interference

- characterized when a crest and a trough meet in
the same direction, resulting to either a smaller
wave or none at all

TRANSMISSION
- property of light wherein it passes through from one side of the medium to another side.
- Unlike refraction, light may bend or not.

Types of transmission:
Direct transmission – light passes through as it is, there is no bending of light
Example: A light passing through a clear glass will be transmitted in the same direction as the incident light.
incident – particles or radiation that fall on a surface

Diffuse transmission – happens when light strike a translucent object. The light passed through these materials
disperses in different directions.
Example: When light passed through stained glass windows, light is scattered in different directions.

Selective transmission – when white light consisting of different colors is incident, only certain colors are allowed to
pass through
Example: When red, green, and blue light hit a red filter, only the red is transmitted to the other side of the medium.
Photon Concept and its Practical Application
PHOTON
- tiny particle that comprises waves of electromagnetic radiation (such as light and radio waves)
- It has no charge, no resting mass, and travels at the speed of light.
- The energy of the photon depends on its frequency.

Equations and constants

E = h and E = hc/
c =  c/ = 

E = energy of one photon with a frequency of 

c = speed of light = 3.0 x 108 m/s (meters per second)
h = Planck’s constant = 6.626 x 10-34 J-s
 = wavelength in meters
 = frequency in Hz (waves/s or 1/s or s-1)

Key persons and their contribution(s) in the development of the Quantum Theory of Light, Photon
Theory, and Wave-Particle Duality Theory:

Christian Huygens
 proposed a wave theory of light
 believed that light was made up of vibrating waves perpendicular to the direction of the light travels
and was able to formulate a way to visualize wave propagation.

The Huygen’s principle explains why light shining through a pinhole or slit will spread out rather than going in
a straight line.

Isaac Newton
 proposed the “corpuscular” (particle) theory of light
 He believed that light was made up of small particles and these particles would naturally have mass
too.

According to his theory, since light particles have mass, he deduced that a beam of light parallel to the surface of
the earth would bend downward due to the pull of earth’s gravity.

Thomas Young
 studied the interference of light waves using the double-slit experiment in 1803

Francesco Grimaldi
 an Italian natural philosopher who first discovered and coined the term diffraction.
diffraction – slight bending of light
Max Planck
 proposed the existence of a light quantum, a finite packet of energy which depends on the frequency
and velocity of the radiation.
 According to him, energy can be released (or absorbed) by atoms only in “chunks” of some minimum
size
 In 1900, he proposed that the energy, E, of a single quantum equals a constant times its frequency: E = hv

Albert Einstein
 In 1905, he used the quantum theory to explain the photoelectric effect.
 He proposed that light behaves as if it consisted of quantized energy in packets called photons.

Louis de Broglie
 In 1924, he was able to observe wave properties of the particle when beams of electrons and neutrons
were directed at crystals and diffraction patterns were seen.

He concluded that everything has a wavelength but the wave properties of matter are only observable for very
small objects. He showed that the wave-particle duality was not merely on light but can be exhibited by both
radiation and matter.

Thus, the wave-particle duality theory which states that matter and light exhibit the behaviors of both waves
and particles depending upon the circumstances or condition was accepted.

QUANTUM
- meaning “ fixed amount”
- the smallest amount of energy that can be emitted or absorbed as electromagnetic radiation

PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
- the expulsion of electrons from metal surfaces by light

BLACKBODY
- is a surface or object that is capable of absorbing all incoming radiation falling on it and reflects no radiation,
thus appears black at room temperature.

BLACKBODY RADIATION
- energy radiated by any object or system that absorbs all incident radiation.
- The term usually refers to the spectrum of light emitted by any heated object.
examples: heating element of toaster and the filament of a light bulb.

BAND
- is the range of wavelengths
 The Electromagnetic Spectrum

LIGHT
 It is an electromagnetic wave.
 It is measured in wavelength, frequency, and photon energy.

Colors on the left have longer wavelengths, lower frequencies, and lower energies.
Colors on the right have shorter wavelengths, higher frequencies, and higher energies.

Note: long or short: used when referring to measuring distance, dimension, or interval
low or high: used to describe amount, extent, intensity or quantity; in measurement, it usually refers to
vertical dimensions
 Phenomena Explanation
Why red light is used in photographic dark rooms? Red has the lowest frequency and photon energy.

Why we get easily sunburned in ultraviolet but not in Ultraviolet light has greater photon energy
visible light? compared to visible light which is enough to damage
our skins.

Light can be seen due to the emission of photons.

How do we see light? Different frequencies of photons emitted correspond
to specific color.
Photon is a light particle emitted when an excited atom returns to its initial energy level.

Colors of Objects
• Color is a property of any object that gives different perception to the eyes.
• Colors are determined and categorized in the ways light is being reflected.

The human eye can perceive colors because of its cone cells.
Three cone cells present in the retina of our eyes – each contains photosensitive pigment to certain
wavelength:
L cone – photosensitive to red (long wavelength)
M cone – photosensitive to green (middle wavelength)
S cone – photosensitive to blue (short wavelength)

The brain interprets colors when light of a certain wavelength gets reflected to the eyes.
 When light strikes a black object, all the colors are absorbed, thus an object appears black.
An apple appears red because when light strikes it, all are absorbed except for red which is reflected.

Light Scattering
Scattering of light is the phenomenon in which light rays get deviated from its straight path on striking an
obstacle like dust or gas molecules, water vapors, etc.
Scattering of light gives rise to many spectacular phenomena such as Tyndall effect and the “red hues
of sunrise and sunset.”

Tyndall effect
 is the phenomenon of scattering of light by colloidal particles.
Examples:
 When a beam of sunlight enters the dark room through small hole or window then its path
become visible due to scattering of light by the dust particles present in the room.
 When a beam of light is projected on a screen from a projector in the cinema hall, it becomes
visible.
 When sunlight passes through the canopy of a dense forest it gets scattered by tiny water
droplets.

Tyndall effect in milk

Rayleigh scattering
 Occurs when particles are very small compared to the wavelength of light it encounters
 Responsible for the blue and reddish color of the sky
 The strong wavelength dependence of Rayleigh scattering enhances the short wavelengths, giving us
the blue sky.

Explaining Various Light Phenomena

Phenomena Explanation
Why light from a red laser passes more easily through Through selective transmission, red light is
a red cellophane than green cellophane? transmitted through the red cellophane but
absorbed in the green cellophane.
 The light an object reflects are those frequencies
Why clothing of certain color appear different in present in the illuminating light.
artificial light and in sunlight?  Objects only reflect the frequencies it cannot
absorb present in the illuminating light.
Reflection on convex spoon Light ray traveling parallel to the principal axis is
reflected passing through the focal point.
Light ray traveling parallel to the principal axis is
Reflection on concave spoon reflected such that the extension of the ray passes
through the focal point.
 Refraction: Light rays are bent causing the image
to appear below or taller than the original.
Mirages  An optical illusion caused by repeated refractions
of light by warmer air near the ground. This results
in apparent road wetness.
Haloes Colored arcs: refraction and diffraction
White arc: reflection
Sundogs Refraction of light
Primary rainbow Refraction, reflection, dispersion
Secondary rainbow Two refractions, two reflections, dispersion
Supernumerary bows Interference
 Scattering of each color of the visible light due to
White clouds water droplets in the clouds
 Appears white when combined and reflected.
Dark rainclouds Absorption of each color of the visible light due to
bigger droplets in rain clouds thus, less is scattered
Scattering of visible light mostly with the shortest
Blue sky wavelength like blue and violet due to the gas
particles in the atmosphere
Transmission of red and orange on the Earth’s
Reddish sunset atmosphere when only a few of violet and blue are
left to scatter.
Radio Waves
 Useful to mankind making telecommunication possible
 Have the longest wavelength and lowest frequency
 As such, they carry the lowest energy, which is not harmful to humans and the environment
 It travels through the air.
 These waves are used to transmit radio and television signal.
 Standard AM broadcast band have longer wavelength (180 to 550 meters)
 FM band have shorter wavelength (2.8 to 3.4 meters)

AM radio waves are amplitude modulated, they have lower frequency, and has much larger wavelengths.
FM radio waves are frequency modulated, they have higher frequency but smaller wavelength range.
Larger wavelength AM waves can travel farther than FM radio waves which cannot travel through solid
objects.

Notable Scientists and their Contributions

James Clerk Maxwell
 Showed mathematically that electromagnetic waves could propagate through free space.
Maxwell’s equations – form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits.
 Maxwell is most famous for his theory of electromagnetism which showed that light was electromagnetic
radiation.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

 a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of electromagnetic waves predicted by
James Clerk Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism
 Demonstrated the radio wave propagation

Consequences of the Postulates of Special Theory of Relativity

Consequences Description
There are events which appears simultaneous in a
Simultaneity frame of reference but not in another frame of
reference
When objects move at a speed near the speed of light,
Time dilation an observer at rest will measure a greater length of
time between two events
Length contraction As the velocity of a moving object increase, an
observer at rest will measure its length to be shorter
The energy of an object is proportional to its mass.
E=mc2
Mass-Energy Equivalence where: E = energy
m = mass
c = speed of light = 3. x 108 m/s
Cosmic Speed Limit The speed limit of nature is the speed of light.
Consequences of the Postulates of General Theory of Relativity
General Theory of Relativity includes all reference frames, whether accelerated or not. The following are the
consequences of its postulates:
 Light can be bended by gravity.
 Gravitational redshift is the lowering of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation released from a
massive object.
 Mercury exhibit precession in its orbit.
 Measurement of space varies for every gravitational field.

Some Terms:
Doppler effect
 refers to the change in the frequency/wavelength of waves depending whether the observer or the
source is moving away or towards it.

Mossbauer effect
 the resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of gamma rays by atoms in the solid state

Parallax
 apparent shift of an object’s location relative to a more distant object caused by the change in the
location of the observer

Redshift
 displacement of the spectrum of an astronomical object toward longer (red) wavelengths

Singularity
 region of space where the density of matter, or the curvature of spacetime, becomes infinite.
 The standard concepts of space and time cease to have any meaning.
 It is predicted to occur in all black holes and also in certain models of the Universe.

Triangulation
 Process of determining the location of a point by measuring angles to it from known points at either
end of a fixed baseline, rather than measuring distances to the point directly. A useful tool in surveying

/mpt
May2024