Vocabulary Words

• Light

• Transparent

• Translucent

• Opaque

• Reflection

• Refraction

• Lens

What is light?

definition: electromagnetic radiation that you can see.

Objects can be...

1. Transparent
2. Translucent
3. Opaque

Transparent - see through

• Definition: a material that allows almost all of the light striking it to pass through, and through which objects can be seen clearly.

• Examples: Optical lenses, camera lenses, eyeglasses, windows, and display screens.

Translucent

• Definition: a material that allows most of the light that strikes it to pass through, but through which objects appear blurry. You might see shadows.

• Examples: wax paper, plastic, tinted windows or glasses, curtains

Opaque

• Definition: no light passes through.

• Examples: wood, metal, stone

Reflective Surfaces

• Definition: no light passes through.

• Examples: mirrors, polished metals, and glass. These surfaces are used in various applications, such as in telescopes, headlights, and solar panels.
  
  

Reflective Surfaces

The world's largest reflective surface is the Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia, which spans over 4,000 square miles!

Refraction

• Definition: no light passes through.

• Examples: lenses, prisms, microscopes, and other devices used for looking through and seeing images.
  
  

Lenses

• definition: a transparent object with at least one curved side that causes light to change direction.

• Examples: camera, eye contacts, telescope, microscope