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Brilliant

Waves and Light

via Brilliant

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Overview

Everything we hear and see is based on information our bodies take in from waves. In this course you’ll learn what waves are, how they travel, and how they interact. Along the way, you’ll apply your knowledge to earthquakes, noise-canceling headphones, ropes, and musical instruments.

By the end, you'll have investigated the nature of light and determined how fast light travels through space. Get ready to gain new perspective as you uncover just how prevalent waves are in everyday life!

Syllabus

  • Waves: Learn about the wave basics: periods, oscillations, amplitude, wavelength, frequency, velocity, and more!
    • Waves: Sound, light, and skipping ropes — they're all waves.
    • Wave Anatomy: What's different about water waves and sound waves? What do they have in common?
    • Wave Frequency and Velocity: How do we measure the speed of sound?
  • Wave Behaviors: Uncover what happens when one wave meets another and when waves hit boundaries.
    • Interference: When waves collide, sometimes it can get destructive.
    • Boundary Behavior: Can you still hear sound underwater?
    • Standing Waves: Explore how a guitar holds a wave in place to produce a note.
  • Wave Applications: Explore interesting wave applications including the Doppler effect and noise-canceling headphones!
    • Noise-Canceling Headphones: All it takes is a bit of interference to leave you alone with your music in a loud room.
    • The Doppler Effect: Can an ambulance catch up to the sound of its own siren?
    • Seismic Waves: Trace an earthquake back to its source by using wave properties.
  • Light: Discover what light is and how we measure it. Examine experiments, learn about the electromagnetic spectrum, and more!
    • What is Light?: Light has a bit of an identity crisis: is it a wave or not?
    • Electromagnetic Radiation: Learn how electromagnetic waves happily travel through the vacuum of space.
    • Speed of Light: How was Newton able to measure the speed of light hundreds of years ago?
    • Measuring Light: We can learn a lot about measuring light by studying the brightest objects in the universe.
  • Optical Phenomena: Explore phenomena like refraction and diffraction.

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