Week 1: Introduction to Vibrations and Waves
All waves are produced by something that is vibrating. In our opening lecture, you will become familiar with the vocabulary of vibrations and waves. This will allow us to describe the behaviour of sound and light waves and to explore their similarities and differences.
Week 2: The Science of Sound
We usually hear sounds that have travelled from their source to our ears through the air. But sound also travels through other materials, including liquids and solids. We’ll examine the natural frequency of vibration, key to most musical instruments, and will learn about resonance and the Doppler Effect.
Week 3: Let There Be Light
Everything we see either emits or reflects light waves toward our eyes. The Sun produces and emits light, but the Moon merely reflects sunlight. We’ll look at early attempts to measure the speed of light, and see why lightning arrives before thunder.
Week 4: Intriguing Colours
The colour of an object largely depends on the light in which it is viewed. We’ll look at the colours in the visible spectrum, and at infrared and ultraviolet (also known as “black light”) that lie just outside the visible range.
Week 5: Mixing Coloured Light
As every stage manager knows, coloured lights can be combined to produce a various effects, including coloured shadows. We will demonstrate the difference between mixing coloured light, like the images on your computer screen, and mixing coloured pigments as in an inkjet printer.
Week 6: Reflection, Refraction, and Rainbows
We think of reflection in terms of images we see in mirrors. In fact, all waves reflect, following some basic physical rules. Refraction is the basis of several optical devices such as camera lenses and telescopes and is partly responsible for the beauty of rainbows.
