incident ray

Examples of incident ray in the following topics:

• Image Formation by Spherical Mirrors: Reflection and Sign Conventions

  • The object is the source of the incident rays, and the image is formed by the reflected rays.
  • A convex mirror with three rays drawn to locate the image.
  • Each incident ray is reflected according to the Law of Reflection.
  • The reflected rays diverge.
  • This is a ray diagram of a concave mirror.

• Image Reflection by a Plane Mirror

  • The object is the source of the incident rays, and the image is formed by the reflected rays.
  • These are the steps you follow to draw a ray diagram:
  • Draw the incident ray for light traveling from the corresponding point on the object to the mirror, such that the law of reflection is obeyed.
  • A completed ray diagram is shown in
  • When this happens, we say the ray hit the mirror normally.

• The Ray Aspect of Light

  • The movement of light, as a ray, can be shown with simple geometry and trigonometry.
  • The light will continue in a straight line or ray until it reaches the observer.
  • This causes the light rays to change direction .
  • This is when a light ray, the incident ray, hits a reflective material and bounces off as the reflected ray at a specific angle.
  • This diagram shows how light rays reflects off of a surface.

• The Law of Refraction: Snell's Law and the Index of Refraction

  • The amount that a light ray changes its direction depends both on the incident angle and the amount that the speed changes.
  • A ray of light changes direction when it passes from one medium to another.
  • The amount that a light ray changes its direction depends both on the incident angle and the amount that the speed changes.
  • For a ray at a given incident angle, a large change in speed causes a large change in direction, and thus a large change in angle.
  • The incoming ray is called the incident ray and the outgoing ray the refracted ray, and the associated angles the incident angle and the refracted angle.

• X-Rays

  • X-rays can be generated by an x-ray tube, a vacuum tube that uses high voltage to accelerate the electrons released by a hot cathode to a high velocity.
  • The maximum energy of the produced x-ray photon is limited by the energy of the incident electron, which is equal to the voltage on the tube times the electron charge, so an 80-kV tube cannot create x-rays with an energy greater than 80 keV.
  • These x-rays have a continuous spectrum.
  • The intensity of the x-rays increases linearly with decreasing frequency, from zero at the energy of the incident electrons, the voltage on the x-ray tube.
  • Its unique features are x-ray outputs many orders of magnitude greater than those of x-ray tubes, wide x-ray spectra, excellent collimation, and linear polarization.

• X-Ray Spectra: Origins, Diffraction by Crystals, and Importance

  • In a previous Atom on X-rays, we have seen that there are two processes by which x-rays are produced in the anode of an x-ray tube.
  • In one process, the deceleration of electrons produces x-rays, and these x-rays are called Bremsstrahlung, or braking radiation.
  • The x-ray spectrum in is typical of what is produced by an x-ray tube, showing a broad curve of Bremsstrahlung radiation with characteristic x-ray peaks on it.
  • Thus, typical x-ray photons act like rays when they encounter macroscopic objects, like teeth, and produce sharp shadows.
  • When x-ray are incident on an atom, they make the electronic cloud move as an electromagnetic wave.

• Thin Lenses and Ray Tracing

  • Ray tracing is the technique of determining the paths light rays take; often thin lenses (the light ray bending only once) are assumed.
  • (See rays 1 and 3 in . )
  • (See ray 2 in and . )
  • An expanded view of the path taken by ray 1 shows the perpendiculars and the angles of incidence and refraction at both surfaces.
  • An expanded view of the path taken by ray 1 shows the perpendiculars and the angles of incidence and refraction at both surfaces.

• X-Ray Diffraction

  • The principle of diffraction is applied to record interference on a subatomic level in the study of x-ray crystallography.
  • X-ray diffraction was discovered by Max von Laue, who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1914 for his mathematical evaluation of observed x-ray diffraction patterns.
  • William Lawrence Bragg formulated the equation for Bragg's law, which relates wavelength to the angle of incidence and lattice spacing.
  • The XRD machine uses copper metal as the element for the x-ray source.
  • To ensure that the incident beam is continuous, XRD machines are equipped with a Soller slit.

• Gamma Rays

  • Gamma rays have characteristics identical to X-rays of the same frequency—they differ only in source.
  • The distinction between X-rays and gamma rays has changed in recent decades.
  • Thus, gamma rays are now usually distinguished by their origin: X-rays are emitted by definition by electrons outside the nucleus, while gamma rays are emitted by the nucleus.
  • Gamma rays and neutrons are more penetrating, causing diffuse damage throughout the body (e.g., radiation sickness, cell's DNA damage, cell death due to damaged DNA, increasing incidence of cancer) rather than burns.
  • Identify wavelength range characteristic for gamma rays, noting their biological effects and distinguishing them from gamma rays

• X-Rays and the Compton Effect

  • Compton explained the X-ray frequency shift during the X-ray/electron scattering by attributing particle-like momentum to "photons".
  • By the early 20th century, research into the interaction of X-rays with matter was well underway.
  • It was observed that when X-rays of a known wavelength interact with atoms, the X-rays are scattered through an angle $\theta$ and emerge at a different wavelength related to $\theta$.
  • Because the mass-energy and momentum of a system must both be conserved, it is not generally possible for the electron simply to move in the direction of the incident photon.
  • Therefore, you can say that Compton effects (with electrons) occur with x-ray photons.