The Nature of Single-Slit Diffraction When plane waves are incident normally on a single slit, a diffraction pattern is produced This is represented as a series of light and dark fringes which show...
Period of a Simple Pendulum & a Mass-Spring System Two examples of simple harmonic oscillators are: A simple pendulum A mass-spring system Considering equations related to the restoring force l...
Calculating Energy Changes in SHM There are many equations to learn in the topic of simple harmonic motion The key equations are summarised below: A summary of the equations related to simple harmo...
Energy Changes in SHM During simple harmonic motion, energy is constantly exchanged between two forms: Kinetic energy Potential energy The potential energy could be in the form of: Gravitational po...
The Defining Equation of SHM Simple harmonic motion (SHM) is a fundamental oscillation which appears naturally in various phenomena, including: The swing of a pendulum A mass on a spring Guitar str...
Earth's Surface–Atmosphere System It is useful to consider Earth’s energy balance in terms of how much incoming energy from the Sun is used and how much is returned to space If incoming and outgoin...
Greenhouse Gases When radiation from the Sun hits the Earth, it is radiated back from the Earth's surface as long-wave radiation A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs this re-radiated radiation, t...
The Solar Constant Since life on Earth is entirely dependant on the Sun’s energy, it is useful to quantify how much of its energy reaches the top of the atmosphere This is known as the solar consta...
Black-Body Radiation Black body radiation is the name given to the thermal radiation emitted by all bodies (objects) All objects, no matter what temperature, emit black body radiation in the form o...
