What affects the intensity of different coloured lights?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a practical experiment involving the measurement of light intensity through different colored plastics. The original poster reports varying intensities for different colors and seeks to understand the underlying factors influencing these results, specifically questioning the roles of wavelength, frequency, and other potential influences.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants inquire about the specifics of the light source and whether the original poster has plotted intensity against frequency or wavelength, indicating a focus on data analysis and interpretation.

Discussion Status

The conversation is ongoing, with participants asking clarifying questions and suggesting avenues for further analysis. There is no explicit consensus yet, but the dialogue is productive in exploring the factors affecting light intensity.

Contextual Notes

Participants are considering the type of light source used in the experiment, which may influence the results, and the original poster's data analysis methods are under discussion.

Breanna
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Okay, so I have completed a practical where I used a light box and then placed different coloured plastics in front of the light and measured the light intensity of each colour. From the results I found that yellow, orange and violet had the highest intensities, with red and green having the lowest intensity, with blue in the middle.

What made this happen? Does the wavelength of each colour change the intensity? or is it the frequency? or is it another factor?

If possible could someone please help! :)
 
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Breanna said:
different coloured plastics in front of the light
There's just the one light source?
 
yes, there was only one light source
 
Have you plotted "intensity" versus frequency/wavelength?
 
Bystander said:
Have you plotted "intensity" versus frequency/wavelength?
Yeah that is the main graph that is being used for analysis
Untitled.png
 
What do you know about the source? Incandescent filament? CFL? Something else?
 

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