PHYS 105 - Light and Color

6 CR

Through hands-on investigation students discover the fundamental physics of light and color including geometric optics, lenses and mirrors, and human vision including color perception. Students will apply course principles to explain natural and human made visual phenomena in their environment and learn how to create desired effects in fields employing visual arts.

Prerequisite(s): MATH 099.

Course Outcomes

Form appropriate scientific generalizations (write hypotheses) from observation of systematic behaviors in nature.
Correctly explain the visible appearance of natural and human-made settings in terms of the geometric behavior of light, physical optics, or the physics of color as appropriate.
Design lighting arrangements that produce desired effects, involving light and shadow including partial shadows, and color addition effects.
Use pigments or other color absorbers (threads, paint dots etc.) to produce desired color effects involving color subtraction.
Demonstrate an understanding of the physiology of human vision as exhibited by their effectiveness in selected tasks used to assess outcomes above.
Properly employ optical devices to create or illustrate specific optical properties or visual effects, including mirrors, lenses, color filters, colored light sources, polarizing filters, masks and screens.
Habitually use optical representations (eg ray diagrams or color charts) to explain visual effects to untutored audiences.

GenEd Outcomes: Creative and Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
Scientific Inquiry (Nature of Science)

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