When sunlight passes through a canopy of a dense forest. Tiny water dr...
- Tyndall effect is the phenomenon in which the particles in a colloid scatter the beams of light that are directed at them. This effect is exhibited by all colloidal solutions and some very fine suspensions. Therefore, it can be used to verify if a given solution is a colloid. The intensity of scattered light depends on the density of the colloidal particles as well as the frequency of the incident light.
- When a beam of light passes through a colloid, the colloidal particles present in the solution do not allow the beam to completely pass through. The light collides with the colloidal particles and is scattered (it deviates from its normal trajectory, which is a straight line). This scattering makes the path of the light beam visible, as illustrated below.
- Examples of the Tyndall Effect
- Milk is a colloid that contains globules of fat and protein. When a beam of light is directed at a glass of milk, the light is scattered. This is a great example of the Tyndall effect.
- When a torch is switched on in a foggy environment, the path of the light becomes visible. In this scenario, the water droplets in the fog are responsible for the light scattering.
- Opalescent glass has a bluish appearance when viewed from the side. However, orange-colored light emerges when light is shined through the glass.
- When sunlight passes through a canopy of a dense forest. Tiny water droplets in the mist scatter light. The color of the scattered light depends on the size of the scattering particles. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.
- Rayleigh scattering, named after the 19th-century British physicist Lord Rayleigh, is the predominantly elastic scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation.
- Compton scattering, discovered by Arthur Holly Compton, is the scattering of a high-frequency photon after an interaction with a charged particle, usually an electron. If it results in a decrease in the energy of the photon, it is called the Compton effect.
- In physics, total internal reflection is the phenomenon in which waves arriving at the interface from one medium to another are not refracted into the second medium but completely reflected back into the first medium.
When sunlight passes through a canopy of a dense forest. Tiny water dr...
Explanation:
Tyndall effect:
The Tyndall effect is the scattering of light as it passes through a colloid or fine suspension of particles. In the case of sunlight passing through a canopy of a dense forest, the tiny water droplets in the mist act as the scattering particles, causing the light to scatter. The color of the scattered light depends on the size of these particles.
Reasoning:
- When sunlight passes through the canopy of a dense forest, it encounters tiny water droplets in the mist.
- These water droplets scatter the light, causing it to spread out in different directions.
- The scattering of light by these particles is known as the Tyndall effect.
- The color of the scattered light can vary based on the size of the scattering particles.
Comparison with other scattering phenomena:
- Rayleigh scattering: Rayleigh scattering occurs when light is scattered by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the light, leading to blue skies and red sunsets.
- Compton scattering: Compton scattering involves the scattering of X-rays by electrons in a material, resulting in a shift in wavelength.
- Total Internal Reflection: Total Internal Reflection occurs when light traveling through a medium reflects back into the same medium at the boundary with another medium, such as in fiber optics.
In conclusion, the phenomenon of sunlight passing through a canopy of a dense forest and scattering off tiny water droplets in the mist is an example of the Tyndall effect, where the color of the scattered light is influenced by the size of the scattering particles.
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