What have I learned?

In the previous quarter, we discussed what are electromagnetic waves, mirrors,

electricity, and magnetism. We have talked about what is the importance of it and how it
is used.

I. Electromagnetic waves
The very first lesson we discussed was electromagnetic waves, their frequency,
wavelengths, uses, and the people who discovered them. When an electric field and a
magnetic field vibrate together, electromagnetic waves, or EM waves, are produced.
Thus, magnetic and electric fields oscillate to form electromagnetic waves (EM waves).
EM waves travel at the same speed while having different wavelengths and
frequencies. The electromagnetic spectrum is where EM waves are classified according
to frequency. Frequency is when a vibration occurs that constitutes a wave. The EM
spectrum is arranged from the bottom having the lowest frequency, the long wavelength
to the high frequency with the short wavelength. Low-frequency waves are composed of
radio waves, microwave, and infrared radiation, and the spectrum of visible light is
composed of ROYGBIV, and high-frequency waves are composed of ultraviolet rays, x-
rays, and gamma rays. And we learned the uses of EM waves, radio waves are
employed in many different types of communications, including television, FM, and AM
radio broadcasts, military communications, mobile phones, amateur radio, wireless
computer networks, and many more. And microwaves are used for microwaves oven,
wireless internet, etc. Infrared radiation is used for night vision goggles, remote controls,
and heat-seeking missiles. Visible light is used for fiber optic communications,
photography, and electronic devices. Ultraviolet Light is a type of electromagnetic
radiation that can be used for disinfecting water, surfaces, and air. And x-rays are for
medical imaging and airport security and gamma rays are used to kill cancer cells
although it is a dangerous type of EM wave. And we also discussed the development of
electromagnetic wave theory, there are a lot of people who contributed to the
development of it such as Hans Christian Oersted, James Clerk Maxwell, Heinrich
Hertz, and many more. People's modern way of living is made possible by their
discovery of EM waves. Modern life is shaped by electromagnetic waves in countless
smaller-scale (yet more immediate) ways. Examples include your cell phone, internet
connection, microwave, and medical imaging methods like x-ray and MRI. As we
discussed this lesson I learned the uses of EM waves and what is the importance of
them to our life.

II. Mirrors
A mirror is defined as a reflecting surface and can be explained by the law of reflection,
which states that when a ray of light is made to fall on the reflecting surface, the incident
ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface of the mirror all lie in the same
plane and the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. There are two types
of reflection of light: specular/regular reflection and diffused/irregular reflection. Regular
reflection is defined as light reflected from a smooth surface at a definite angle. The
parallel light rays in regular reflection reflect in one direction, plane mirrors are a great
example of a regular reflection. Meanwhile, irregular reflection is produced by rough
surfaces that tend to reflect light in all directions and the parallel light rays reflect in
different directions. Some examples of it is road, paper, cardboard, and anything that
has a rough surface.
And there is also a reflection of spherical mirrors. Curved mirrors are called spherical
mirrors because their shape follows the surface of a sphere. There are two kinds of
spherical mirrors: the concave mirror and the convex mirror. A concave mirror reflects
light inward to one focal point and the parallel rays converge after reflection. Automobile
headlights, side view mirrors of a car, and anything that curves inwards is a good
example of concave mirrors. And the convex mirror reflects light outwards and parallel
rays diverge after reflection on a convex mirror. Magnifying glasses and telescopes are
examples of convex mirrors. Identifying spherical mirrors was actually in our 2 nd
periodical exam.

III. Magnetism

The last lesson we discussed was magnetism. It is found in Thessaly, Greece in the
district of Magnesia, where the term magnetism comes from. Magnetism is the force of
attraction or repulsion in and around a material and a magnet is any piece of material
that has the property of attracting iron. There are different types of magnetic materials:
magnetic, ferromagnetic, and non-magnetic. Magnetic is a permanent magnet,
ferromagnetic has materials that can be magnetized they contain iron, nickel, or cobalt,
and non-magnetic are the objects that do not react to the presence of a magnet they are
not attracted or repelled. And lastly, the general properties of magnets. A magnet has
two poles which are the north and south poles. Like poles repel and opposite poles
attract. And the materials that are magnetic are iron, cobalt, and nickels.

In this quarter we learned a lot and also wrote a lot. And as we learn, I applied the
lessons to myself like how to avoid the dangers of EM waves or the use of mirrors in our
lives. And I discovered that understanding how things work is important since it helps us
understand the world we live in. Because scientific developments have been a major
factor in human progress throughout history.