Question

Lightwaves travel from the air into a lens made of glass. Their velocity decreases as they enter the glass. How does this affect the frequency and wavelength of the lightwaves

Answer 1

Their frequency stays the same and their wavelength decreases

Answer 2

Answer:

Step-by-step explanation:

Given : Lightwaves travel from the air into a lens made of glass. Their velocity decreases as they enter the glass.

To Find : How does this affect the frequency and wavelength of the lightwaves

Solution:

Change in velocity does not affect the frequency of light .

So, frequency will remain same

Wavelength is the "sacrificial quantity" that adjusts to adapt to change in speed.  

If it were frequency that changed, it would mean big problems for causality and conservation of energy.

Formula: c = v λ

Where c is the velocity

v = frequency

λ = wavelength

Thus the wavelength of light waves decrease as velocity decrease as they are directly proportional.