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The visible strip of the electromagnetic spectrum is highlighted and shown in the picture. The wave length range is from eight hundred nanometers on the left to three hundred nanometers on the right. The divisions between infrared, visible, and ultraviolet are not perfectly distinct. The colors in the visible strip are also not perfectly distinct; they are marked as bands labeled from red on the left to violet on the right.
A small part of the electromagnetic spectrum that includes its visible components. The divisions between infrared, visible, and ultraviolet are not perfectly distinct, nor are those between the seven rainbow colors.

Living things—plants and animals—have evolved to utilize and respond to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum they are embedded in. Visible light is the most predominant and we enjoy the beauty of nature through visible light. Plants are more selective. Photosynthesis makes use of parts of the visible spectrum to make sugars.

Integrated concept problem: correcting vision with lasers

During laser vision correction, a brief burst of 193-nm ultraviolet light is projected onto the cornea of a patient. It makes a spot 0.80 mm in diameter and evaporates a layer of cornea 0 . 30 μ m size 12{0 "." "30" mm} {} thick. Calculate the energy absorbed, assuming the corneal tissue has the same properties as water; it is initially at 34º C size 12{"34"°C} {} . Assume the evaporated tissue leaves at a temperature of 100º C size 12{"100"°C} {} .

Strategy

The energy from the laser light goes toward raising the temperature of the tissue and also toward evaporating it. Thus we have two amounts of heat to add together. Also, we need to find the mass of corneal tissue involved.

Solution

To figure out the heat required to raise the temperature of the tissue to 100º C size 12{"100"°C} {} , we can apply concepts of thermal energy. We know that

Q = mc Δ T , size 12{ ital "Q "= ital " mc"ΔT} {}

where Q is the heat required to raise the temperature, Δ T size 12{DT} {} is the desired change in temperature, m size 12{m} {} is the mass of tissue to be heated, and c size 12{c} {} is the specific heat of water equal to 4186 J/kg/K.

Without knowing the mass m at this point, we have

Q = m ( 4186 J/kg/K ) ( 100º C 34º C ) = m ( 276,276 J/kg ) = m ( 276 kJ/kg ). size 12{Q=m \( "4186 J/kg/K" \) \( "100"°C - "34"°C \) =m \( "276,276 J/kg" \) =m \( "276 kJ" \) } {}

The latent heat of vaporization of water is 2256 kJ/kg, so that the energy needed to evaporate mass m size 12{m} {} is

Q v = mL v = m ( 2256 kJ/kg ) . size 12{Q rSub { size 8{v} } = mL rSub { size 8{v} } = m \( "2256" \) " kJ"} {}

To find the mass m size 12{m} {} , we use the equation ρ = m / V size 12{ρ= {m} slash {V} } {} , where ρ size 12{ρ} {} is the density of the tissue and V size 12{V} {} is its volume. For this case,

m = ρ V = (1000 kg/m 3 ) ( area × thickness (m 3 )) = (1000 kg/ m 3 ) ( π ( 0.80 × 10 3 m ) 2 / 4 ) ( 0 . 30 × 10 6 m ) = 0.151 × 10 9 kg. alignl { stack { size 12{m = ρ"V "=" 1000 kg/m" rSup { size 8{3} } \( "area"´"thickness" \) } {} #="1000" \( p \( 0 "." "80"´"10" rSup { size 8{ +- 3} } " m" \) rSup { size 8{2} } /4 \) \( 0 "." "30"´"10" rSup { size 8{-6} } " m" \) {} # =0 "." "151"´"10" rSup { size 8{ +- 9} } " kg" "." {}} } {}

Therefore, the total energy absorbed by the tissue in the eye is the sum of Q size 12{Q} {} and Q v size 12{Q rSub { size 8{v} } } {} :

Q tot = m ( c Δ T + L v ) = ( 0.151 × 10 9 kg ) ( 276 kJ/kg + 2256 kJ/kg ) = 382 × 10 9 kJ . size 12{Q rSub { size 8{"tot"} } = m \( cD"T "+" L" rSub { size 8{v} } \) =0 "." "151"´"10" rSup { size 8{-9} } \( "276"+"2256" \) ="382"´"10" rSup { size 8{-9} } " kJ"} {}

Discussion

The lasers used for this eye surgery are excimer lasers, whose light is well absorbed by biological tissue. They evaporate rather than burn the tissue, and can be used for precision work. Most lasers used for this type of eye surgery have an average power rating of about one watt. For our example, if we assume that each laser burst from this pulsed laser lasts for 10 ns, and there are 400 bursts per second, then the average power is Q tot × 400 = 150 mW size 12{Q rSub { size 8{"tot"} } ´"400"="150"" mW"} {} .

Optics is the study of the behavior of visible light and other forms of electromagnetic waves. Optics falls into two distinct categories. When electromagnetic radiation, such as visible light, interacts with objects that are large compared with its wavelength, its motion can be represented by straight lines like rays. Ray optics is the study of such situations and includes lenses and mirrors.

When electromagnetic radiation interacts with objects about the same size as the wavelength or smaller, its wave nature becomes apparent. For example, observable detail is limited by the wavelength, and so visible light can never detect individual atoms, because they are so much smaller than its wavelength. Physical or wave optics is the study of such situations and includes all wave characteristics.

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Source:  OpenStax, Physics 101. OpenStax CNX. Jan 07, 2013 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11479/1.1
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