0
What happens to the intensity of light the further it is away from the source?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Light intensity is like gravitation. It changes in accordance with the inverse square law.
What's an inverse square?
if our number is.......................................... 5 ORIGINAL NUMBER
the inverse of this number is.................... 1/5 INVERSE
and the inverse SQUARE of this number is 1/52 or 1/25. INVERSE SQUARE
But how does this answer your question?
As a light source increases its distance from an object (moves farther away) its intensity changes, it becomes less intense.
How much less intense?
Think of the inverse square law!
If your light source moves twice as far away
(distance increases by a factor of 2)
it becomes 1/4th as intense. (1/4th is the inverse square of 2)
Think of shining a flashlight on a tile floor. If you are 5 cm (very close) to the floor, the light from the flashlight will cover one tile and be very intense. However, if you move twice (2 times) as far away, (now you would be 10cm from the floor) you would notice that the same light streaming from the flashlight can now cover four whole tiles!
Two times the distance away now covers four whole tiles! Each tile is therefore receiving 1/4th the intensity of the light.
Taking it one step further, if you were to move 4 times away (now you are 20cm from the floor)...the light from your flashlight could cover 16 tiles!
So, each tile would be recieveing 1/16th the intensity of light.
Like I said in the beginning, the same is true when you are working with the Universal Law of Gravitation, so, if you understand light intensity, you will also understand gravitation!
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThe intensity of light decreases by what astronomers call "the inverse square rule". This means that the light decreases by the square of the mean distance moved (in multiples of the original distance). So, if a person was standing at a distance D from the light, and moves 3 times as far away as their current distance, the intensity of light will decrease by a factor of the square of 3, 9.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThe intensity of light observed from a source of constant intrinsic luminosity falls off as the square of the distance from the object. This is known as the inverse square law for light intensity.
Thus, if I double the distance to a light source the observed intensity is decreased to (1/2)2 = 1/4 of its original value.
Wiki User
∙ 6y agoAll electromagnetic radiation (not just light) decreases in intensity as the square of the distance from the light source. This is because the electromagnetic radiation spreads to cover the same angular area as it moves away from the source.
The one exception to this is highly coherent electromagnetic radiation (e.g. LASER light, MASER microwaves) that have been focused into a narrow beam. While this also decreases some with distance it decreases much slower than the square of the distance as the photons in the beam have a strong tendency to stay close together.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoThe intensity of the radiation that you receive from any source
varies as the inverse square of your distance from it.
Double the distance . . . 1/4 the intensity
Triple the distance . . . 1/9
5 times the distance . . . 1/25
10 times the distance . . . 1/100
.
.
etc.
Just like static force between charges, gravitational force between masses,
TV signal from the transmitter, cellphone signal from the cell-tower, and sound
in a homogeneous medium. "6 dB per double".
Wiki User
∙ 6y agoIt's an inverse-square law - for instance, double the distance, and the intensity will be reduced by a factor 1/4.This assumes that there is nothing absorbing the light (for instance, fog); if there is, the intensity in the above example will of course be even less than 1/4 the original intensity.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoThe light intensity I changes after the "inverse square law" with the distance d I = 1/d² Scroll down to related links and look at "Inverse square law".
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoit follows an inverse square relationship. if you double the distance, the intensity goes down by factor 4. if you triple the distance, the intensity goes down by factor 9
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
What happens to the illuminance when you move away from the light source?
The intensity decreases.
Is the brightness of glow in the dark materials affected by the light source used to make them glow or only by the intensity of the light Does the light source?
It depends on the luminescence of the materials. I see no difference between "the light source" and "the intensity of the light". Please restate and/or clarify the question.
What is the light intensity in the arctic?
The light intensity is poop!
Why do scientists measure light intensity?
to know how is the light heavy
How could you change the size of your shadow?
You can either move closer to the light source or move the light source closer to you. The size of your shadow just depends upon how much of the light you are obscuring so the more you block out, the bigger your shadow.
What happens to the illuminance when you move away from the light source?
The intensity decreases.
How does light intensity vary with distance form the source?
Light intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance: I = k/d2
Is the brightness of glow in the dark materials affected by the light source used to make them glow or only by the intensity of the light Does the light source?
It depends on the luminescence of the materials. I see no difference between "the light source" and "the intensity of the light". Please restate and/or clarify the question.
Is a candle a light source?
Yes a candle is a light source. Actually, the unit for intensity of light (candela) is based on the light emitted by a candle.
What happens if you continue to increase the intensity of light that plants receives?
If the plant has enough chloroplast to accept the light intensity, it'll continue to grow strong accordingly. It'll develop stronger leaves, stem, and darker in green color foliages. It'll reach a peak where light saturation occur when the plant no longer can grow any stronger even with higher light intensity. Increasing the light intensity further could hurt the plant.
How does the intensity of a spectral line yield information about the source of the light?
Intensity of spectral line show the abundance of different elements in the light source. Every element has its own "fingerprint" which can indicate its presence.
What happens to the power of the objective as the light intensity increase?
Increases
Why doesn't light travel deeper into water?
To travel far, you must have high intensity, which a normal torch light does not have to go through like, Marina Tench's depth. So! check the power of your torch light before diving at the great depth.Since the light goes on diverging (as you know from torch light) therefore the time that it reach the bed, the luminance of the light would get very low, so that is why the light can not travel deeper into the water. But intensity also matters here too. If you have very high intensity light source then you probably don't have to use any further more converging medium but if you use low intensity light source, no matter how much you try to converge it using a medium, it won't show as clear as the high intensity light did.
What happens to the light intensity if you tripled the distance to the source?
For example, assume you are shining a flashlight at the wall. If you move twice as far from the wall, the spot of light will be twice the diameter. If the diameter doubles, then the area of the spot is 4 times as big. Thus, the same light is lighting 4 times as much wall. Thus, the intensity is 1/4 of the original intensity. The intensity varies with the inverse of the square of the distance.
What happens to the intensity of light when it enters a dnser medium?
There's no reason to expect that the intensity of light must necessarily change when it enters a different medium.
How does light affect the pupil of the eye?
With high intensity light your pupil constricts. This happens to protect your retina from damage by light of high intensity.
What happens when light intensity rises above 9000 lumens?
It stays constant
