HOW DO CELL PHONES WORK?
ARE CELL PHONES HARMFUL?
Multiple technologies based on the understanding of waves and their interactions with matter are part of everyday experiences in the modern world (e.g., medical imaging, communications, scanners) and in scientific research. They are essential tools for producing, transmitting, and capturing signals and for storing and interpreting the information contained in them. Knowledge of quantum physics enabled the development of semiconductors, computer chips, and lasers, all of which are now essential components of modern imaging, communications, and information technologies. |
Topic Summary:
Understanding of waves and their interactions with matter has been used to design technologies and instruments that greatly extend the range of phenomena that can be investigated by science (e.g., telescopes, microscopes) and have many useful applications in the modern world. Light waves, radio waves, microwaves, and infrared waves are applied to communications systems, many of which use digitized signals (i.e., sent as wave pulses) as a more reliable way to convey information. Signals that humans cannot sense directly can be detected by appropriately designed devices (e.g., telescopes, cell phones, wired or wireless computer networks). When in digitized form, information can be recorded, stored for future recovery, and transmitted over long distances without significant degradation. Medical imaging devices collect and interpret signals from waves that can travel through the body and are affected by, and thus gather information about, structures and motion within it (e.g., ultrasound, X-rays). Sonar (based on sound pulses) can be used to measure the depth of the sea, and a system based on laser pulses can measure the distance to objects in space, because it is known how fast sound travels in water and light travels in a vacuum. The better the interaction of the wave with the medium is understood, the more detailed the information that can be extracted (e.g., medical imaging or astronomical observations at multiple frequencies).
✓ MASTERY CHECK
COLLEGE & CAREERS
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YOU CAN APPLY THESE SKILLS BY:
- Pursuing a career as a software developer, analyzing users' needs and creating applications in response.
- Using knowledge of wave properties to understand tools of digital communication.
- Using text and visual displays to simulate systems and interactions.
National Research Council 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165
This site contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator and is legally used under the fair use principles section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1986 (17 U.S. Code § 107)
PS4.C, HS-PS4-5
The official NGSS website. https://www.nextgenscience.org
This site contains original content that may not be authorized for use by the creator and is legally used under the fair use principles section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1986 (17 U.S. Code § 107)
PS4.C, HS-PS4-5
The official NGSS website. https://www.nextgenscience.org