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Theories of Light: Features

The document discusses four major theories of light: Newton's corpuscular theory, Huygens' wave theory, Maxwell's electromagnetic wave theory, and Planck's quantum theory. Each theory attempted to explain the nature and propagation of light but had limitations that were addressed by subsequent theories. Maxwell's theory combined electric and magnetic fields and proposed light can travel through a vacuum, while Planck's theory described light as discrete quanta or photons that interact as both particles and waves.

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Noor Jabety
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239 views

Theories of Light: Features

The document discusses four major theories of light: Newton's corpuscular theory, Huygens' wave theory, Maxwell's electromagnetic wave theory, and Planck's quantum theory. Each theory attempted to explain the nature and propagation of light but had limitations that were addressed by subsequent theories. Maxwell's theory combined electric and magnetic fields and proposed light can travel through a vacuum, while Planck's theory described light as discrete quanta or photons that interact as both particles and waves.

Uploaded by

Noor Jabety
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Theories of Light

the light theories explain how the light is and how the light transmits. Some of the
most important theories on light are
1) Newton’s corpuscular theory
2) Huygen’s wave theory
3) Maxwell’s electro magnetic wave theory
4) Planck’s quantum theory

1- Newton’s corpuscular theory

Features

a source of light continuously emits tiny elastic particles called corpuscles.


These particles or the corpuscles moves with high velocity as that of light and gets
scattered in all directions of light.
This theory says that the velocity of light changes with the change in density of the
medium in which it is used.
This theory could explain three main phenomena of light that is reflection,
refraction, and rectilinear propagation of light.
This theory also says that the color of light is dependent on the size of the
corpuscles.

drawbacks of this theory

1) This theory could not explain the phenomena of interference, diffraction, and
polarization of light etc.
2) According to this theory the velocity of light in denser medium is greater than
the velocity of light in rarer medium but this is proved wrong later
3) This theory assumes that the source of light looses the mass as it emits
corpuscles; but not such determent in mass of the source of light is detected.
4) This theory proposes that velocity of the corpuscles increases as the temperature
of the source increases as the temperature increases experiments have proved that
the velocity of light is independent of temperature.

2- Huygen’s wave theory

Features

The locus of all medium particles vibrating in the same phase is called a wave
front. Each point in a source of light sends out waves in all directions in a
hypothetical medium called ether.
This theory assumes that the light waves are mechanical and transverse in nature.
This theory is successful in explaining the phenomena of reflection, refraction,
interference and diffraction phenomena of light.
This theory also assumes in similar to the previous theory that the velocity of light
is dependent on the density of the medium but color depends on the wavelength of
the light.
Huygens theory was the successful theory of light wave motion in three
dimensions

Drawbacks

1) There is no existence of a medium ‘ether’


2) It falls to explain polarization.
3) It fails to explain why light has no longitudinal component.

3- Maxwell’s electro magnetic wave theory

Features

The electric and magnetic fields in a electro magnetic wave are continuously
varying with respect to time and space.
At any instant electric and magnetic fields are perpendicular to each other and also
perpendicular to the direction of light.
The electro magnetic wave is a transverse wave.
At every point in the wave at a given instant of time the electric and magnetic field
strengths are equal.
The velocity of propagation of electro magnetic wave depends on the electric and
magnetic properties of the medium.

Proposed that light waves do not require a medium for transmission.


Light waves posses electrical and magnetic properties and can travel though a
vacuum.

The main drawback of this theory is it failed to explain the photo electric effect .

4- Planck’s Quantum theory

According to this theory, light energy is released from source discretely in the form
of energy packets of specific frequencies called photons or quanta.
Photons are propagated as waves and if necessary interact with matter as particles.
This phenomena of photoelectric effect and black body radiation.
The main drawback of this theory is it could not explain how it is connected with
wave nature of light.

Speed of Light:
Scientists have determined that the speed of any electromagnetic vibration = the
speed of light (approximate value of the speed of light is 300,000 kilometers per
second)

The speed of an electromagnetic wave is not affected by temperature, but it is


affected by the medium through which it travels

The speed of light is much greater than the speed of sound.

Methods of measuring the speed of light :


- Roemer : 1st method to find the speed of light, used the planets (the
measurement of the location of the earth and Jupiter), he calculated the speed of
light was 227,000 kilometers per second and he found that the light travel in finite
speed.

- Albert A. Michelson: developed a more modern method to determine the speed of


light, used mirrors, calculated the speed of light to be 186,285 miles per second
(299,796 kilometers per second)

- Galileo ( measure the speed by lanterns ).

- Bradly : the measurement depend on the earth and the stars that locate
perpendicular to the earth , and he found that the light travel in finite speed.

- fizeau : measure the speed by using toothed wheel and concave mirror , he found
that the speed of light is 313,000 km/s

- Foucault : used rotating mirror.

The speed of light in a vacuum is a universal constant, about 300,000 km/s or


186,000 miles per second. The exact speed of light is: 299,792.458 km/s

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