Lesson 5

Light

PHYSICS 2 | STEM 2ND SEMESTER

Objectives
 By studying Light, we shall find that a small number of underlying principles describe
all of them and that light is more common than you have ever imagined. These
critical-thinking and problem-solving skills will help us become the individuals we
aspire as reflected in the program educational objectives.
 So, at the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
 1. analyze how the context of light affects our day-to-day living;
 2. actualize the sense of responsibility and honesty in doing experiments involving
light
 3. conduct an experiment using the concepts of light to compare experimental and
theoretical data
 Essential Question

How does light travel?

Early Concepts of Light
 Several early scientists claimed that
light travels in transverse waves
 According to Einstein, light consists
of particles called photons
 Photon: Massless bundles of

concentrated energy
The Speed of Light
 Early scientists used the periods of objects
in our solar system to estimate the speed of
light
 Later, experiments using reflected light from
mirrors were used
 Through these experiments, the speed of
light through a vacuum was found to be:
300,000 km/s = 186,000 mi/s
Electromagnetic Waves
 Light is energy emitted by accelerating electric
charges, usually electrons
 This energy travels in a wave that is partially
electric and partially magnetic
 These are electromagnetic waves

 Visible light is a very small portion of the

electromagnetic spectrum
Electromagnetic Waves
 Can be transmitted in a way that they can be deciphered
later
 Radio waves
 Unlike sound waves
 Electromagetic waves do not require a medium
 i.e. They can travel through space
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Opaque and Transparent
Materials
 Transparent: Materials which allow light to
pass through
 Electrons receive energy from the entering light
wave and re-emit this energy as light
 Opaque: Materials which do not allow light
to pass through
 Electrons receive energy from the entering light
wave and passes it onto neighboring atoms
 This energy is converted to random kinetic
energy and the materials become slightly warmer
Shadows
 Ray: A thin beam of light
 When light shines on an object, some of the rays may
be stopped while others pass
 Shadows are formed where light rays cannot reach
Shadows
A shadow usually consists of a dark region on the
inside, and a light region on the outside
 Umbra: A total shadow
 Penumbra: Partial shadow appearing where some
light is blocked, but other light fills in
Umbra and Penumbra in a Solar
Eclipse
Structure of the Eye
Structure of the Eye
Human Eye
 What we see can be distorted
 Our mind’s interpretation of an image can be altered
Bell Ringer
 1.) What is the difference between opaque and
transparent?
 2.) What is the difference between the umbra and
penumbra?
Intensity
 The intensity of light depends on the light source
 The intensity is also dependent on the distance from the
source
 Larger the distance – smaller the intensity
 Smaller the distance – greater the intensity
Shadows
 Remember…
 Umbra: A total shadow
 Penumbra: Partial shadow appearing where some
light is blocked, but other light fills in
 What happens to each as we increase the distance?
Law of Reflection
 Reflection- When a wave reaches a boundary between two
media, some or all of the waves bounce back
 Θ1=Θ2
 Θ1 is the incident incoming angle
 Θ2 is the reflected outgoing angle
 Ex: 60° incident 60° reflected
Mirrors

 Mirrors use the law of refection to show images

 Real image: all of the light rays show where the image actual is
 Virtual image: can be seen by an observer but cannot be shown on
a screen because the light rays do not come together
Refraction
 Sound waves travel at different speeds depending on the
medium
 Light has the same property
Refraction (Snell’s Law)
 Light travels at different speed depending on the medium
 Index of refraction (n)
 N= speed of light in vacum/speed of light in medium
 Or n=c/v
 Air has an index of refraction of about 1
Snell’s Law
 Light’s angle in the medium is dependent on both the index
of refraction and the incident angle
 n1sinθ1=n2sinΘ2
 Example: A laser light ray enters a cup of water (n=1.33)
from air (n=1) at an angle of 15°. What is the outgoing
angle?
Refraction Demos
 Bowl of Water
 Test Tube
 Pickle Jar
Bell Ringer
 A light ray hits a mirror at 15.6°. What is the reflected
angle?
 Give an example where there is evidence of the following…
 Light being reflected
 Light being refracted
Polarization
 Some light is polarized, meaning its
waves are confined to a 2-D plane
 A single vibrating electron will produce
polarized light
 Common light sources emit non-
polarized light since the electrons vibrate
randomly in all directions
Polarization Filters
Polarization
Polarization
Polarization and 3-D Viewing
 Vision in three dimensions depends on
the fact that each eye views a scene
from a slightly different angle
Bell Ringer
What does a polarized filter
do?
How are they used to view
3D movies?
Total Internal Reflection
 At some angle (dependent on the medium) all of the light
rays will be reflected back into the medium and not leave.
 Applications
 Fiber optic cable Sparkling Diamonds
Curved Mirrors
 Two ways to observe a curved mirror
 Converging
 concave )
 Diverging
 convex (
Curved Mirrors
 Concave lens – parallel rays converge at the focal point
 Focal length – distance from lens to focal point
 We can examine an image formed by the lens by only
examining a number of rays
Ray Tracing
 Principle rays
 1.) Top of Image, then through F

 2.) Through F

 3.) Through middle vertex

Bell Ringer
 What is the difference between a real and a virtual image?
Lens Applications
 Binoculars
Telescopes
Microscope
Glasses
The Color Spectrum
 Spectrum: A spread of wave frequencies
 White Light: The combination of all
colors
 Under white light:

 White objects appear white

 Colored objects appear in their

individual colors
 Therefore, white is not a color, but a
combination of all colors
The Color Spectrum
 Black is similarly not a color, but
the absence of light
 Black objects absorb some light

of all visible frequencies

 Not all light is absorbed by black

objects
Color by Reflection
 When electrons receive energy, they
become become excited and then
transfer this extra energy outward
 Some energy is absorbed into the
material
 The rest of the light is reflected outward

giving an the appearance of color

Color by Reflection
 Objectscan ONLY reflect frequencies
present in the light shining on them
 For example: If a red light shines on a
blue object, the object will appear black
because there is no blue in the light for
the object to reflect back.
Color

by Transmission
The color of a transparent object
depends on the color of light it
transmits
 Pigment: The material in the glass that
selectively absorbs colored light
 Electrons in the pigment are

responsible for this absorption

 Any absorption results in an increase

in temperature of the material

Bell Ringer
 Why do red objects appear red?
 Draw the ray diagram for an image when an object is
placed inside the focal point in front of a converging lens.
Retinal Fatigue
Retinal Fatigue
Retinal Fatigue
Retinal Fatigue
Retinal Fatigue
Retinal Fatigue
Diffraction
 Light behaves as a wave to cause light and dark spots
(constructive and deconstructive) interference
 Applet
 Ex: Snowman Glasses
Light
 Lightof all the visible frequencies
mixed together produces white light
 This can be achieved by mixing only

blue, red, and green light of equal

brightness
Mixing Colored Light
 Almost any color can be made by
overlapping light of three colors by
varying the brightness of each
 Combining red, green, and blue
produces the highest number of
different colors
 For this reason, red, green, and blue

are known as additive primary colors

Additive Primary
Colors

Red + Green = Yellow

Red + Blue = Magenta
Blue + Green = Cyan
Complimentary Colors
 ComplimentaryColors: Two colors,
which when added together,
produce white

Yellow + Blue = White

Magenta + Green = White
Cyan + Red = White
Atomic

Spectra
Every element has its own color
when made to emit light
 In gas form, atoms are far apart
 Their vibrations will not be interrupted
by neighboring atoms
 Neon – Red
 Mercury – Blue-Violet

 Helium – Pink

 Spectroscope: An instrument which

breaks glowing elements into a
series of colored lines
Atomic Spectra
 This
pattern is called a line
spectrum
 Each line corresponds to a specific
frequency of light
 Linespectrums are the
“fingerprints” of each element
Atomic Spectra
Hydrogen:

                                                                           
Helium:

                                                                     
Carbon:
                     

Continuous: