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Describe What Happen When Light Is Reflected

Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton both studied the behavior of light using prisms. Descartes observed that different colors of light refracted at varying degrees, with red light refracting more than blue light. He explained this was due to changes in the rotational speed of particles in the plenum (invisible substance) when passing through the prism. Newton also saw different refraction of colors, with red light refracting the least and violet the most. He attributed this to differences in the mass of light particles, with more massive red light particles being deflected less than less massive violet particles when the same force acts on them.

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75 views3 pages

Describe What Happen When Light Is Reflected

Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton both studied the behavior of light using prisms. Descartes observed that different colors of light refracted at varying degrees, with red light refracting more than blue light. He explained this was due to changes in the rotational speed of particles in the plenum (invisible substance) when passing through the prism. Newton also saw different refraction of colors, with red light refracting the least and violet the most. He attributed this to differences in the mass of light particles, with more massive red light particles being deflected less than less massive violet particles when the same force acts on them.

Uploaded by

JICHANG Wook
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Describe what happen when light is

reflected, refracted, transmitted, and


absorbed
Reflection 
-occurs when light bounces back as it hits a reflecting surface, such
as a mirror. This phenomenon can be described using light rays.

Refraction
  -is the bending of light due to the change in its speed when it
obliquely passes two different media. When light travels from a
medium with a low refractive index to a medium with a higher
refractive index, it slows down and refracts closer to the normal
line.

Absorption 
-occurs when light strikes a material, and the energy that it
carries is absorbed by the atoms of the material and is converted into
thermal energy.

Transmission
- is the passing of light through a material without being
absorbed. For instance, an incoming light will just pass through a glass
window as transmitted light.
Explain how Newton and Descrates
described the emergence of light in
various colors through prisms

Two of the many scientists who studied the behavior of light were Rene
Descartes and Isaac Newton. Separately, they conducted experiments using a
prism to explain the emergence of the colors of light upon passing it.

 Rene Descartes
- was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who first
studied and explained the concept of refraction. In one of his experiments, he
produced a rainbow by using a water-filled glass sphere and sunlight. He
explained that refraction of light caused the formation of rainbows. He then
studied the refraction and emergence of colors of light in a prism. He observed
that the different colors of light refracted at varying degrees. He noted that the
red light refracted more than the blue light.

-Descartes explained the emergence of the colors of light using the


concept of the plenum, the invisible substance that permeated the
universe. He thought that light was a disturbance that traveled through
the plenum. He pictured the particles of plenum as tiny balls which were
in contact, and rotating with the same speed. He explained that when
these particles passed through the prism and encountered a slit on the
edge, their rotational speed would change. This change resulted in the
emergence of a color. Other parts of the slit produced other colors of
light.
 Isaac Newton
- was an English physicist and mathematician who was famous
because of his contributions in describing motion and the nature of light. His
studies included the emergence of colors as light passed through a prism. In his
experiment, he saw that the red light refracted the least while the violet light
refracted the most. According to Newton, this difference in refraction occurred
due to the differences in the mass of the colors of light.

-Newton believed that particles of matter exert equal force to the


particles of light regardless of its color. He then explained that when light
particles passed through an interface of matter, the colors of light which
have different mass and inertia will be deflected at varying degrees. He
noted that particles with greater mass and inertia are deflected less when
acted upon by the same force. For instance, particles of red light has more
mass than those of violet light. Therefore, red light was deflected less
than the violet light.

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