Narvacan National Central High School- Senior High School

Physical Science- Q2-Week 3: Describe how the propagation of light, reflection, and refraction, are
explained by the wave model and the particle model of light. (S11/S12PS-IVf-59); Explain how the photon
concept and the fact that the energy of a photon is directly proportional to its frequency can be used in
photographic dark rooms, why we get easily sunburned in ultraviolet light but not in visible light, and how
we see colors. (S11/12PS-IVf-61);

Lesson

The Nature of Light

1

What Is It?

Light can travel straight through empty space

(vacuum) until it hits something else. Once it has hit another
surface or particle, it is either absorbed, reflected (bounces off),
refracted (direction and speed changes), scattered (bounce-off
in all directions) or transmitted (passes straight through) as seen
in Figure 1. But is light a wave or a particle?
Fig 1.1 Propagation of Light
The Corpuscular (particle) Theory- Newton’s Theory
According to the theory, Newton thought that light is made up of particles that travel through space on
a straight line.
 Reflection is the bouncing of light as it hits a surface. Newton demonstrated that particles collide with
the surface and bounce back (see figure a).
 Refraction is the bending of light. It is an attraction between the molecules of the medium and the
particles of light which contribute to the change of speed as the particles of the light travels inside the
medium (see figure c)
 Diffraction is the bending of light as it passes around the edge of an object. Newton felt that light
does not travel around corners. He explained that any observed effect of this is caused by the
interaction of particles when they run into each other at the edges of the objects.
 Dispersion is the separation of light into colors. Newton explained that particles of different mass
would be affected differently when refracted.

Fig 1.2 The reflection of light (a) particles and (b) waves; refraction of light on (c) particles and (d) waves
Wave Theory of Light
Christian Huygens, a Dutch physicist, argued that if light were made of particles, when light beams
crossed, the particles would collide and cancel each other. He proposed that light was a wave similar to that
of water waves.
 Huygens’ Principle – each point on a wave, behaves as a point source for waves in the direction of
wave motion. Huygens’ wave model of light explains reflection, refraction, and diffraction of light
 Reflection happens when light bounces off an object. Upon hitting a smooth surface as illustrated in
figure b, light would be reflected. The waves would bounce back, producing a reversed image of the
wave.
 Refraction – is the bending of wave when it enters a medium where its speed changes. In figure d,
the wavefront approaches the two media with different densities. Since the incident wave is travelling
as an angle, a small portion of the wavefront starts to slow down upon impact to the boundary while
the rest are maintaining their speeds. This condition makes the wavefront bend while entering the
second medium with higher density.
 Diffraction is the slight bending of light as it passes around the edge of an object which depends on
the relative size of the wavelength of light to the size of the opening.
Light is a particle, a wave or both depending on the phenomenon.
Behavior of Light

Phenomenon Can be explained in terms of Can be explained in terms of

waves particles
Reflection  
Refraction  
Interference* 
Diffraction* 
Polarization* 
Photoelectric effect* 
*Shall be discussed in details in the succeeding lessons

Lesson Energy of Light

2
What’s In

Light may behave as a particle, a wave or both depending which light phenomenon. To
scientists, colors of things are not substances of the things themselves but the frequencies of
light emitted or reflected by things.

What Is It

Newton thought that light was made of particles (corpuscles) that emanated from the light
source. Light can be described as a quanta or packet of energy that behaves as if they were
particles. Light quanta are called photons. The photoelectric effect introduced evidence that
light showed particle properties. Photons are emitted when electrons of an atom are excited.

When light is shown on an atom, its electrons absorb photon which causes them to gain energy and
jump to a higher level. Since an electron can only exist at certain energy levels, it can only emit photons of
certain frequencies. The emitted light can be perceived as a series of colored lines called a line or atomic
spectra. Each element produces a unique set of spectral line.

The electromagnetic spectrum depict all of the types of light, including those that we cannot see in
our own eyes. In fact, most of the light in the universe is invisible to humans.

The light we can see, made up of the individual colors of the rainbow, represents only a very small
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is called visible light. Other types of
light include radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, ultraviolet rays, X-rays and gamma rays — all of
which are imperceptible to human eyes.

Fig 2.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum EM

The relationship between energy and frequency is given by the equation E = hf, here h is 6.63 x10-24
joules-second called as Planck's constant. A direct relationship exists; electromagnetic radiation is more
energetic with a higher frequency.

Why do we get easily sunburned in ultraviolet light but not in visible light? The sun is a source of the
full spectrum of the ultraviolet radiation which is responsible for causing us sunburn. This UV light has
higher frequency than visible light, therefore it has higher energy.

Why is red light used in photographic darkrooms? Darkrooms used red lighting to allow careful
control light to pass through, so that photographic paper which is light sensitive would not become
overexposed that will result to ruining the pictures during the developing process. Red light in the visible
region of the spectrum has the lowest frequency and lowest energy and therefore it does not affect the
photo developing process.
How do we see colors? Visible light is a small part within the spectrum that human eyes are
sensitive to and can detect. It is of different frequencies and each frequency is a particular color. Objects
appear in different colors because they absorb some colors and reflect or transmit the others. White objects
appear white because they reflect all colors. Black objects absorb all of them, so no light is reflected.

Type Applications Life sciences aspect Issues

Requires controls for

Radio Communications remote controls MRI band use

Microwaves Communications, ovens, radar Deep heating Cell phone use

Infrared Thermal imaging, heating Absorbed by atmosphere Greenhouse effect

Visible light All pervasive Photosynthesis, Human vision

Ozone depletion,
Ultraviolet Sterilization, Cancer control Vitamin D production
Cancer causing

X-rays Medical Security Medical diagnosis, Cancer therapy Cancer causing

Cancer causing,
Gamma rays Nuclear medicine, Security Medical diagnosis, Cancer therapy
Radiation damage
 What I Can Do. Matching Perfectly.

Directions: Match the expression in column A with those in column B by placing the letter that
corresponds to the best answer on the space provided.

A B
______1. Using red light in photographic darkroom a. higher frequency. higher energy
______ 2. Getting sunburned in ultraviolet light b. higher frequency. lower energy
______ 3. Seeing white t-shirt as blue c. lower frequency, higher energy
d. lower frequency, lower energy

Lesson Wave Property of an Electron

3
What’s In

In the preceding lesson, you learned that light can behave as particle and as a wave. The idea
of photoelectric effects, which show the particle property of light fascinated the French
physicist Louis de Broglie. If light being a wave can show a particle-like property, then electron and other
particles may also have a wave-like properties such as wavelength and frequency.

What Is It

In 1900, Max Planck was able to formulate and discover the so called Plank’s constant which he included in
his discovery of Plank’s radiation Law. In 1905 German physicist Albert Einstein first showed that light,
being considered as a form of EM wave, can be thought as a particle and localized in packets of discrete
energy. This was shown in his photoelectric effect experiment. The observations of the Compton effect in
1922 by American physicist Arthur Holly Compton could be explained only if light had a wave-particle
duality. Fascinated with the idea that light as a wave can have a particle like property, in 1924, French
physicist Louis de Broglie proposed that electrons and other discrete bits of matter, which until then had
been conceived only as material particles, must also have wave properties such
as wavelength and frequency. Later in 1927 the wave nature of electrons was experimentally established
by American physicists Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer on their Davisson-Germer experiment. An
understanding of the complementary relation between the wave aspects and the particle aspects of the
same phenomenon was announced by Danish physicist Niels Bohr in 1928.

What Is It
Electron being considered as a wave created questions that gain the interest of other fellow scientist.
Among the question that lingered on the minds of other scientists was that “if electron traveled as a wave,
then where could be the precise position of the electron within the wave?”

The answer to this question was given by German physicist Werner Heisenberg in 1927, in his famous
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. He articulated that both the momentum and position of the electron can
not be measured exactly at the same time.

Another scientist in the name of Erwin Shrodinger derived set of equations also called wave functions for
electrons as a result of de Broglie’s hypothesis and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. He formulated the
equations that would specify that the electrons confined in their orbits would set up standing waves and the
probability of finding the electrons in the orbitals could be described as the electron density clouds. The
greatest probability of finding an electron in an orbital is in the densest area, likewise, the lowest probability
of finding an electron in in the orbital of least dense.

Physical Science- Q2-Week 4-5: Cite experimental evidence showing that electrons can behave like
waves. (S11/S12PS-IVg-64); Differentiate dispersion, scattering, interference, and diffraction (S11/12PS-
IVf-65); Explain various light phenomena. (S11/12PS-IVf-66); Describe how Hertz produced radio pulses.
(S11/12PS-IVi-68)

Lesson Properties of Light

4
What’s In

As you may recall, the wave-particle nature of light can explain why light is reflected or it may
bounce back as it hit an opaque surface and it shall be refracted or bend as it passes
through a transparent material. In this lesson you shall encounter more properties of light
that may uncover the formation of rainbows, the rainbow-colored soap bubbles that you played with your
younger siblings, the beautiful horizon that you experience in the late afternoon and white fluffy clouds
below the blue sky during the midday.

What Is It

Dispersion

As light enters into a prism, or an object

that may act as a prism, it separates into different band of
colors. This separation of white light into different colors as it
passes through a prism is called dispersion. The separated
band of colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and
violet, ranges from 400 nanometer to 700 nano meter
wavelength. Dispersion occurs due to the slight difference in
the refractive index of each color.

Fig 4.1 Visible Spectrum in a Prism

 A rainbow is formed after a rainshower when droplets of falling water acts as a
prism that separates the rays of the sun hitting the water droplets into band of different
colors.

Fig 4.2 A rainbow captured after a rainshower

in Baungon, Bukidnon

What Is it

Did you observe the beautiful, fluffy white clouds like cottons arrange under a faint
blue sky during the middle of the day when the sun is shining brightly and the beautiful red-
orange horizon in the late afternoon when the sun is almost setting down?

Scattering of light is responsible for this blue-colored

sky and beautiful horizon. Tiny dust particles, and atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere which
are far apart from each other acts as scatterers. They scatter sunlight in all directions . Of the band of
colors of light, violet has the shortest wavelength of 400 nanometer. It is scattered the most, followed by
indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red which is scattered the least. But our eyes is not sensitive to
indigo and violet, and blue is most predominant to our sight , so we see the blue sky.

In the late afternoon where the sun is in the horizon, the loner wavelength red light reaches our
eyes more than the blue light which are scattered the most. Red being scattered the least is transmitted
and passed through more of the atmosphere than any other color. Thus, it is the red color together with
some orange that reaches our eyes in the late afternoon and we see the beautiful red-orange sunset.

Clouds are made of water droplets of varying sizes.

Smaller droplets scatter blue, green , and yellow and even red Fig 4.3 A view from San Franz, El Salvador City.
Photo credits to Mr. Zigger Villahermosa, SH of San Franz
color. A combination of these color results in white clouds. ES, El Salvador City Division

Rain clouds appear dark because the water droplets become bigger and denser and it can absorb
more light than scatter it. It almost all colors are absorb, the resulting
color is dark or even black

So, the next time you look up the sky and view the horizon,
you know the science behind its beauty.

What Is It

The beautiful spectrum of colors reflected on the soap bubbles are produced by the
interference of light. It occurs when 2 waves meet while travelling on the same medium. It
may be constructive interference producing bright fringes or destructive interference
producing dark bands. In the case of soap bubbles, the incident ray of white light constructively interfere in
the different regions of the bubbles producing the rainbow-colored appearance. Interference of light clearly
demonstrates the wave nature of light.

What I have Learned. You Complete Me.

Directions. Complete the table below.

 Properties of Light Description Applicable light
phenomena

1. 2. Rainbow

Scattering of light 3. 4.

Diffraction 5. 6.

7. 8. Rainbow-colored
appearance in soap
bubbles
Lesson Various Light Phenomena
5
What’s In

In lesson 4, you have learned that rainbows are formed due to the dispersion of light in water
droplets that acts as a prism. You have also learned that the blue sky, the reddish sunset and
the white and dark clouds are products of the scattering of light in the atmosphere; the
rainbow-colored soap bubbles are due to the interference of light and the bright fringes and dark bands in
shadows are result of the diffraction of light.
In the previous lesson, you knew that light reflects or bounce back as it hits an opaque object such
as mirror and transmitted through transparent objects such as glass and lenses. Light refracts or bend as it
enters from one medium to another with different optical density. You also knew that the colors we see on
the object is the color of light that is reflected by the object to our eyes. The green color of the leaves is the
due to the green light that is reflected by the leaves to our eyes, and all the other color of light is absorbed
and only the green is reflected.
These behaviors of light produce spectacular light phenomena that we often see in our daily life
and sometimes we may not notice it.

What’s New
Activity A. My Spoony Image
 1. In a well-lighted room, Hold a shiny spoon with the back side facing at you. Look at you image and
describe your observation.
2. Now, turn the spoon such that the front side faces you. Observe and describe your image.
3. Write your observations in your journal notebook.
4.
Activity B. May I Pass Through
1. Point a red laser light at 90 degree or perpendicular to a red colored cellophane. Observe the
transmitted light on a screen (may be a white bond paper or white wall).Note your observation in
your journal notebook.
2. This time, use a green cellophane, instead of red and do the same as procedure no. 1. What do
you observe? Again, write your observation in your journal notebook.

What Is It

For activity A, the back side of the spoon represents a convex mirror while the front
side of the spoon represents the concave mirror. Recalling the images formed in a convex
and concave mirror. In a convex mirror, reflected light rays diverge as if it originates from the
imaginary focus of the mirror, thus producing a small, upright and reverse image just as what you observe.
For concave mirror, reflected light rays bend towards the focus of the mirror, thus producing an upside
down or inverted image.
For Activity B, colored cellophane acts as filters for allowing certain colors to pass through while
absorbing the other colors. In the case of the activity, red laser light passes through more easily in red
cellophane than in green one because much of the red light is absorbed in the green cellophane.
Light are transmitted in transparent materials without being scattered at an angle of 90 degree,
otherwise, light is refracted, but not 100 % of the incident light is transmitted, some are absorbed and
others are reflected.
When light hits an object, some of its frequencies are absorbed and few are reflected. Such in a
case of green leaves, only green frequency is reflected while the other frequencies are absorbed by the
object. The green light is reflected to our eyes, and we see it green. When all frequencies of light is
reflected, we see white object, such as the white clouds, but when all frequencies of light are absorbed, we
see the object black.
Colored objects have pigments capable of reflecting specific colors of light. A blue colored dress
reflects the blue frequency and absorbs the other. But comparing the results of reflection from a natural
sunlight and an artificial light source such as from a LED light, the color intensities is different. The blue
dress would appears pale blue in an artificial light because it contains less amount of blue light as
compared to the natural sunlight.

What’s More. Picture Analysis

Directions: Analyze the photographs of different optical phenomena and answer the guide
questions below.
 A. B.

C. D.

E.

Guide Questions:

1. On a very sunny day, have you observe the apparent pool of water on a straight highway? What do
you call this phenomena and what causes this? Which photo is this?
2. Which photo shows a halo? What causes the formation of haloes?
3. Which photo depicts sundogs? What property of light causes sundogs?
4. Rainbows are spectacular view in the sky. What is the difference between a primary rainbow and
secondary rainbow?
5. Which among the pictures is a supernumerary bow?

Lesson
 6 HERTZ

What I Need to Know

o Who is Heinrich Rudolf Hertz?

http://www.brainkart.com/article/Production-and-properties-of-electromagnetic-waves---Hertz-
experiment_38544/)
o Why did Hertz able to do this kind of experiment?
o How did Hertz experiment produced radio pulses?
o Why the unit of frequency is Hertz?
o How does contribution of Hertz become important now a day?

What Is It

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857–1894) was a German physicist who became the first person to
transmit and receive controlled radio waves. He was the first conclusively proved the
existence of electromagnetic waves theorized by James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic
theory of light.

It seems a little odd looking back that he had no practical purpose in mind for the radio waves he
discovered considering how indispensable his wireless transmissions quickly became. His research
focused only on discovering if James Clerk Maxwell’s 1864 theory of electromagnetism was correct. Hertz
was able to measure their wavelength and velocity but was not only able to detect the waves. The scientific
unit of frequency was cycles per second or named "hertz" in his honour.

Hertz proved the theory that ruled out all other known wireless phenomena by engineering instruments to
transmit and receive radio pulses using experimental procedures. He designed a brilliant set of experiments
to test Maxwell's hypothesis. His apparatus consists of polished brass knobs, each connected to an
induction coil and separated by a tiny gap over which sparks could leap.
Hertz attached a secondary spark-gap to the existing spark-gap.
He used the induction coil to generate high voltage ac electricity
and producing a series of sparks at regular intervals at the main
spark-gap.

Hertz noticed that when sparks flew across the main gap, that is
between points A and B in the image; Hertz called these side-
sparks. He found that the behavior of the side-sparks highly
provoking. He diverse the position of connection point C on the
side-circuit. The only way he could stop side-sparks produced
was to arrange the connection so the length of wire AC was the
same as BC, Hertz suggested since the given that the electricity
Hertz spark testing circuit
https://www.famousscientists.orgh
was ac, the voltage waves were separately racing through the
ow-hertz-discovered-radio-waves
wire along paths AC and BC. If the distances of AC and BC
were the same, then the same voltage must arrive at points A
and B at the same time. Sparks could not be generated if the
electrical waves in AC and BC were said to be in phase with one
another. If there was a large voltage difference between points A and B, sparks could only be generated

What’s More

Watch the Hertz’s experiment or you can watch the improvise Hertz’s experiment in
https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gDFII6Ge7g.

What I Have Learned. Test Your Memory

Directions: Answer the following questions briefly. Write your answers in your answers in a
separate sheet of paper.

1. What is the unit of frequency?

________________________________________________________________
2. Why large voltage will be used to produce sparks based on Hertz experiment?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
3. In Hertz testing circuit, why distance between CA and CB were the same?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
4. How Hertz experiment produced sparks?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________
 5. Was Hertz successfully proved the James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory of light?

___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Assessment
Multiple Choice. Select the letter of the best answer from among the given choices.

1. Which of the following phenomena describes no difference between the wave theory
and particle theory of light?
A. diffraction C. interference
B. reflection D. refraction
2. Which factor remains constant when light travels in a different medium?
A. Color C. Frequency
B Speed D. Wavelength
3. Why does a blue t-shirt appear blue?
A. Blue is absorbed by the t-shirt C. Blue is emitted by the t-shirt
B. Blue is reflected by the t-shirt D. Blue is refracted by the t-shirt
4. E=hf is an equation that describes the relationship between energy (E) and frequency of light (f). What will
happen to the energy of light as the frequency goes higher? It
A. goes higher C. goes lower
B. remains the same D. undetermined
5. Under which type of light do we easily get sunburned?
A. infrared C. microwave light
B. ultraviolet light D. white light
6. He formulated the hypothesis that electron being a particle has wave-like characteristics.
A. Albert Einstein C. Louis de Broglie
B. Max Plank D. Neils Bohr
7. Which property of light is responsible for white clouds, blue sky and red sunset?
A. Dispersion C. Interference
B. Scattering D. Diffraction
8. What natural occurrence is produced by the refraction of light as it travels between hot and cold air?
A. mirage C. virtual image
B. myriad D. real image
9. Which of the following situations exemplifies the dispersion property of light?
A. The image of the flower in a mirror
B. The sparkling glow of the diamond ring
C. The swaying movement of coin under water
D. The rainbow in the sky after the rain shower
10. Explain when can diffraction of light occur?
A. When photons oscillate in certain directions are absorbed, while others that oscillate in line with
the filter pass through.
B. when light strikes the boundary between substances at an angle greater than the critical angle.
C. when waves spread and bend as they pass through small openings or around barriers.
D. when two or more waves overlap or intersect.
11. What effect does interference of light waves have on soap bubbles?
A. They become larger
B. They become heavier
C. They produced different colors at the surface.
D. They produced images of objects like a mirror.
12. After a rainstorm, a rainbow may appear in the sky. Which statement explains this observation?
A. The colors of the rainbow come from raindrops spread in the atmosphere
B. The raindrops act as prisms separating sunlight into spectrum of colors.
C. The white clouds are like prisms which are composed of different colors of the rainbow
 D. When the incident light is reflected by the ground towards the clouds, it separates them into
different colors.
13. What light phenomena results in a spectrum of colors that escapes when two reflections happened
inside the water droplets?
A. A primary rainbow C. A supernumerary bow
B. A secondary rainbow D. A Halo
14. The reason why Hertz used the same length of wire from CA to CB.
I. The voltage reached at the same direction.
II. The voltage reached at the same point.
III. The voltage reached at the same time.
A. I only C. II and III only
B. I and II only D. III only
15. Hertz’s observation on his experiment.
I. When sparks flew across the main gap, sparks flew across the secondary gap.
II. When sparks flew across the main gap, sparks stopped across the secondary gap.
III. When sparks flew across the main gap, secondary gap do not ignite.
A. I only C. II and III only
B.I, II and III D. III only