2.01 The Nature of Light

Subject: SNC2D Unit: 3.0: Light & Geometric Optics Lesson: 2.
01
Topics: Materials:
The Nature of Light
A) Intro: We are now going to start our study of light and the field of geometric optics. First we will have to discuss the
concept of waves. Light acts both as a wave and a particle under different circumstances. But what which is it? The debate
began with Pythagoras (582-500 BC) who thought light was a particle and Aristotle (384-322 BC) who thought it was a wave and
continued to the 19th century with Young’s double slit experiment, James Maxwell, Newton. With the discovery of quantum
mechanics in the early 20th century, we finally resolved the question, in that light is both☺.
B) What is light?:
• Light is a form of energy visible to the human eye and it is a transverse wave.
• Waves are one means of transferring energy.
• Light (as we usually think about it) is actually only a small fraction of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum which
includes many things we wouldn’t call “light” since the “visible spectrum” is only the range of 400-700 nm (violet to red,
ROYGBIV) / 4.3 x 1014 - 7.5 x 1014 Hz.
• The electromagnetic spectrum is simply the full range of radiation (energy being emitted as waves (light) or particles
(photons) without the need for a medium). Photons are particles with zero mass.
• Electromagnetic waves (radiation), another term for light. Light waves are fluctuations of electric and magnetic fields in
space.
• In fact, everything that has “heat” or energy (which is everything unless it’s at absolute zero (not even space is absolute
zero, its 2.7K due to background microwave emissions)), radiates this energy or “glows”. Heat can also be transferred
by convection and conduction but only radiation allows it to be sent across the vacuum of space because radiation needs
no medium. For the heat emitted by something to be “visible” to us, it must be above approximately 540oC or higher
(will look deep red).
• Energy increases as frequency increases (note wavelength gets smaller)

• What a wave “interacts” with depends on the relative size of the wavelength and object
• <<talk about why the hulk came from gamma rays and not radio waves>>
• c is the speed of light, 299792458 m/s or 3108 ms (in a vacuum), and is a special speed <<elaborate>>
• Astronomers all types of light to view the universe: visible, radio, X-rays. Most “pictures” of space are composits of all
types of light (colours assigned to the non-visible ones).
• Notes:
o Newton is credited with discovering the visible spectrum colours ROYGBIV.
o The existence of electromagnetic waves was proposed by James Maxwell who predicted they would involve
rapidly alternating electricity and magnetism, would travel at “c”, and would require no medium to propagate.
o The existence of EM waves was proven with William Roentgen discovering X-Rays and Heinrich Hertz radio
waves.
see next page
Notes: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html
Homework: Homework Sheet P01
C) Colour Schemes:
• Earlier we mentioned that objects are either luminous or non-luminous. It
depends on which they are, as to what colours we see.
Color Wheel
In color theory, we often talk about the color wheel. A color wheel is really just the spectrum twisted around so
that the violet and red ends are joined. The color wheel is particularly useful for showing how the colors relate
to each other and how you can create new colors by mixing two or more colors.
Primary Colours
Among the colors in the color wheel, there are three colors which are referred to as the primary colors. All other
colors can be created by mixing these three colors. The primary colors are, as seen in the figure to the left, red,
green and blue. Why red, Green and Blue?
This might require a bit more explanation - There really is nothing intrinsically primary about red, green and
blue, rather they are just points on the color wheel. In fact, in the print industry the primary colors are
considered cyan, magenta and yellow. (commonly referred to as cmyk, where k stands for black).
Additive Color System: If you look very closely at your computer screen or TV (any color source that emits the
light itself) you will see that it is built up of tiny red, green and blue dots. This color system is commonly referred
to as the Additive Color System. In the additative system, you get white when the three primary colours are present
at 100%, as seen in the illustration to the left.
<< use colour adding apparatus to demonstrate>>
Subtractive Color System: As I said above, the primary colors in printing is considered cyan, magenta and yellow.
This is also called the subtractive color system. The subtractive colour system is what comes to play when the color does
not emit any light of its own, but reflects light from its surroundings. In the subtractive colour system, you get black
when all colours are mixed.
<< Use some paint to demonstrate>>
Secondary Colors: The secondary colors are what you get when you mix any two adjacent primary colors. Red and
green give yellow, red and blue give you magenta and a mix of green and blue result in a cyan color. The secondary
colors are also the primary colors in the subtractive color system.
Tertiary Colors: To complete the color wheel we need to add the tertiary colors. The tertiary colors are those which
lie in between the primary and secondary colors. As you can see on the color wheel, they are a further blending of
adjacent colors.
The complete wheel
Adding it all together, we get the complete color wheel. The color wheel is the foundation for much of color theory,
and you would do well to remember what it looks like and where the colors are in relation to each other.
http://www.colorsontheweb.com/colorinformation.asp
Color Wavelength (nm) oC Color
Red 650 - 800
400 Red heat, visible in the dark
Orange 590 - 640
Yellow 550 - 580 474 Red heat, visible in the twilight
Green 490 - 530 525 Red heat, visible in the daylight

Blue 460 - 480
581 Red heat, visible in the sunlight
Indigo 440 - 450
Violet 390 - 430 700 Dark red
800 Dull cherry-red
900 Cherry-red
1000 Bright cherry-red
1100 Orange-red

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Subject: SNC2D Unit: 3.0: Light & Geometric Optics Lesson: 2.

• Energy increases as frequency increases (note wavelength gets smaller)

see next page

Green 490 - 530 525 Red heat, visible in the daylight

800 Dull cherry-red

1000 Bright cherry-red

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