A light source is an object that emits its own light. The stars (even our sun), fires, torches and lamps all make their own light and so are examples of sources of light.
Some animals, such as fireflies and glow-worms, are light sources. They make their own light to attract mates. In summary, anything that produces its own light is a light source.
NOTE - Our moon isn’t a light source. It just reflects the light from the sun. Let’s now learn about reflection. 2
How Does Light Travel?
The image below explains a lot about how light travels. The sun is hidden behind the clouds in this image but we can see it’s rays.
Light travels as waves. It always travels in straight lines that are called ‘rays’ and never bends. So, if you ever have to draw light rays, you should always use a ruler. 📏 3
Reflection :)
You might think of a mirror when you hear the word ‘reflection.’ When you look in a mirror, you see a clear reflection of yourself.
The picture you see in a mirror is called an image. This is because most of the mirrors you use are plane mirrors. That means that it is flat.
When light from an object is reflected by a surface, it changes direction. It bounces off the surface at the same angle as it hits it. Smooth, shiny surfaces such as mirrors and polished metals reflect light well. 4
Drawing A Ray Diagram —:
A ray diagram shows how light travels, including what happens when it reaches a surface. In a ray diagram, you draw each ray as:
➔ A straight line. ➔ With an arrowhead pointing in the direction that the light travels.
Remember to use a ruler and a sharp pencil.
Here’s How It Works —:
To draw a ray diagram, you need to have some basic knowledge about it. First off, incident ray. An incident ray is a light ray arriving at a surface, such as a mirror.
The ‘normal’ is a line perpendicular to the mirror.
Finally, we’ve the reflected ray. This is the ray that has been reflected and bounced off the surface of a mirror or any other surface.
The diagram below shows a light ray that has been reflected by a mirror. 5
In the ray diagram:
❖ The hatched vertical line on the right represents the mirror.
❖ The dashed line is called the ‘normal.’ ❖ The angle of incidence, i, is the angle between the normal and incident ray. ❖ The angle of reflection, r, is the angle between the normal and reflected ray. 6
The Law Of Reflection -
The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, i = r. It works for any angle. For example:
● the angle of reflection is 30° if the angle of incidence is 30°
● the angle of reflection is 90° if the angle of incidence is 90°
In the second example, if a light ray travelling along the ‘normal’ hits a mirror, it is reflected straight back the way it came.
The reflection of light from a flat surface such as a mirror is called specular reflection – light meeting the surface in one direction is all reflected in one direction. 7
Here’s another law of reflection (-;
➢ The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal to the reflecting surface all lie in the same plane.
We just had a look at regular reflection in the previous chapters.
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As you can see in the image above, because the surface of the glass is not flat, the reflection is distorted.
This tells us that the two kinds of reflection are dependent on the surface the light rays hit.
If the surface is a plane surface such as a mirror, it shall reflect the light rays following all the laws of reflection.
If a surface is rough, diffuse reflection happens.
Instead of forming an image, the reflected light is scattered in all directions. This may cause a distorted image of the object, as occurs with rippling water, or no image at all. 9
Refraction -
Light waves change speed when they pass across the boundary between two substances with a different density, such as air and glass.
This change in speed causes the light rays to bend and change their direction.
This bending of light rays when they enter or leave a transparent material is called ‘refraction.’
At the boundary between two transparent substances:
❖ The light slows down going into a denser substance, and the ray bends towards the normal. ❖ The light speeds up going into a less dense substance, and the ray bends away from the normal. 10
As you can see here I’m the image that the angle of refraction is smaller than the angle of incident.
This is because the light ray is travelling into a denser substance and the ray bends towards the normal.
Speed of light in air: 3 * 10^8
Speed of light in water: 2.5 * 10^8
Speed of light in glass: 2 * 10^8
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You can use the information about the speed of light in different substances as a reference to understand if the light ray is travelling into a denser or less dense medium.
The lesser the speed, the denser the object is.
Refraction explains why an object appears to bend when it goes through water.
