Unit 22

Light Phenomena
Table of Contents

Table of Contents 1

Introduction 3

Essential Questions 4

Review 4

Lesson 22.1: Colors and Light 5

Objectives 5
Warm-Up 5
Learn about It 6
Key Points 9
Web Links 9
Check Your Understanding 9
Challenge Yourself 10

Lesson 22.2: Reflective and Refractive Illusions 11

Objectives 11
Warm-Up 11
Learn about It 12
Key Points 15
Web Links 16
Check Your Understanding 16
Challenge Yourself 17

Lesson 22.3: Scattering of Light by the Atmosphere 18

Objective 18
Warm-Up 18
Learn about It 19
Key Points 22
Web Links 22
Check Your Understanding 22
Challenge Yourself 23

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Lesson 22.4: Meteorological Light
Phenomena 24
Objective 24
Warm-Up 24
Learn about It 25
Key Points 28
Web Links 29
Check Your Understanding 29
Challenge Yourself 30

Laboratory Activity 31

Performance Task 33

Self Check 35

Key Words 35

Wrap Up 36

Photo Credits 37

References 37

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GRADES 11/12 | PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Unit 22
Light Phenomena

Have you ever wondered how and why rainbows exist after the rain pours? This
wonderful scenery doesn’t occur as simple as it will just come out after some rain.
The behavior and nature of light can be used to explain the occurence of different
light phenomena, one of which is the rainbow.

The complex nature of light, having dual nature of particle and wave, are the cause
of many light phenomena that occur on a regular basis. These phenomena are
usually attributed to colors, reflection, refraction, and scattering of light.

In this unit, you will be able to distinguish the different light phenomena and
identify the reason for occurrences of such phenomena as explained by how light
behaves.

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 Essential Questions

At the end of this unit, you should be able to answer the following questions.

● What makes colors and how are these related to light?

● What happens when light is reflected and refracted?
● How is reflection and refraction of light related to various illusions brought
about by the nature of light?
● What happens to light as it passes through the atmosphere?
● What are the different meteorological light phenomena and how are these
produced?

Review

● Scientists regard light as both particle and wave. This is the wave-particle
duality of light.
● Like any waves, light has wavelength, frequency, speed, and energy. The
three quantities—wavelength, frequency, and speed—are related to one
another and are still valid even when light is treated as particle.
● This dual nature is not only confined to light. According to de Broglie, even
particles such as electrons can also have particle- and wave-like properties.

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 Lesson 22.1: Colors and Light

Objectives
In this lesson, you should be able to:
● discuss the relationship between light and colors; and
● describe filters and how these function to determine how we
perceive light and colors.

Colors make the world exciting and fun. More importantly, colors help us
distinguish between various objects in this entire universe. One normally associates
leaves to be green, the sea to be blue, and the Sun to be yellow. But how exactly
do these colors occurs? What is the reason for having different colors of
different objects?

Warm-Up

Color Filters and Light Absorption Experiment

Materials:
● white, red, blue, and green colored papers
● red, blue, and green cellophane
● flashlight
● rubber bands

Procedure:
1. Turn off all lights in the room. The room needs to be as dark as possible.
2. Turn on the flashlight and aim it at the white paper. Observe and record the
color of the paper.
3. Repeat step 2 using red, blue, and green colored papers.
4. Using a red cellophane, create a light filter on the flashlight. Use rubber
bands to attach the cellophane onto the flashlight.
5. Turn on the flashlight and aim it at the white paper. Observe and record the
color of the paper.

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 6. Repeat step 5 for red, blue, and green colored papers.
7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 using the blue and green cellophane.
8. Write your observations on the table below.

Paper No Filter Red Filter Blue Filter Green Filter

white paper

red paper

blue paper

green paper

Guide Questions:
1. What are the colors of the papers when unfiltered flashlight was shone on
them?
2. What is the effect of the filters when shone to the white paper? Why do you
think you have observed these colors?
3. What is the effect of the filters when shone to the colored papers? Why do
you think you have observed these colors? What is the difference(s) to
shining the filtered light to white paper?

Learn about It

How Colors are Perceived by the Human Eye

Colors are not innate to objects. They only exist in the human visual system and are
determined by wavelength. As discussed previously, a light can be described by its
wavelength, as part of its wave properties.

When light reaches the eye, it falls into a receptor cell at the retina. The optic nerve
sends signals to the brain, which interprets the image with colors.

As shown in Fig. 1, the leaf appears green because it absorbs all the color
wavelengths of white light except for green, which is reflected. The reflected green
light reaches the observers’ eyes.

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These mechanism is the reason why
different objects are perceived by the
human eye to have different colors. It
generally depends of what makes up
the material, what colors it absorbs,
and what color it reflects that reaches
the human eye.

Filters
A filter can be a colored glass or
cellophane that absorbs certain
wavelengths of visible light. The
wavelengths that were not absorbed
are either transmitted or reflected.

When white light hits a blue glass, the glass will absorb all wavelengths except for
blue. When a red laser hits a red cellophane, the cellophane will transmit red
because it absorbs all wavelengths except red. When a red laser hits a green
cellophane, the cellophane will absorb the red light instead of transmitting it
because the green cellophane absorbs all non-green wavelengths. This is further
shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. The white light when passing through a filter transmits only specific
wavelengths and absorbs the others.

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Reflection of Light
Objects reflect certain colors based on the source that illuminates them. The
reason is that different light sources do not emit the colors with the same
proportion.

Incandescent light bulbs emit long-wavelength colors such as red, orange, and
yellow. Thus, the objects with these colors are enhanced under the incandescent
light. On the contrary, the light waves coming from fluorescent light sources are
mostly short-wavelength colors, such as blue and violet. Thus, blue and violet
objects look better under fluorescent light.

This means that a red shirt will appear redder under an incandescent light than in a
fluorescent light. In the same way, a blue shirt will appear bluer under a fluorescent
light.

You see the objects’ “true” colors when they are illuminated by sunlight or daylight.
This happens because the sunlight is a white light that emits proportional amount
of wavelengths.

Fig. 3. Different colors of objects under different light sources.

Fig. 3 shows that objects when shone with colored light sources tend to look with
different color. This happens because when objects are shone with colored light,
two apparent colors are present - the color of the object and the color of the light.
Thus, these two colors combined is the cause of changes in colors of objects.

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 Key Points

● Colors are not innate in objects and only occur in the human visual system
as described by the wavelength of light.
● A filter can be a colored glass or cellophane that absorbs certain
wavelengths of visible light.
● Objects reflect certain colors based on the source that illuminates them.

Web Links
For further information on colors and light, you can check the following web links:

● Read this article to know more about the colors of light and
how colors occur.
Science Learning Hub. 2012. ‘Colours of Light.’
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/47-colours-of-light

● Watch this video to further understand light absorption,

reflection, and transmission.
Boze Science. 2015. ‘Light Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOsro2kGjGc

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify what is being described in the following statements.

1. These are not innate to objects and exist only on the human visual system.

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 2. The color transmitted when white light passes through a red filter.
3. This emits long wavelength colors such as red, orange, and yellow.
4. This happens when light of unproportional wavelength hits an object of the
same color to that of wavelength.
5. This happens when light passes through a filter without being absorbed.
6. The part of the eye that receives light and is responsible for the perception
of colors.
7. The color of a red cube shone by a red light.
8. This happens to the wavelengths of light that are not allowed to pass to a
filter.
9. This light property determines the colors of objects.
10. This can be a colored glass or cellophane that absorbs certain wavelengths
of visible light.

B. Identify whether the statement is true or false.

1. A white light when shone on a yellow filter will produce a green light after.
2. Fluorescent light enhances the color of objects in the short-wavelength
spectra specifically colors blue and violet.
3. A red filter will absorb all wavelengths of light except the color red.
4. Colors are innate to objects.
5. Different light sources do not always emit colors in the same proportion.

Challenge Yourself

Answer the following questions.

1. When a red colored light passed through a green filter, what color of light
would you expect? Explain your answer.
2. When you place a red filter and a green filter together, what color of light
would you expect? Justify your answer.
3. When a yellow object is shone with a blue lamp, what color of the object will
you see? Explain your answer.
4. In nature, do you think we see the real colors of objects? Why or why not?
5. What do black and white colors signify or mean about light? Elaborate your
answer.

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 Lesson 22.2: Reflective and Refractive
Illusions

Objectives
In this lesson, you should be able to:
● discuss reflective and refractive illusions of light; and
● give examples of naturally occurring phenomena of these light
illusions.

Have you ever experienced walking in direct sunlight and saw an image then
suddenly disappeared? These scenarios are actually not hallucinations but rather
illusions produced by light itself through reflection and refraction. What illusions
occur when light is reflected or refracted?

Warm-Up

The Reversing Arrow Illusion

Materials:
● marker
● white paper
● glass
● water

Procedures:
1. Using a marker, write two parallel arrows pointing to the
left. Make sure that the arrows fit inside the body of the
glass when you place at the back of the it.
2. Pour water onto the glass making it half full, or occupying
only the portion up to the bottom arrow. Observe what
happens to the bottom arrow.
3. Pour water again onto the glass making it full. Observe
what happens to the top arrow.

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Guide Questions:
1. What can be observed when you placed an empty glass in from of the
arrows? Can you see the arrows clearly?
2. When the glass was half-filled with water, what happens to the bottom
arrow? Have you observed any unexpected results? What do you think made
these results?
3. When the glass was fully filled with water, what happens to the top arrow?
Have you observed any unexpected results? What do you think made these
results?
4. In general, what do the results suggest when light passes through water?
What happens to the light as you perceived it after it passes to another
medium?

Learn about It

Reflective and Refractive Illusions

The human brain is accustomed to
light traveling straight to the eyes.
Hence, it tends to assume that it can
draw a straight line toward all objects
being observed, leading to the phrase
“line of sight.” When light bends in an
unexpected manner, illusions are
created.

The reflected light waves in plane

mirrors are parallel rays. Looking at
the mirror is like looking at a replica of
yourself on the other side of the glass
standing at the same distance as the
real you from the glass. Your image
has the same proportion as the real
you. In using a curved reflecting
surface, these expectations are not
followed.

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The two surfaces of a metal spoon are examples of a curved mirror. The front of
the spoon curves inward, whereas the back part of the spoon bulges outward.
When you look at the front part of the spoon, you will see a smaller and inverted
image of yourself or a larger and upright image, depending on your distance from
the spoon. Concave mirror converges the light rays at a particular point in front of
it, with you seeing an upright or inverted image, depending on whether you are
looking at the light before or after it reaches the converging point.

In contrast, if you look at the back part of the spoon, you will see a smaller but
upright image of yourself. When light rays strike a convex mirror, the rays tend to
scatter and appear to be diverging from a point on the other side of the reflecting
surface. Thus, your reflected image appears to be coming from a small region on
the other side of the reflecting surface, making you look smaller.

Fig. 5. The images formed from the convex and concave side of the spoon.

A mirage is an optical phenomenon that creates a displaced image of an object due

to refraction of light in the air. Have you ever experienced seeing a puddle of water
where the sky is reflected on an asphalt road a few meters in front of you while
walking on a hot, sunny day? And then when you pass over that part where the
water is supposed to be, there was none? This is referred to as heat haze or a
highway mirage.

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Mirage happens because the air just above the ground has a higher temperature
than the layer of air above it. The difference in temperature causes a difference in
refractive indices of the different layers of air, which bends or refracts light.

Fig. 6. Highway mirage. Notice how the distant objects are reflected upside down as
if there is a body of water.

Fig. 6 shows how the light behaves whenever it causes mirage. The sunlight that
hits the cactus is reflected toward the observer’s eyes. Some of the reflected light
rays do not pass through the layers of air with the difference in temperature. Thus,
these rays reach the observer’s eyes without bending (represented by the straight
solid arrow coming from the cactus to the observer).

In contrast, other reflected light rays will have to travel through the layers of air
with different temperatures. The difference in the temperature of the layers of air
bends or refracts the reflected light rays (represented by the curved broken arrow
coming from the cactus to the observer). The refracted light rays produce a
displaced image or a mirage of the cactus (represented by the broken straight
arrow coming from the observer’s eyes to the ground).

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 Fig. 6. Light rays involved in the formation of mirage

Key Points

● When light bends in an unexpected manner, illusions are created.

● Concave mirror converges the light rays at a particular point in front of it,
with you seeing an upright or inverted image, depending on whether you are
looking at the light before or after it reaches the converging point.

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 ● The rays in a convex mirror tend to scatter and appear to be diverging from
a point on the other side of the reflecting surface. Thus, your reflected image
appears to be coming from a small region on the other side of the reflecting
surface, making you look smaller.
● A mirage is an optical phenomenon that creates a displaced image of an
object due to refraction of light in the air.

Web Links

For further information on Reflective and Refractive Illusion, you can check the
following web links:
● Watch this video to further understand concave and convex
mirrors and how they produced images.
uclaphysicsvideo. 2013. ‘Concave and Convex Mirrors.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtTBOMVMSYM

● Watch this video to understand more how mirages are

formed.”
Cine Kids. 2014. ‘What is a mirage and why do we see a mirage.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exm0gyxTrL8

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify what is being described in the following statements.

1. This type of mirror converges the light rays at a particular point in front of it,
with you seeing an upright or inverted image, depending on whether you
are looking at the light before or after it reaches the converging point.
2. These are created when light bends in an unexpected manner
3. This phrase means that the human brain tends to assume that it can draw a
straight line toward all objects being observed.
4. Reflected light waves in these type of mirror are parallel rays.
5. This type of mirror produces a replica exactly similar to the object in front of
it.
6. This type of mirror have rays that tend to scatter and appear to be diverging

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 from a point on the other side of the reflecting surface.
7. It is an optical phenomenon that creates a displaced image of an object due
to refraction of light in the air.
8. It is the phenomenon where you see a puddle of water where the sky is
reflected on an asphalt road during hot sunny day.
9. This meteorological parameter is the main cause of the occurrence of a
mirage.
10. This object is an example of a convex and concave mirror in one.

B. Identify whether the statement is true or false.

1. A mirage is an optical phenomenon that creates an image of an object due
to reflection of light in the air.
2. A mirage happens because light between two layers of air with different
refractive indices.
3. Refractive indices or air in deserts vary from layer to another due to
temperature gradient.
4. You see distorted images in plane mirrors.
5. Concave mirrors always give inverted images.

Challenge Yourself

Answer the following questions.

1. In deserts where the temperature is high, why do travelers normally
“hallucinate” seeing oasis when no water is actually present in the vicinity.
Explain your answer.
2. What is the reason behind varying image orientation produced by concave
mirrors? Elaborate your answer.
3. Why do plane mirrors produce the exact replica of the object in front?
Explain your answer.
4. Why do convex mirrors produce smaller image of the objects? Justify your
answer.
5. What is meant by the phrase “line of sight”?

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 Lesson 22.3: Scattering of Light by the
Atmosphere

Objective
In this lesson, you should be able to:
● discuss how light is scattered as it passes through Earth’s
atmosphere.

Atmosphere is the first layer of the Earth where the light coming from the sun
passes through. It is also the Earth’s protective layer against dangerous rays of light,
specifically UV rays. Have you ever wondered why the sky seem to be blue
during daylight and reddish during sunset? How can this be related to the
light scattered throughout the atmosphere?

Warm-Up

Light Scattering in Clouds

Materials:
● white paper
● glass of water
● milk
● flashlight
● red and blue cellophane
● rubber bands

Procedure:
1. In a glass of water, pour droplets of milk such that the water will look slightly
opaque white, creating a “cloud” setup. Position the “cloud” setup with a
white paper background.
2. Turn off the lights to darken the room as much as possible.
3. Shine the flashlight in the “cloud” setup. Observe what happens to the white
light.

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 4. Cover the flashlight with red cellophane and shine it in the glass of water.
Observe what happens to the light as it hits the “cloud” setup.
5. Repeat step 4 using the blue cellophane.

Guide Questions:
1. What happens to the white light as it hit the “cloud” setup?
2. What happens when red light was shone on the “cloud” setup? Why do you
think this happened to the red light?
3. What happens when blue light was shone on the “cloud” setup? Is there a
difference with the behavior of blue light as compared to red light?
4. If the behaviors of the red and blue light differ as they hit the “cloud” setup,
what do you think is the factor affecting these behaviors?

Learn about It

Scattering of Light by the Atmosphere

While most of the objects around you became visible due to the reflection of light,
you can see the skies because of light scattering. Light passes through the gases in
the atmosphere and ended up being scattered. The color of the sky that you can
see is the scattered light being sent toward you.

The atmosphere is made of several gases, mostly nitrogen and oxygen, which are
capable of scattering the light coming from the sun. When the white light from the
sun enters the atmosphere, the different colors are scattered differently: those with
short wavelength are scattered the most, whereas those with long wavelength
are scattered the least.

In a way, this is similar to the light passing through a prism wherein the red light
deflects the smallest from the incident ray, whereas the violet light deflects the
most. However, instead of being merely deflected, the colors with shorter
wavelength tend to scatter in all direction, while the colors with longer
wavelength more or less stay close to the original direction of the white light.

When the sun is at or near the zenith, the blue light passing through the
atmosphere is scattered in all directions, whereas the red light diverts only a little

19
from the original direction of the white light. Zenith is the point in the sky directly
above the observer’s location. Hence, you see most of the sky as blue.

The white light that is directly coming from the sun is scattered less because it
passes through the least amount of gas in the atmosphere. Thus, you still perceive
the light from the sun as white.

During sunrise or sunset, you see the sky as shades of red, orange, and yellow. At
this time, the white light coming from the sun is passing through the most
amount of gas. Most of the violet, blue, and green light were scattered, but the
colors with longer wavelengths (red, orange, and yellow) are scattered the least,
and thus, they are the ones reaching your eyes.

Perhaps you are wondering, if the shortest wavelengths are scattered the most,
why the sky appears blue instead of violet? First, some of the violet light rays are
absorbed by the upper atmosphere. Second, human eyes are more sensitive to
blue light than to violet light.

Fig. 7. You can see blue light during the day because the atmosphere scatters blue
color the most.

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Fig. 8. During sunrise or sunset, the light from the sun passes through the thickest
gas in the atmosphere, causing the wavelengths scattered the least to reach the
eyes.

Clouds are mass of water droplets floating in the atmosphere. It scatters light
differently from that of the surrounding atmosphere. Clouds appear white
because the water droplets in the clouds scatter all the color frequencies of
white light equally. However, before and during the rainfall, the clouds contain a
large amount of water droplets. The clouds are too thick for the light to pass
through, and as a result, the light ends up being absorbed.

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 Key Points

● The color of the sky that you can see is the scattered light being sent toward
you.
● Short wavelength are scattered the most, whereas those with long
wavelength are scattered the least.
● Zenith is the point in the sky directly above the observer’s location.
● Clouds are mass of water droplets floating in the atmosphere that scatters
light differently from that of the surrounding atmosphere.

Web Links

For further information on Scattering of Light by the Atmosphere, you can check
the following web links:

● Why is the sky blue?

SpitzerJim. 2008. ‘Why is the sky blue?.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4hw-aXiQmc

● Read this article to know more about the visible spectrum and
the wavelength of colors.
NASA Science. 2016. ‘Visible Light.’ https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify whether the statement is true or false.

1. The color of the sky that you can see is the scattered light being sent
toward you.
2. Short wavelength light are scattered less.

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 3. Long wavelength light normally reaches us in the surface.
4. Clouds appear white because the water droplets in the clouds scatter all
the color frequencies of white light equally.
5. At sunset, the white light coming from the sun is passing through the
most amount of gas.
6. Colors with shorter wavelength tend to scatter in one direction.
7. Colors with longer wavelength more or less stay close to the original
direction of the white light.
8. During sunset, colors of long wavelength reach your eyes more than short
wavelength.
9. Some of the violet light rays are absorbed by the upper atmosphere.
10. Human eyes are more sensitive to red light than to blue light.

B. Identify what is described in the statement.

1. This is the point in the sky directly above the observer’s location. Hence,
you see most of the sky as blue.
2. Colors red, yellow, and orange, have this wavelengths.
3. Colors blue and violet have this wavelengths.
4. These are mass of water droplets floating in the atmosphere.
5. Along with oxygen, this is another abundant gas in the atmosphere.

Challenge Yourself

Answer the following questions.

1. What is the cause of the varying color of the sky? Explain your answer.
2. How is light scattered in the atmosphere?
3. Why do clouds become dark when it reflects light? Justify your answer.
4. Why do you think shorter wavelength colors are scattered more than long
wavelength ones?
5. Can you relate why the sea is blue the same way as the sky? Justify your
answer.

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 Lesson 22.4: Meteorological Light
Phenomena

Objective
In this lesson, you should be able to:
● discuss the different meteorological light phenomena.

Have you ever wondered why after the rain pours, you see a rainbow? Or have you
ever observed the moon to look as if there is a ring surrounding it? These
phenomena are caused primarily by light and its behavior. What are the different
meteorological light phenomena and how do these phenomena occur?

Warm-Up

Do-It-Yourself Rainbow Experiment

Materials:
● small mirror
● glass of water
● flashlight
● red, blue, and green cellophane

Procedure:
1. Fill the glass with water and then place the mirror standing inside the glass.
2. Turn off all the lights to make the room as dark as possible.
3. Using a flashlight, shine a light onto the mirror. Observe what happens to the
white light as it hit the mirror.
4. Repeat the experiment at different angles where the light is shine.
5. Repeat the experiment using a red, blue, and green cellophane filter
attached to the flashlight.

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Guide Questions:
1. What happens to the white light as it hits the mirror? Is a rainbow produced?
2. What do you think is the reason behind the formation of rainbow in the
experiment?
3. Does the angle where the light was shone affects the experiment? In what
aspect does the angle introduced changes?
4. What happens when a filter is used on the flashlight? Does any of the filter
produced a rainbow?
5. What light is necessary in order to produce a rainbow?

Learn about It

Rainbow
Rainbow is the dispersion of sunlight by the water droplets in the atmosphere. It
usually appears after a rainfall. Primary rainbows are caused by sunlight
undergoing one internal reflection in the water droplets as it splits into colors.
Secondary rainbows, a dimmer rainbow usually found above the brighter primary
rainbow, are caused by sunlight undergoing two internal reflections in the water
droplets as it splits into colors. The light leaves the water droplets at an angle
different from that of the primary rainbow. The arrangement of colors in the
secondary rainbow is the reverse of that of the primary rainbow.

Fig. 9. Internal reflections in water droplets producing primary and

secondary rainbows.

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 Fig. 10. Primary rainbow with a dimmer and inverted secondary rainbow above it.

Supernumerary arcs are bands of faint bows inside the primary rainbow. They
appear when the water droplets are almost similar in size and arise from the
constructive and destructive interferences among the dispersed ray.

Fig. 11. Supernumerary arcs within a rainbow.

Halo
Halo, which is also called gloriole, icebow, or nimbus, is a light phenomenon that
happens when light shines through clouds that are composed of ice crystals. Light

26
refracts upon passing through the ice crystals and also reflects upon hitting the
crystals’ faces; these events cause the formation of the bright ring around the sun
or moon. A halo is usually bright white ring but may also have colors due to the
dispersion of light upon striking the ice crystals.

Fig. 12. Sharp halo surrounding the moon.

Parhelia
Parhelia (singular: parhelion), commonly called sundogs, are two bright spots seen
on either sides of the sun or the moon usually visible when they are close to the
horizon.

Fig. 13. Sundogs along a halo.

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Parhelia happen due to the refraction of light upon hitting the small crystals that
make up cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. These crystals are hexagonal in shape and
with faces almost horizontal upon drifting; these cause the formation of spots of
light on either side of the sun or the moon when light strikes them at a minimum
angle of 22°, as shown in Fig. 14. Since red light is the least refracted compared to
blue, the inner edge of a sundog is red.

Fig. 14. How ice crystals form parhelia.

Key Points

● Rainbow is the dispersion of sunlight by the water droplets in the

atmosphere. It usually appears after a rainfall.
● Halo is a light phenomenon that happens when light shines through clouds
that are composed of ice crystals.
● Parhelia are two bright spots seen on either sides of the sun or the moon
usually visible when they are close to the horizon.

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 Web Links
For further information on Meteorological Light Phenomena, you can check the
following web links:

● How rainbows form?

Physics Girl. 2014. ‘How rainbows form.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkDhQGXqwCM

● Read this article to further understand the formation of

sundogs.
Kim Ann Zimmermann. 2013. ‘Sundogs: Spot of Color Beside the Sun’
https://www.livescience.com/26402-sundogs.html

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify what is being described in the statement.

1. These are two bright spots seen on either sides of the sun or the moon
usually visible when they are close to the horizon.
2. This is the dispersion of sunlight by the water droplets in the atmosphere.
It usually appears after a rainfall.
3. These happen due to the refraction of light upon hitting the small crystals
that make up cirrus or cirrostratus clouds.
4. This is a light phenomenon that happens when light shines through
clouds that are composed of ice crystals.
5. These are bands of faint bows inside the primary rainbow.
6. These are caused by sunlight undergoing one internal reflection in the
water droplets as it splits into colors.
7. This is a dimmer rainbow usually found above the brighter primary
rainbow, are caused by sunlight undergoing two internal reflections in the
water droplets as it splits into colors.
8. This is the other name for parhelia.
9. This is also known as gloriole, icebow, or nimbus.
10. This is the minimum angle required in the formation of parhelia.

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 B. Identify whether the statement is true or false.
1. There are two kinds of rainbows, the primary and secondary rainbow.
2. Supernumerary arcs can be seen both in the primary and secondary
rainbows.
3. Halo can occurred when light strikes at normal rain droplets.
4. The singular term for parhelia is parhelion.
5. Rainbows will be formed even if the light source is not white light.

Challenge Yourself

Answer the following questions.

1. Why are primary and secondary rainbows have opposite arrangement of
colors? Explain your answer.
2. Is halo possible to occur in the Philippines? Justify your answer.
3. How are parhelia formed? Elaborate your answer.
4. How are colors in parhelia arranged? Are the colors in both spots arranged
similarly?
5. Why do supernumerary arcs look faint? Explain your answer.

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 Laboratory Activity

Activity 22.1
Light Reflection, Filtration, and Absorption

Objectives
At the end of this laboratory activity, the students should be able to:
● explain how light is filtered through different filters;
● explain how light is reflected and absorbed by bodies; and
● relate absorption of light to energy transformation.

Materials
● red, blue, green cellophane
● 2 flashlights
● rubber bands
● red apple
● green leaf
● white, black, and blue paper

Procedure
A. Light Reflection by Different Objects
1. Turn off all lights in a room. The room needs to be as dark as possible.
2. Turn on the flashlight and aim it at the red apple. Observe and record the
color of the object.
3. Repeat step 2 using green leaf and blue paper.
4. Using a red cellophane, create a light filter on the flashlight. Use rubber
bands to attach the cellophane onto the flashlight.
5. Turn on the flashlight and aim it at the red apple. Observe and record the
color of the red apple.
6. Repeat step 5 for the green leaf and blue paper.
7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 using the blue and green cellophane.

B. Light Filtration
1. Turn off all lights in a room. The room needs to be as dark as possible.
2. Using a red cellophane, create a light filter on the flashlight. Use rubber
bands to attach the cellophane onto the flashlight.

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 3. Attach a second filter to the flashlight using a blue cellophane.
4. Shine the flashlight on a white paper and observe the color of the light.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 using the following combinations:
- red-green filters
- green-red filters
- green-blue filters
- blue-red filters
- blue-green filters

C. Light Absorption
1. Shine a flashlight on both the white and black paper. Make sure that the
distance between the flashlight and the paper is around 5 cm.
2. Leave the setup for around 30 mins.
3. After 30 mins, hold the papers and compare their temperature.

Data and Results

Table 1. Colors observed from the Light Reflection Experiment.

Paper No Filter Red Filter Blue Filter Green Filter

Red Apple

Green Leaf

Blue Paper

Table 2. Colors observed from the Light Filtration Experiment.

First Filter

Red Green Blue

Red -
Second
Green -
Filter
Blue -

Guide Questions
1. What color of light brings out the natural color of objects as people normally
perceive it?

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 2. What is the effect of altering the color of light shone to the objects? Why do
you think the colors of the objects change?
3. How do filters work?
4. What happens when two filters were placed in a white light? Does the color
you see as the white light passes through the two filters differ as you change
the colors of the filter? Why or why not?
5. What is hotter after exposing to white light for 30 minutes, the white paper
or the black paper?
6. How can you relate the temperature of the white and black paper to their
color? Note that black is the absence of colors and white is the presence of
colors.

Performance Task

Local Light Phenomena Research Correspondent

Goal
● Your goal is to act as a correspondent of a research project to determine all
the naturally occurring light phenomena in different localities and how
citizens perceived these phenomena.

Role
● You are a correspondent of a research project tasked to gather information
from local people about occurrences of different light phenomena.

Audience
● Your audience will be the whole research project team composed of
scientists and other correspondents.

Situation
● You are assigned to interview at least 10 respondents in the locality whether
they have observed the light phenomena in the list and whether they know
the reasons behind this.
● You will interview people from your locale whether they have observed and
know the reasons for occurrences of the following:
○ rainbow

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 ○ supernumerary arcs
○ halo
○ parhelia
○ mirage
○ blue sky
○ reddish sky

Product, Performance, and Purpose

● You will write a full report narrating the answers and explanations of your
respondents.
● The report should include whether they have observed it or not, their own
explanation of the phenomena, and whether their explanation is correct or
incorrect based on your knowledge.
● The report will be presented in the next research project meeting where all
the scientists and other correspondents will attend.

Standards and Criteria

● Your performance will be graded by the following rubric.

Needs Successful Exemplary

Below Expectations,
Criteria 0% to 49%
Improvement Performance Performance
50% to 74% 75% to 99% 100%

Content. Details not Details are Details are Details are

presented. presented but not presented in an presented in an
Detailed facts are
Content is not organized. There is organized manner. organized manner
presented well.
related to the task. some content that Contents are that can be easily
Content related to the
is not related to related to the task. understood.
task.
the task. Contents are
related to the task.

Communication The presentation The presentation The presentation The presentation

was not done. was done but in a was done was done clearly.
Skills.
disorganized and smoothly but the Concepts were
The presentation was illogical manner. concepts should presented in a
done in a clear and be rearranged for logical manner.
logical manner. better
understanding.

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 Self Check

Were you able to understand the lessons? Check the boxes below once you have
finished the respective lessons.

Check I can…

discuss the relationship between light and colors.

describe filters and how these function to determine how we perceive

light and colors.

discuss reflective and refractive illusions of light.

give examples of naturally occurring phenomena of these light illusions.

discuss how light is scattered as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere.

discuss the different meteorological light phenomena.

Key Words

Clouds These are mass of water droplets floating in the

atmosphere that scatters light differently from that of the
surrounding atmosphere.
Colors These are not innate in objects and only exist in the human
visual system.
Concave mirror It converges the light rays at a particular point in front of it,
with you seeing an upright or inverted image, depending on
whether you are looking at the light before or after it
reaches the converging point.
Convex mirror Its rays tend to scatter and appear to be diverging from a
point on the other side of the reflecting surface. Thus, your
reflected image appears to be coming from a small region

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 on the other side of the reflecting surface, making you look
smaller.
Filter It can be a colored glass or cellophane that absorbs certain
wavelengths of visible light.
Halo This is a light phenomenon that happens when light shines
through clouds that are composed of ice crystals.
Mirage It is an optical phenomenon that creates a displaced image
of an object due to refraction of light in the air.
Parhelia These are two bright spots seen on either sides of the sun
or the moon usually visible when they are close to the
horizon.
Primary rainbow This is caused by sunlight undergoing one internal
reflection in the water droplets as it splits into colors.
Rainbow This is the dispersion of sunlight by the water droplets in
the atmosphere. It usually appears after a rainfall.
Secondary rainbow This is caused by sunlight undergoing two internal
reflections in the water droplets as it splits into colors.
Supernumerary arcs These are bands of faint bows inside the primary rainbow.

Zenith This is the point in the sky directly above the observer’s
location.

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 Wrap Up

Light Phenomena

Photo Credits

Fig. 6. A Highway Mirage by Michael is licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

References

Birky, Jennifer. “The Physics of Rainbows.” Hesston College Physics Homepage.

Accessed July 3, 2016.

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 http://www2.hesston.edu/Physics/Rainbows/research2_paper.htm.

Castro, Joseph. “Why Are Rain Clouds Dark?” Live Science. Accessed July 3, 2016.
http://www.livescience.com/39069-why-are-rain-clouds-dark.html.

Gibbs, Philip. “Why Is the Sky Blue?” The Original Usenet Physics FAQ. Accessed July
3, 2016. http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/index.html.

Henderson, Tom. “Mirages.” The Physics Classroom. Accessed July 3, 2016.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/Lesson-4/Mirages.

Thorsen, Steffen. “Atmospheric Phenomena: Halos, Sundogs and Light Pillars.” Time
and Date AS. Accessed July 3, 2016.
http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/optical-phenomenon.html.

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