BC Science Connections 8

UNIT 3
Energy can be transferred as both a particle and a wave

TOPIC 3.2
How can models
explain the properties
of electromagnetic
radiation?
 Topic 3.2: How can models explain the
properties of electromagnetic radiation?

• Scientists use models to

represent ideas and
concepts.
– Visible light is often
used as a model to
study other types of
electromagnetic
radiation The game plan shown
here is a type of model.
 Concept 1: Visible light can be used to model all
types of electromagnetic radiation.

Properties of electromagnetic
radiation:
•Invisible as it travels
•Involves the transfer of
energy from one place to
another
•Can travel through empty
space
•Travels through empty space
at the speed of light (3.00 x
108 m/s) Figure 3.7: Visible light and
other electromagnetic radiation
•Has both electrical and from the Sun travels 150 million
magnetic properties km to reach Earth. The brighter
object is Earth; the smaller
object is our Moon.
 Concept 1: Visible light can be used to model all
types of electromagnetic radiation.

The seven types of electromagnetic radiation have a lot in

common.
•Studying one type can tell you a lot about the others
•Visible light is used as a model to study electromagnetic
radiation
– Easy and safe to study
– Becomes visible when it interacts with matter
 Discussion Questions

• Why is visible light used as

a model for other types of
electromagnetic radiation?

• Explain one way that

visible light is different
from other types of
electromagnetic radiation
and one way it is similar to
them.
 Concept 2: The ray model of light explains
that light travels in straight lines.

• Euclid: Greek
mathematician that
suggested that light
travels in straight lines
– Led to the
development of the
ray model of light
The Sun is a source of all
types of electromagnetic
radiation.
 Understanding the Ray Model of Light

• The ray model of light:

– The idea that light travels
in straight lines
– Ray: an arrow that is used
to show the direction of
the straight-line path of
light

Figure 3.8: Light from the light source cannot bend around
the person’s hand. The hands block light and cast a shadow
on the wall. Therefore, light must travel in straight lines.
 Using Ray Diagrams to Model Visible Light

• Ray diagrams:
– Used to study and predict how light behaves
– Rays can be used to predict the location, size, and
shape of shadows
 Using Ray Diagrams to Model Visible Light

Figure 3.9A:
Notice that the
distance
between an
object and the
light source
affects the size
of the shadow.
 Using Ray Diagrams to Model Visible Light
Figure 3.9B:
Ray diagrams
are easier to
draw if you
view the object
from the side.
The light
source can be
represented as
a dot.
Using Ray Diagrams to Model Visible Light

Figure 3.10: Light rays spread out as they travel from

a light source and get dimmer with distance.
 Discussion Questions

• Like visible light,

microwaves spread out
from a source. How might
this affect cell phone use?
 Discussion Questions
• In Figure 3.9 (shown here), why does the smaller
object cast the bigger shadow?
Concept 3: The wave model of light explains
that light has wave-like properties.

• Some scientists thought that

light was a stream of particles
that had particle-like properties
(particle model of light)
• Early 1800s: Thomas Young
performed an experiment that
supported the idea that light has
properties of a wave
– Wave model of light: the
idea that light has wave-like
properties
 Young’s Experiment: Wave Model of Light

Young shone light

through a single
slit in a solid
sheet.
Young’s Experiment: Wave Model of Light

He then directed
this light to two
slits in another
solid sheet.
Young’s Experiment: Wave Model of Light

He observed the pattern of

light coming from the two
slits on a screen placed
behind the double-slit
sheet.
 Young’s Experiment: Results and Conclusions

• If light was like a particle:

pattern would be two lines.
.
• If light was like a wave:
light would spread out into
a series of lines
– Young saw that the
light spread out into a
series of lines when it
passed through the two
narrow slits
– Therefore, light had
wave-like properties
 Properties of Light Waves

• Light waves have some

things in common with .
water waves:
– Both move energy
from one place to
another
– Both have
wavelength,
amplitude, and
frequency
 Properties of Light Waves
Figure 3.12

• Crest: highest point of a wave

• Trough: lowest point of a wave
• Distance from the centre line to the crest is the same as the
centre line to the trough
 Properties of Light Waves
Figure 3.12

• Wavelength: distance from one crest (or trough) of a wave to

the next crest (or trough)
• Amplitude: distance from the centre line to the crest of trough
of the wave
 Properties of Light Waves
• Frequency: the
number of complete
wavelengths that
pass a point in one
second as the wave
goes by
• As wavelength
decreases, frequency
increases
• As wavelength
increases, frequency
decreases

Figure 3.13
 Light, Wavelength, and Colour

• 1600s: Isaac Newton used a prism to separate visible light

into colours
– Discovered that light is a mixture of colours
– When the colours passed through another prism, the
colours recombined to form white light

Figure 3.14: Newton

separated visible light
into colours.
 Light, Wavelength, and Colour

Colours of light are different

wavelengths of visible light (visible
light spectrum)
•Colours of the spectrum are in a
certain order (ROY G BIV)
– Red (longest wavelength)
– Orange
– Yellow Figure 3.14: Newton
separated visible light
– Green into colours.
– Blue
– Indigo
– Violet (shortest wavelength)
 Discussion Questions

• Describe one way that a

light wave is like a water
wave. Describe one way
that it is different.

• One wave has a higher

frequency than another
wave. Which wave would
have the longer
wavelength. Explain your
reasoning.
 Concept 4: The particle model of light explains
that light has particle-like properties.

• One property of light could

not be explained with the
wave model of light: the
photoelectric effect.
• The photoelectric effect:
– When light shines on a
metal surface, the
surface can (but not
always) give off
electrons Figure 3.15: The
photoelectric effect
 Lenard’s Experiments: The Photoelectric Effect

1902: Phillip Lenard performed an experiment that further

studied the photoelectric effect.

• Red light (longer

wavelength) shone on
metal surface:
– Electrons are never
given off, no matter
how bright or how
long the red light
shines on the metal
 Lenard’s Experiments: The Photoelectric Effect

• Blue light (shorter

wavelength) shone on
metal surface:
– Electrons are always
given off, no matter
how dim or how
briefly the blue light
shines on the metal
 Lenard’s Experiment: Conclusions

• Why did the red light not give

off electrons when it hit the
metal, but the blue light did?
• If light was a wave:
– Any wavelength of light
(including red) could “pile
up” enough energy when it
hits the metal to cause
electrons to be given off by
the metal
– The wave model of light
could not explain the
photoelectric effect
 Einstein’s Thought Experiment: Explaining the
photoelectric effect

• Albert Einstein:
– Realized that the wave
model of light could not
explain the photoelectric
effect
– Some difference between
red and blue light must
cause the effect
 Einstein’s Thought Experiment: Light acts as a
particle when it interacts with matter

• The photoelectric effect can be explained if light

acts as a particle when it interacts with matter.

Light interacts
Light does not
with matter as
interact with
packets or
matter as a
distinct
flowing stream,
particles, like
like water from
water in ice
a faucet.
cubes.
 Einstein’s Thought Experiment: The particles of
light energy are called photons.

• Einstein called the particles of light energy photons.

– Each photon carries an exact amount of energy
that is enough to make the metal give off electrons
– Otherwise, nothing will happen when the photon
hits the metal
 Einstein’s Thought Experiment: The particles of
light energy are called photons.

• Red light:
– Photons of red light do
not carry enough energy
to make metal give off
electrons

• Blue light:
– Photons of blue light do
carry enough energy to
make the metal give off
electrons
 Einstein’s Thought Experiment: Photons carry
more energy as the frequency increases and
wavelength decreases.

• Red light:
– Has a lower frequency
and longer wavelength
– Photons of carry less
energy

• Blue light:
– Has a higher frequency
and shorter wavelength
– Photons carry more
energy
 Discussion Questions

• Does light have the

properties of a wave, a
particle, or both? Explain
your reasoning.

• Scientists build on their

work of other scientists.
Explain how this is true of
Einstein’s explanation of
the photoelectric effect.
Summary: How can model explain the properties
of electromagnetic radiation?

• Visible light can be used to

model all types of
electromagnetic radiation.
• The ray model of light
explains that light travels
in straight lines.
• The wave model of light
explains that light has
wave-like properties.
• The particle model of light
explains that light has
particle-like properties.