m

BEHAVIORS OF LIGHT
What is Light?
Light is everywhere and it allows us to receive
information about the world around. Light comes from many
sources such as fire, light bulbs, fireflies, and of course the
sun.
Light is a form of radiant energy that you can detect with your
eyes. Light energy comes from chemical energy, electrical
energy and nuclear energy. It isma combination of electrical and
magnetic energy that travels very, very fast. It is estimated to
travel at approximately 300 000 km per second.
Wave-Particle Duality
The earliest attempt to discuss the nature of light
as a particle started with Newton and his
corpuscular theory, which states that light
emitted by a source is composed of tiny,
massless particles called corpuscles. This theory
m
can perfectly explain the concept of reflection,
but it was not able to explain other phenomena.
Wave-Particle Duality

Not long after, evidence of light being a wave

has become so persuasive and the biggest
breakthrough was when James Clerk Maxwell
discovered the existence of electromagnetic
m
waves.
TWO TYPES OF LIGHT
 Luminous - objects that emit their own light (sun)
 Non-luminous - objects that do not emit light (flashlight that is
switched off)

Light is made-up of photons which are very small particles of

energy. When these photons move or the light travels, it travels in
straight lines but in small waves. An example would be tossing a
pebble into a pond. The ripples produced, (small waves) travel in a
straight line away from the source, the pebble. Light shares the
characteristics of both particles and waves.
 BEHAVIORS OF LIGHTS

An inclusive list of the basic categories of behaviour for light would

most likely include transmission, absorption, reflection, refraction,
diffraction, scattering, polarization and interference. Of these, only
the first three—transmission, absorption and reflection - are needed to
account for all of the electromagnetic energy, or light, which falls
upon an object.
Light waves across the electromagnetic spectrum behave in similar
ways. When a light wave encounters an object, they are either
transmitted, reflected, absorbed, refracted, polarized, diffracted, or
scattered depending on the composition of the object and the
wavelength of the light.
 Reflection - bouncing off a smooth surface in a new direction
• Scattering is when it reflects off a rough or uneven surface in many new directions.
Refraction - light waves will bend when it enters a new medium such as water or
glass.
- this is responsible for our ability to see rainbows
This how prisms work - when the light wave bends it separates the different
colour frequencies.
Absorption - matter absorbs the Transmission - light passes through
matter.
light wave, no light passes
through. Matter will get hot as
it absorbs light energy.
 TRANSFER OF LIGHTS

Different objects will transfer light energy in different ways.

• Transparent - objects that allow most or all light to transmit or pass through. You
can see clearly through these types of objects.
Example: Window

• Translucent - objects that only transmit some light - the rest is either absorbed or
reflected. You cannot see clearly through these types of matter.
Example: Lamp shade

• Opaque - objects that DO NOT transmit light - all light is either reflected or
absorbed.
Example: Mirror, tin foil
 MIRRORS AND REFLECTION LENS, PRISMS & REFRACTION

• Lens are transparent objects that bend or

•Mirrors are opaque objects that let no
refract light.
light pass through
•This causes images we see to come into focus
• Instead they reflect all light
or become clear in our vision.
•This creates a reflected image that you
see in the mirror. 2 types: Concave and Convex
Concave- curves away from light- makes
3 types: Plane, Concave, and convex image smaller
Concave- curves away from light- Convex- curves toward light makes image

makes image larger larger (magnifying glass)

Convex- curves toward light-makes

• Prisms are transparent objects that also
image smaller
refract or bend light. This causes each
Plane- flat gives accurate image
frequency of light to scatter and makes a
Rainbow (color spectrum).
LIGHT AS FORM OF ENERGY
Light is a form of energy produced by a light source. Light
is made of photons that travel very fast.

 Photons of light behave like both waves and particles.

LIGHT SOURCE
Something that produces light is called a light source. There are two main kinds of
light sources:

 Incandescent sources use heat to  Luminescent sources are normally

produce light. Nearly all solids, cooler and can be produced by
liquids and gases will start to glow chemical reactions, such as in a
with a dull red colour once they glowstick or a glow-worm.
reach a temperature of about 525
°C.
Natural sources of light include the sun, stars, fire, and
electricity in storms. There are even some animals and plants
that can create their own light, such as fireflies, jellyfish, and
mushrooms. This is called bioluminescence.

Artificial light is created by humans. Flashlights, table lamps,

neon signs, and televisions are some sources of artificial light.
Most of the lights that are man-made need an energy source,
such as electricity or batteries, to produce light.
• Light energy is a form of energy that moves as transverse waves with a
wavelength of 400–700 nanometers and is visible to the naked eye. Hot
objects such as lasers, lamps, and the sun produce an electric pulse, which is
called light.
• Photons are tiny energy packets that make up light.
• Light travels at a rapid speed; in fact, nothing travels faster than light. Its
speed is approximately 300,000 km per second. Some examples of light
energy are light from stars, fire, the sun, glowing coils, electric bulbs,
flashlights, lasers, and light from kerosene lamps.
LIGHT TRAVELS IN STRAIGHT LINE
The earliest surviving optical The Rectilinear Propagation of Light
treatise, Euclid's Catoptrics describes that light travels in a straight
(280 BC), recognized that
line. A mirror changes the direction of
light travels in straight-lines
light that falls on it and it travels in a
in homogeneous media.
straight line path. Reflection of light
occurs when light bounces off a polished
surface.
• Once light has been produced, it will keep travelling in a straight line
until it hits something else.
• Shadows are evidence of light travelling in straight lines. An object
blocks light so that it can't reach the surface where we see the shadow.
Light fills up all of the space before it hits the object, but the whole
region between the object and the surface is in shadow. Shadows don't
appear totally dark because there is still some light reaching the surface
that has been reflected off other objects.
• Once light has hit another surface or particles, it is then absorbed,
reflected (bounces off), scattered (bounces off in all directions),
refracted (direction and speed changes) or transmitted (passes straight
through).
COMESO, ANGELA P.
BSED 3- SCIENCE