P10-7 INTRODUCTION
1. 1637 — Descartes → Gave the corpuscular model of light and derived
Snell’s law.
2. Corpuscular model → Explained the laws of reflection and refraction
of light at an interface.
3. Corpuscular model prediction → If the ray of light bends towards
the normal on refraction, the speed of light would be greater in the
second medium.
4. Isaac Newton → Further developed the corpuscular model of light in
his famous book OPTICKS.
5. Corpuscular model → Often attributed to Newton because of the
tremendous popularity of OPTICKS.
6. 1678 — Christiaan Huygens → Put forward the wave theory of light.
7. Wave theory of light → Discussed in this chapter.
8. Wave model → Satisfactorily explained the phenomena of reflection
and refraction.
9. Wave model prediction → If the wave bends towards the normal on
refraction, the speed of light would be less in the second medium.
10. Wave model prediction → Contradicted the prediction of the
corpuscular model.
11. Experimental confirmation → Speed of light in water is less
than the speed in air.
12. Foucault → Carried out this experiment in 1850.
13. Wave theory → Was not readily accepted primarily because of
Newton’s authority.
14. Light travelling through vacuum → Created another difficulty
because it was felt that a wave would always require a medium to
propagate from one point to another.
15. 1801 — Thomas Young → Performed the famous interference
experiment.
16. Young’s interference experiment → Firmly established that
light is indeed a wave phenomenon.
17. Wavelength of visible light → Was measured and found to be
extremely small.
18. Yellow light → Has a wavelength of about 0.6 μ m .
19. Small wavelength of visible light → Compared with the
dimensions of typical mirrors and lenses.
20. Light → Can therefore be assumed to approximately travel in
straight lines.
21. Geometrical optics → Field based on the approximation that
light travels in straight lines.
22. Geometrical optics → Discussed in the previous chapter.
23. Geometrical optics → Branch of optics in which the finiteness
of wavelength is completely neglected.
24. Ray → Defined as the path of energy propagation in the limit of
wavelength tending to zero.
25. After Young’s interference experiment in 1801 → Many
experiments involving interference and diffraction of light waves were
carried out for about 40 years.
26. Interference and diffraction experiments → Could only be
satisfactorily explained by assuming a wave model of light.
27. Around the middle of the nineteenth century → Wave
theory seemed to be very well established.
28. Major difficulty → A wave was thought to require a medium for
propagation.
29. Light waves in vacuum → Could not be explained by the then-
existing wave theory.
30. Maxwell → Explained this difficulty through his electromagnetic
theory of light.
31. Maxwell → Developed a set of equations describing the laws of
electricity and magnetism.
32. Maxwell’s equations → Led to the wave equation.
33. Wave equation → Predicted the existence of electromagnetic
waves.
34. Speed of electromagnetic waves in free space → Could be
calculated from Maxwell’s wave equation.
35. Theoretical speed of electromagnetic waves → Found to be
very close to the measured speed of light.
36. Maxwell’s conclusion → Light must be an electromagnetic
wave.
37. According to Maxwell → Light waves are associated with
changing electric and magnetic fields.
38. Changing electric field → Produces a time- and space-varying
magnetic field.
39. Changing magnetic field → Produces a time- and space-
varying electric field.
40. Changing electric and magnetic fields → Result in the
propagation of electromagnetic waves or light waves.
41. Electromagnetic waves → Can propagate even in vacuum.
42. This chapter → First discusses the original formulation of the
Huygens principle.
43. Huygens principle → Used to derive the laws of reflection and
refraction.
44. Sections 10.4 and 10.5 → Discuss the phenomenon of
interference.
45. Interference → Based on the principle of superposition.
46. Section 10.6 → Discusses the phenomenon of diffraction.
47. Diffraction → Based on the Huygens-Fresnel principle.
48. Section 10.7 → Discusses the phenomenon of polarisation.
49. Polarisation → Based on the fact that light waves are
transverse electromagnetic waves.
Footnote:
50. Maxwell → Predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves
around 1855.
51. Heinrich Hertz → Produced radiowaves in the laboratory around
1890.
52. J. C. Bose and G. Marconi → Made practical applications of the
Hertzian waves.
Below is the same NCERT-note format, with all facts and equations retained,
only unnecessary wording removed.