Light
WHAT MAKES THINGS VISIBLE
Look around your darkened room at night. You cannot see an object in the dark.
This means
that eyes alone cannot see any object. It is only when light from an object enters
our eyes
that we see the object. Thus, light is a form of energy which gives us sense of
vision.
SOURCES OF LIGHT
Luminous objects
The objects which emit their own light are called ‘luminous objects’.
Examples : Sun and other stars, lamp, bulb, tubelight, candle flame, etc.
Non-luminous objects
The objects which do not emit their own light but only reflect or scatter the light
which falls
on them are called ‘non-luminous’ objects (or illuminated objects).
Examples : Table, chair, animals, plants, planets, satellites, moon, etc.
When the light falls on a non-luminous object, it reflects a part of the light
towards us. When this light reaches our eyes, we could see such an object. A
luminous object emits its own light. When this light reaches our eyes, we could see
a luminous objects. Thus, for us to see an object, it must reflect or emit some light
that reaches our eyes.
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PROPERTIES OF LIGHT
1. Light consists of electromagnetic waves (non-mechanical waves) which do not
require
any material medium for their propagation. That is, light can travel through
vacuum.
2. The speed of light depends on the nature of medium. In vacuum or free space,
they travel
fastest and their speed is 3 × 10^8 m/s. In air.
3. Light travels in a straight line in vacuum or in a uniform transparent medium.
This
characteristic is termed as rectilinear propagation of light.
REFLECTION OF LIGHT
The process of sending back of light rays which fall on the surface of an
object is called
reflection of light.
Some basic terms related to reflection of light
Incident ray : The ray of light which falls on the mirror surface is called
incident ray.
Reflected ray : The ray of light which is sent back by the mirror is called
‘reflected ray’.
Point of incidence : The point at which the incident ray falls on the mirror is
called ‘point
of incidence’.
Normal : A line perpendicular to the surface of mirror passing through the
point of incidence is called ‘normal’.
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Angle of incidence : The angle made by incident ray with the normal at the
point of incidence is called ‘angle of incidence’.
Angle of reflection : The angle made by reflected ray with the normal at
the point of
incidence is called ‘angle of reflection’.
LAWS OF REFLECTION
1. The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of
incidence, all lie in the same plane.
2. The angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection.
REGULAR AND DIFFUSED REFLECTION
Regular Reflection: When light drops on a smooth uniform surface (like a mirror),
all the parallel incident rays are reflected perfectly parallel. This is called Regular
Reflection.
Diffused Reflection: When light strikes a rough surface, such as stone, skin, or
clothing, the parallel incident rays scatter in various directions instead of
reflecting parallel to each other. This phenomenon is known as diffused reflection.
Note: Both Regular and Diffused Reflection obey the Laws of Reflection.
Diffused reflection is caused by irregularities in the reflecting surface and not
due to the failure of Laws of Reflection.
Some basic terms
Object : Anything which gives out light rays either of its own or due to
reflection is called an ‘object’.
Image : An image of an object is formed when light rays coming from the
object meet or
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appear to meet at a point after reflection from a mirror or refraction from
a lens.
Real image : A real image is one formed when the light rays actually meet
at a point and
which can be obtained on a screen.
Virtual image : A virtual image is one formed when the rays do not actually
meet at a point
but they appear to meet at a point. Such images can not be obtained on the
screen.
IMAGE FORMED BY A PLANE MIRROR
The Characteristics of an image formed by a plane mirrors are,
(1)The image is virtual and erect.
(2)The distance of image from mirror is equal to distance of object from
mirror.
(3) The size of image is exactly equal to the size of object.
(4) The image is laterally inverted.
Lateral inversion
When an asymmetric object is placed in front of a plane mirror, then the right side
of the
object appears to be the left side of image and the left side of the object appears
to be the right side of its image. This change of sides of an object seen in the
image is called ‘lateral inversion’.
REFLECTED LIGHT CAN BE REFLECTED AGAIN
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When a reflected light falls on a plane mirror, then it gets reflected again. It also
follows the law of reflection
e.g. In a barber's shop, we see the back of the head using multiple reflection of
two mirrors. Similarly, a periscope works on principle of the multiple reflection of
two mirrors, where the beam of light from the object is reflected twice by the
two mirror surfaces.
Multiple Images
We know that, a plane mirror forms only a single image of an object but when two
plane mirrors are placed at some angle, the light rays reflected by the first mirror
strike the second mirror and get reflected again. This results in the formation of
multiple images.
Multiple Images Formed by a Plane Mirror Placed at Different Angles
● When the angle between mirrors is more than 90°, then two images are
formed.
● When the angle between mirrors is less than 90°, then number of images
increases.
● When object is kept between two parallel plane mirror, then infinite images
are formed.
No. Of Images = 360°/¢ given angle -1
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KALEIDOSCOPE
A kaleidoscope is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces tilted
to each other at an angle.
● It is used by designers of wallpapers and fabrics artists to get ideas for new
patterns.
● An interesting feature of a kaleidoscope is that you will never see the same
pattern again.
● It is based on the principle of multiple reflections of light.
Construction.
It contains three plane mirrors inclined at an angle of 60° to each other in a
tube.
One end of tube is closed with two circular glass discs, the inner one is
transparent glass and the outer one is ground glass.
The other end of tube is closed by a cardboard disc with the small hole in
the centre.
Glass pieces and bangle pieces of various colours are kept between the two
discs.
SUNLIGHT: WHITE OR COLOURED
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The sunlight is considered as white light but actually it contains seven colours.
These seven colours can be seen by passing sunlight through a prism.
When this sunlight or white light passes through the prism, it splits into seven
different colours and this process is called dispersion of light.
One of the best example of dispersion of light is formation of rainbow.
HUMAN EYE
Eye is a very important sense organ which is used to see objects around us.
Structure of the Eye
The shape of eye is roughly spherical, it contains following parts
The outer coat of eye is white in colour. It is tough, so that it can protect the
interior parts of eye from any accident.
Cornea: The transparent part of the outermost layer is cornea. The main function
of cornea is to protect the eye but it also helps in focusing light due to its shape.
Iris It is coloured part of eye situated just behind the cornea. The colour of iris
can be brown, green or blue. It controls the amount of light entering in the eye.
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Pupil: The small black opening in the iris is pupil. The size of pupil is controlled by
iris.
● In dim light, our pupil expands to allow more light to enter into our eyes
while in bright light, it contracts.
Lens : Just behind the pupil, a transparent and elastic structure is present. It is
thicker in the centre just like a convex lens. It focuses the light on the retina.
Ciliary muscles : The lens is attached to ciliary [Link] muscles are used to
change the shape of eye lens to focus image on the retina.
Retina : A screen on which the image is formed in the eye is known as retina. The
retina contains many optic nerves. These optic nerves carry image in the form of
electrical signal to the brain.
Optic nerves There are two types of cells in optic nerve
(i) Cones These are sensitive to bright light. It is responsible for colour
vision.
(ii) Rods These are sensitive to dim light. It is responsible for vision in dim
light.
Blind spot : At the junction of optic nerve and the retina, there are no sensory
cells. The brain cannot sense image formed at this spot. Hence, it is named as blind
spot.
Eyelids The part of an eye which prevents any object from entering the eye are
known as eyelids. It also shut out if light is not required.
PERSISTENCE OF VISION : Any image formed on retina does not vanish
immediately. It persists there for about 1/16 th of a second.
Due to this fact, if 1/16 steady images of a moving object are flashed on the eye
at a rate faster than 1/16 s, then the eye perceives this object as moving. The
same phenomenon is used in movies.
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CARE OF EYES
Eyes are wonderful instrument gifted by nature thus, it is necessary that you take
proper
care of your eyes.
(1) If you feel any problem you must go to an eye specialist. Have a regular
checkup. If
advised, use suitable spectacles.
(2) Wash your eyes twice everyday, preferably with boiled and cooled water.
(3) Too little or too much light is bad for eyes. Insufficient light causes eyestrain
and
headaches. Too much light, like that of the sun, a powerful lamp or a laser torch
can
injure the retina. For that reason, never look at the sun or a powerful light
directly.
(4) Never rub your eyes strongly. If particles of dust go into your eyes, wash your
eyes with
clean water. If there is no improvement i.e., if irritation persists rush to a doctor.
EYES OF OTHER ANIMALS
Different animals have different eye shape, some of them are given as follows
Crab Its eyes are very small and present on stalk, so crab can see enemy
even if it approaches from behind.
Butterfly They have large compound eyes made up of thousands of little
eyes. They can see in all directions. It can sense even small movement in an
object.
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Owl Its eyes have large cornea and pupil that allows more light to enter in
the eye. Also, it has few cones and large number of rods. Due to this, owl can
see in the night.
Day bird They have large number of cones which are sensitive to bright
light.
Visually Impaired Persons can Read and Write
Some people cannot see due to any eye defect but they can identify things
using other senses like touching and listening.
BRAILLE SYSTEM
● Braille is a written language for visually challenged person.
● This system was adopted in 1932. It has series of patterns of raised dots.
● These dots represent specific alphabets and numbers. There are 63 dot
patterns.
● Combination of these patterns produces words and grammatical sign.
● Visually challenged people can recognise these words by touching them.
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