TOPIC – LIGHT

What is light?
. Light is a type of energy known as electromagnetic radiation.
It is made up of photons, little particles of energy.
Light travels as a wave. But unlike waves of water, or sound waves, it does not
need any medium to travel through. This means light can travel through a vacuum -
a completely airless space.
Light waves travel out from sources of light in straight lines. These lines are often
called rays or beams of light.
Rectilinear propagation of light:
Rectilinear motion is motion along a straight line.
Light travels in a straight line; it cannot bend the path itself. This is called
the rectilinear propagation of light. Rectilinear propagation is one of the most
important properties of light.
The device which helps us to understand the rectilinear propagation of light is
a pinhole camera.

Light always travels in straight line

Reflection
 The human eye is a complex organ that receives light and focuses it so that it can be interpreted
into visual information by the brain .
When an object doesn’t emit light, light is still needed to see it. Light from a light source is
reflected by (bounces off) the object into the eye.

Light reflects off an object, enters the cornea of the eye and passes the pupil. The lens then
focuses the light on to the retina. The retina contains light-sensitive cells that gather information
(light, dark, colour, movement) and sends this information to the optic nerve. Light is refracted as
it passes through the convex lens. This causes the image that hits the retina to be reduced in size
and flipped upside down. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the retina to the brain.
This information is carried in tiny electrical signals along the nerve cells (also called neurones).
Once the electrical signals reach the brain, brain cells in the visual cortex can process the image,
turning it the correct way round.
 How Does Light Help Us See?

Rays of light travel from a light source and hit objects around us.
The rays of light reflect, or bounce, off an object, and then travel into our
eyes.

1. Light from the light

bulb travels in a
straight line and hits
the chair.

2. The ray of light is

reflected off the
chair and travels in a
straight line to the
girl’s eyes, enabling
her to see the chair.

Reflection of Light
• Whenever light hits an object, it is either absorbed or reflected.
• Reflection of light can be defined as the phenomenon of an object
throwing back the light that falls on it. Hence, the reflection of light
changes its path.

Types of Reflection
Depending upon the surface of the reflecting object, the reflection of light can vary.
Diffused Reflection or Irregular Reflection: In this type of reflection, the light rays
that fall on the surface are reflected in different directions irregularly. This
generally happens in the case of an irregular or roughly surfaced object.

Regular Reflection: In this type of reflection, the light rays that fall on the surface
of the reflecting object reflect in a particular direction. The reflected rays are
always parallel to each other. This generally happens in the case of a smooth and
shiny surface.
• .

The Laws of Reflection of Light

• Incident Ray - The light ray that falls on the reflecting surface is
called an Incident Ray.
• Reflected Ray –The light ray that gets reflected from a reflecting
surface is called a Reflected Ray.
• Normal - It is a line that is perpendicular to the reflected plane at the
point of incidence of Incident Ray.
Laws of Reflection of Light
I) The incident ray, the reflected ray and normal to the point of
incidence all lie in the same place .
II) The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection .

REFRACTION
Refraction happens when light changes direction, or bends, when it moves from
one material to another. For example, light traveling through the air refracts when
it hits water. This can make a straw in a glass of water look bent at the surface of
the water.
 Difference between reflection and refraction

Reflection Refraction
This phenomenon usually occurs in This phenomenon usually occurs in
mirrors. lenses.

Reflection can simply be defined as the Refraction can be defined as the

bouncing back of light when it strikes process of the shift of light when it
the medium on a plane. passes through a medium leading to the
bending of light.

The light entering the medium returns The light entering the medium travels
to the same medium. from one medium to another.

Considering the light waves, they During refraction, the light waves pass
bounce from the plane and change through the surface while
direction. simultaneously changing both direction
and medium.

Shadows
A shadow is formed when something blocks light. The size of a shadow can also
changes depending on the position of the object. The closer to the light source an
object is, the bigger the shadow will be. This is because the object blocks more of
the light. The further away from the light source an object is, the smaller the
shadow will be. This is because the object blocks less of the light. When the light
source moves, the shadow will change .When the light source is to one side of the
object, the shadow will appear on the opposite side. The shadow will also be
longer. When the light source is directly above the object, the shadow will be
directly underneath.

Transparent materials let most of the light pass through. Translucent materials
allow some light to pass through. Transparent and translucent objects still form
shadows, but they may be faint, fuzzy or [Link] objects cast shadows
because they do not let light pass through them. Hence, they form a dark patch on
the other side of the object. Transparent and translucent objects do not cast
shadows because they let light pass through them. Hence, they don't form any dark
patches.
MIRRORS
A mirror is defined as a reflecting surface
• A mirror is generally any shiny surface that can reflect light.
• A mirror that has a plane surface is called a Plane Mirror.
• A mirror that is curved, it either bulges in or out, is called a Curved
Mirror.
• As a mirror reflects light, an image of the object that is in front of
the mirror is formed on it.
• The image of an object can be defined as the impression of the object
created by the light in the mirror.
• The distance between the image and the mirror, and the object and
the mirror always remain the same.
• If we increase or decrease the distance between the object and the
mirror, the distance between the image and the mirror also increases
or decreases, respectively.
• However, the size of the image formed on the mirror can vary with
respect to the distance between the object and the mirror.
• If the distance between the object and the mirror increases, the size
of the image decreases and vice versa.
• An image is said to be erect if the image is formed the same side up
as that of the object.
• The image will be called Inverted if it is formed upside-down
compared to the object.
 Left-right inversion of the image

The image formed by the mirror is always left-right inverted. This means that
the right side of the object appears as the left side of the image, and the left
side of the object appears at the right side of the image.
Why is the word ‘AMBULANCE’ painted on an ambulance left-right
inverted?
This is because of the left-right inversion of the image on a mirror. The word
ambulance written as left-right inverted would, therefore, be read easily by
the driver of the vehicle ahead of the ambulance in its rearview mirror. The
rear-view mirror will again invert the word left-right wise.

Types of Mirrors

Plane mirror:
The images formed from a plane mirror are reflected images in their normal
proportions but reversed from left to right. These are the most widely used mirrors.

Convex mirror:
These are the spherical mirrors that are curved outward, and the image obtained is
virtual, diminished and erect for a real object.

Concave mirrors:
These are spherical mirrors that are curved inward, and the image obtained from
these mirrors depends on the placement of the object.

The image formed by a concave mirror has the following properties:

• It can either be real or virtual.

• It can either be inverted or erect.

• It can be the same size as that of the object, a larger size than that of
the object or smaller size than that of the object.
The image formed by a convex mirror has the following properties:
• It is always virtual.

• It is always upright (erect).

• It is smaller in size as that of the object
Applications of Concave Mirrors:
• Satellite dishes use a concave mirror to gather all the signals and
reflect them on a certain point.
• Dentists use a concave mirror to reflect light on a particular tooth.
• Shaving Mirrors are concave in shape.
• Headlights of a car have a concave mirror so that we can reflect light
straight on the path.
• Torches also use concave Mirrors.

Applications of Convex Mirrors

• The rear-view mirrors are convex mirrors as they provide a wider
view of the road behind.
• Security mirrors near an ATM are convex so that the user can detect
easily if anyone else is watching from behind or not.
Spectrum of Light
White light can be split into a spectrum (rainbow). This is why when the sun is
shining through the clouds which are made of water, we can sometimes see a
rainbow. A rainbow is caused by reflections, refraction and the dispersion of light
and it's one of the best ways to see the colors that are within the light spectrum.

Also known as the visible spectrum of light, a spectrum is always the same. The
order of colors found in a spectrum is:

• red
• orange
• yellow
• green
• blue
• indigo
• violet

An optical filter is a device that lets some colours of light through, but not others.
When a ray of white light shines on an object, the object absorbs some colours and
reflects others. A filter only allows certain colours of light through. For example, a
green filter allows green light through, but absorbs the other colours.
So, if you look at a green pear through a green filter, it will still look green,
because the green light will get through the filter to your eyes. A pear reflects the
green light and absorbs the other colours of light.
It is only the green light that bounces back into our eye.
The pear looks green to our eyes!
PERISCOPE
A periscope is a device for seeing over or around something. Periscopes were first
used by sailors in around 1860, who used them in submarines to see above the
surface of the water. They were also used by soldiers in the First World War, to see
over the top of their trenches. They are still used today by tanks and some
submarines. A simple periscope is a tube with a mirror at either end. The mirrors
need to be positioned so that the light is reflected from the mirror at one end, down
the tube to the other mirror, then out of the tube to the observer’s eyes.