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Physics Magnetism
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Light
A particle, a wave or both a particle and wave
Light
has been studied extensively but its fundamental nature is still a mystery
Before the 19th century
Light was considered to be a stream of particles either emitted by the object being viewed or emanating from the eyes of the viewer
Formulated the corpuscles theories in support of the particle nature of light
Thomas Young
Provided a clear demonstration of the wave nature of light in 1801
Light rays interfere with each other under appropriate conditions, which could not be explained by a particle theory at that time
Maxwell
His work was the most important that led to the acceptance of the wave theory of light during the 19th century
Maxwell
Asserted that light is a form of high frequency electromagnetic wave
Hertz
Proved Maxwell's conclusion by producing and detecting electromagnetic waves in 1887
Hertz discovered the photoelectric effect which contradicted the wave theory
Einstein
Proposed an explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 using the concept of quantization developed by Max Planck in 1900
Quantization
model
Assumes that the energy of a light wave is present in particles called photons; hence energy is said to be quantized
Einstein's
theory
The energy of a photon is proportional to the frequency of the electromagnetic wave
Light
can behave like a particle and like a wave depending on the experiment used to study it
Light
is a wave can be seen in some experiments involving the interference of light through single and double slits
Einstein
showed that light also behaved like a particle, or photon, in a manner that could only be explained by particle theory
These developments led to a conclusion that light has a dual nature:
LIGHT
AS A
PARTICLE
AND A WAVE
Light
ray
A thin beam of light
Umbra
The darker part of a shadow
Eclipse
An example of shadow formation when light coming from the sun hits an opaque barrier such as moon and Earth
Transverse
wave
The direction of the wave is perpendicular with the particle
Characteristics of a transverse wave
Crest
Trough
Period
Frequency
Amplitude
Wavelength
Wave
speed
formula
Wave Speed (v) = Wavelength / Period
For light, v = c (the speed of light in a vacuum)
Nothing can travel faster than the
speed
of
light
in a vacuum but when light travels in a denser material, it slows down
Visible
light
The only part of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be seen by the human eye
Electromagnetic spectrum
Radio waves
Infrared
Visible light
Ultraviolet
X-rays
Gamma rays
Violet
has the greatest frequency and energy, while
red
has the longest wavelength
White
light
The presence of all frequencies of visible light
Black
The absence of the visible light spectrum
Primary
colors
of light
Red
Blue
Green
Secondary
colors
of light
Yellow
Cyan
Magenta
When the colors of light with varying degrees of
intensity
are mixed/added, another
color
will be produced
White light can also be formed when the three primary colors with the same intensity are added
Complementary
colors of light
Red + Cyan =
White
Green + Magenta =
White
Blue + Yellow =
White
Specular
reflection
Happens if the reflected light is from a smooth surface, will produce a regular reflection
Diffuse
reflection
Occurs if the incident light hits a rough surface
Law
of
reflection
The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection
The
normal
line
is always drawn perpendicular with the reflecting surface. Angle of incidence and reflection is measured from the normal line
Multiple reflection of light
When light hits reflecting surfaces several times, multiple images will be formed
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