Continuation of the Behavior of Waves

Transmission and Absorption

When an object is illuminated, light can be absorbed or
transmitted. Objects that absorb a particular frequency of light
are considered opaque to that frequency, while objects that allow
light to pass through materials without being scattered are
considered transparent. The absorption and transmission of light
depend on the thickness of the material and the type of light used.
Thicker materials absorb more light than thinner ones. Light of
higher frequencies passes through materials more easily than light
of lower frequencies. For instance, in a 100% amount of incident
light, 30% of it is reflected and 50% is absorbed. Only 20% of the
incident light is transmitted and thus called transmitted light.
Otherwise, if the incident light is shone at an angle other than
perpendicular to the surface, it is called refracted light.

Materials such as plastics, cellophane, and glass are all

transparent materials that allow light to pass through them.
However, colored transparent materials appear to change the color
of the object behind them. If one looks through a blue glass or
plastic, objects behind it appear to be in shades of blue. This is
because blue transparent materials allow only the blue color to
pass through and any other color is absorbed. These transparent
materials are also called filters for the reason of allowing
selected colors to pass through them. In general, the colored
filter will only permit light of its own color to pass through.
Red laser passes through more easily in red cellophane and green
light will pass through green cellophane. Red laser light will be
absorbed in green cellophane.

Different frequencies of visible light correspond to

different colors. When light hits an object, some of its
frequencies are either absorbed or reflected. When light hits a
red apple, for instance, all other frequencies are absorbed except
red. The red light is reflected and received by the eye's color-
sensitive cells called cones. The cones in turn send signals to
the brain, which interprets the color of the apple as red. If all
the frequencies are reflected, then an object is seen as white. If
all the frequencies are absorbed, an object is seen as black.
A white object can reflect all the colors in the spectrum.
Colored objects have tints or pigments that are capable of
reflecting specific colors. A blue surface reflects the blue
component of sunlight and absorbs other colors. Light from human-

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made sources, such as light from incandescent lamp or light-
emitting diode (LED) produces light with color intensities
different from sunlight. For instance, an incandescent light has
more yellow light. When an incandescent light is shone on blue
clothes, the clothes appear pale because the incandescent light
contains small amount of blue light. When green light hits a white
surface, the surface reflects green. The same thing would happen
if other colors hit a white surface.
Some of the colors are combination of the primary colors. For
instance, magenta is a combi nation of red and blue light. This
means that when magenta light is shone on a white surface, the
surface will reflect magenta. When magenta is shone on blue
surface, blue light will be reflected and red light will be
absorbed. When magenta light is shone on green surface, nothing
will be reflected and magenta light will be absorbed. In the last
example, the object appears to be black.

Dispersion

Dispersion is the separation of white light into a spectrum of

colors when it passes through a prism. Dispersion occurs because
the refractive index of the prism is slightly different for each
color. Therefore, the different colors of light are bent at
different angles.
In 1637, French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650)
studied the dispersion of light and explained the formation of
rainbows in raindrops. He proposed that a ray striking the center
of a raindrop is reflected back. All the rays that enter above the
first ray exit the raindrop below the axis formed by ray 1, with
the seventh ray (later known as Descartes' ray) emerging the lowest
from the axis. All the other rays that enter the raindrop above
seventh ray exit at an angle less than that of seventh ray. Thus,
rays just below and above the Descartes' ray form approximately
41° angle upon exiting the raindrop and form concentrated amount
of light rays.

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 Newton also studied how light is dispersed through a prism.
His proposition disproved that the dispersion of light is caused
by the internal disorder of the particles within the prism.
However, he showed that the dispersed light can be recombined to
produce white light through a second prism. Newton proposed that
the particles of light have corresponding colors and sizes, with
red particles having larger refrangability than blue ones.
Refrangability is the capability of light rays to be refracted.
Newton suggested that color is not a property of an object but a
property of the light that illuminates it.

Scattering

Scattering occurs when sunlight are redirected by the particles

suspended in the atmosphere called scatterers. When the size of
the scatterer is smaller than the wavelength of light being
scattered, Rayleigh scattering takes place. In this type of
scattering, light of short wavelengths (e.g., blue, violet) is
scattered more effectively than light of long wavelengths (e.g.,
red). Particles like oxygen and nitrogen present in the atmosphere
have small sizes that make them effective at scattering shorter
wavelengths. Rayleigh scattering is responsible for the blue sky
since the atmosphere has abundant amounts of oxygen and nitrogen.
However, the color is not even across the sky. The horizon
appears pale blue because blue light encounters more particulates
(such as dust, aerosols, water vapor, etc.) before reaching the
eyes.
Rayleigh scattering also accounts for red sunsets. The longer
path traversed by sunlight during sunset (because the sun appears
near the horizon) makes the blue light more scattered and only
light of longer wavelengths reaches the eyes. Thus, the sky appears
red, pink, or orange.

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 Clouds contain water droplets that are large enough to scatter
all the wavelengths of light. This type of scattering is called
Mie scattering and is the reason why clouds appear white. However,
clouds at the lower level of the atmosphere cannot be reached by
sunlight. The absence of light to be scattered by the particles
makes the clouds appear darker.
Rainclouds also appear dark because they are thicker and
denser than normal clouds. As more water vapor rises, the droplets
become larger, which are more capable of absorbing light than
scattering it.

Diffraction

The slight bending of light around barriers is called

diffraction. For diffraction to be noticeable, the wavelength of
light must be approximately the same or bigger than the slit or
the opening of the barriers. Light of longer wavelengths is
diffracted at a smaller angle than light of shorter wavelengths.
Considering the particle theory of light, light particles
from the source travel in straight lines. Some light particles
that pass though the barrier do not bend around, resulting to a
shadow with sharp edges. This idea is almost correct on a
macroscopic scale but does not agree in a microscopic one.
From the wave theory of light, light bends around the barrier and
becomes wider. This behavior is like water waves that surround the
raft upon hitting its edge instead of reflecting away. Another
example is the formation of fuzzy edges around the shadow of an
object hit by light. This observation makes a good credit the wave
property of light.

Interference
When two waves meet while
traveling through the same
medium, interference occurs.
It may be constructive or
destructive. Constructive
interference happens when two
or more waves with equal phase
and frequency reinforce each
other. The resulting amplitude
is equal to the sum of the
amplitudes of the individual
waves.

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Destructive interference happens when two waves with opposite
phase and equal frequency interfere and cancel each other. The
negative displacement of the first wave coincides with the positive
displacement of the other wave.
Optical Phenomena
Mirage
A mirage is an optical phenomenon that
produces the illusion of water due to the
refraction of light through a nonuniform
medium. This can be observed along a
straight highway when the sun heats up the
road to high temperatures. The heated road
makes the air above it to become less
dense, thus, a nonuniform medium is created. Light traveling in
this medium will be refracted and at a certain point will undergo
total internal refraction. That is, when an object is viewed from
a very low angle, light from the object will follow a curved path
toward an observer's eye.

Haloes and Sun Dogs

Haloes can be formed around the
moon, sun, or any celestial light source
when there is enough elevation for
cirrus clouds. When light passes
through the ice crystals (solidified
water droplets), light is refracted
twice, making 22° from its original
direction. This means that when the sun
is seen at 22° degrees, a halo can be
observed. It is believed that hexagonal
ice crystals with diameter less than 20.5 um are responsible for
the haloes.
Sun dogs are patches of light that appears beside the sun.
They are also called mock suns or parhel, a Greek word which means
"beside the sun”. The term "sun dogs" is based on the speculation
that they seem to follow the sun like dogs following their master.
Sun dogs have the same mechanism as how haloes are formed. However,
sun dogs are produced by hexagonal plate of ice crystals with their
faces nearly horizontal. Sunlight enters the side face which is
inclined 60° with the adjacent side. The ice crystals, at the same
altitude, deviate the rays by at least 22° toward the eyes. The
blue light is more refracted than the red light so the blue light
is seen at the outer edges of the sun dogs.

Rainbows
Dispersion can be best seen in rain bows
that originate from the suspended water
droplets in the atmosphere. When sunlight
enters a water droplet, it is dispersed into
different colors: red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo, and violet. These

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colors are refracted at slightly different angles; red is bent the
least, while violet is bent the most. The sunlight then reaches
the back surface of the droplet and is reflected. As it leaves the
water droplet, it is refracted again. Violet forms an angle of 40°
with the incident sunlight, while red forms an angle of 42°. The
other colors are refracted between 40° and 42°. An observer sees
these refracted rays from many water droplets as a primary rainbow.
Sometimes, two rainbows are seen at the same time. The
secondary rainbow is the spectrum of colors that escapes when two
reflections happened inside the water droplet. It appears to be
less bright than the primary rainbow because some rays are
scattered due to its angular scope. The angles between the incident
light and the emerging violet and red rays are 54° and 52°. The
colors of secondary rainbow are in reversed order.

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