What Is Light?
In this Powerpoint presentation:
1) Properties of light
2) Colors
3) Reflection - Mirrors
4) Refraction - Lenses
Properties of Light
Light travels in straight
lines:
Laser
Light travels much faster than sound. For example:
1) Thunder and lightning
start at the same time,
but we will see the
lightning first.
2) When a starting pistol
is fired we see the
smoke first and then
hear the bang.
Lighttravels VERY FAST – about 300,000
kilometers per second or 186,000 miles
per second.
At this speed light
could travel the
equivalent of 8 times
around the world in
one second!
Light can create shadows
Shadows are places where light is “blocked”:
Rays of light
Light travels in waves
A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy from place
to place.
What characteristics do light
waves have?
Light waves are like other kinds of waves. They have
crests, troughs, wavelength, frequency and speed.
However, light waves are electromagnetic! Light waves
have a component that is electric and magnetic!!
We see things because they reflect
light into our eyes! This is literally
the only way we get to see things!
ALL objects we see either create
light or reflect light!!
Homework
Properties of Light summary
1) Light travels in straight lines and is a form
of energy
2) Light travels much faster (a million times
faster!) than sound
3) We see things because they reflect light
into our eyes
4) Shadows are formed when light is blocked
by an object
5) Visible light is only a small part of the
electromagnetic spectrum; the other parts
are invisible to the human eye but not
necessarily the eyes of other animals.
The degree that light bends when it enters a
new medium is called the “index of refraction”
Review of Refraction
1. Light rays slow down when they enter a new
medium
2. Refraction can cause light rays to change
their direction
3. All transparent materials have their own
“index of refraction”
4. Light is refracted when it passes through
lenses and this creates images
Color
White light is not a single color; it is made up of a
mixture of the seven colors of the rainbow.
We can demonstrate this by
splitting white light with a
prism:
This is how rainbows are
formed: sunlight is “split up”
by raindrops.
The colors of the rainbow:
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
Just remember ROY G. BIV
Adding colors of light
White light can be split up to make separate colors.
These colors can be added together again.
The primary colors of light are red, blue and green:
Adding blue and red Adding blue and
makes magenta green makes cyan
(purple) (light blue)
Adding red Adding all
and green three makes
makes yellow white again
Seeing color
The color an object appears depends on the colors
of light it reflects.
For example, a red book only reflects red light:
White Only red light
light is reflected
In different colors of light this shirt would look different:
Red
Shirt looks red
light
Shorts look black
Shirt looks black
Blue
light
Shorts look blue
A pair of purple trousers would reflect purple light
(and red and blue, as purple is made up of red and blue):
Purple light
A white hat would reflect all seven colors:
White
light
Using filters
Filters can be used to “block” out different colours of light:
Red
Filter
Magenta
Filter
Some further examples:
Color object
Object Color of light
seems to be
Red Red
Red
Blue Black
socks
Green Black
Red Black
Blue
Blue
teddy
Green
Red
Green
Blue
camel
Green
Red
Magent
Blue
a book
Green
Investigating filters
Color of filter Colors that could be “seen”
Red
Green
Blue
Cyan
Magenta
Yellow
Red Blue Green White
Yellow Cyan Magenta
Part 2 - Reflection and Mirrors
Reflection from a mirror:
Normal
Incident ray Reflected ray
Angle of Angle of
incidence reflection
Mirror
The Law of Reflection
Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection
In other words, light gets reflected from a surface at
____ _____ angle it hits it.
The
same !!!
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum shows all the different
types of light and how they are related to each other.
Below you can see the different types of waves that are on
the spectrum and approximately how big their
wavelengths are. Below you can see the different types of
waves that are on the spectrum and approximately how big their
wavelengths are.
All the waves of the electromagnetic spectrum are forms of light,
they just have different wavelengths and frequency.
HOPE YOU
LEARNED
SOMETHING TODAY
