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Questions and Answers
Light has a tendency to bend around it and not walk in a straight line – an effect known as the diffraction of light. Then the straight-line treatment of optics using rays fails. To explain phenomena such as diffraction, light is thought of as a ______
wave
At the beginning of the 20th century, it became known that the wave theory of light often becomes inadequate for treatment of the interaction of light with matter, and light often behaves somewhat like a stream of ______
particles
This confusion about the true nature of light continued for some years till a modern quantum theory of light emerged in which light is neither a ‘wave’ nor a ‘particle’ – the new theory reconciles the particle properties of light with the ______
wave nature
If an opaque object on the path of light becomes very small, light has a tendency to bend around it and not walk in a straight line – an effect known as the ______
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To explain phenomena such as diffraction, light is thought of as a ______, the details of which you will study in higher classes
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Study Notes
Diffraction of Light
- When an opaque object on the path of light becomes very small, light bends around it, deviating from a straight line.
- This phenomenon is known as diffraction of light, which cannot be explained by the straight-line treatment of optics using rays.
Limitations of Wave Theory
- The wave theory of light becomes inadequate for explaining the interaction of light with matter.
- In the early 20th century, it was discovered that light behaves like a stream of particles in certain situations.
Modern Quantum Theory of Light
- The modern quantum theory of light reconciles the particle properties of light with its wave nature.
- According to this theory, light is neither a 'wave' nor a 'particle', but rather a unique entity that exhibits both properties.
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Description
Test your understanding of light and optics with this quiz, which covers topics such as diffraction, the wave nature of light, and the limitations of the ray optics model. See how well you grasp the concepts that explain the behavior of light in various situations.
