Sci10 Properties of Light PDF

Tanay West, Education at its Best! Properties of Light SCIENCE 10  Reflection ❑ Reflection is the bouncing of light from a reflecting surface. ❑ There are two kinds of reflection: specular (regular) and diffuse (irregular) reflection. ❑ Specular reflection occurs when reflective surfac...

Tanay West, Education at its Best! Properties of Light SCIENCE 10  Reflection ❑ Reflection is the bouncing of light from a reflecting surface. ❑ There are two kinds of reflection: specular (regular) and diffuse (irregular) reflection. ❑ Specular reflection occurs when reflective surface is very smooth such as mirror or a surface of calm water. ❑ Diffuse reflection is observed when a light hits a rough surface, resulting to the bouncing back of light waves in different directions.  Refraction ❑ Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another. ❑ As light refracts, the velocity of the wave is altered, its wavelength increases or decreases, but its frequency remains constant.  Medium Index of Refraction Air 1.000 Carbon dioxide 1.000 Ice 1.310 Water 1.333 Ethyl alcohol 1.360 Carbon tetrachloride 1.461 Glycerine 1.473 Crown glass 1.517 Rock salt 1.540 Diamond 2.417 ❑ Total internal reflection (TIR) is the phenomenon wherein the incident rays striking the boundary of two media are reflected into the first medium and the bounding surface acts like a perfect reflector. ❑ Another example for refraction of light is mirage. ❑ A mirage is an illusion created on a hot road wherein the sky appears to be reflected from water on the distant road.  Diffraction ❑ Light travels in a rectilinear motion, but when light waves pass near an obstacle, they tend to bend around the barrier and spread out. ❑ This bending of light as it passes around the edge of a barrier is known as diffraction or sometimes called scattering.  Interference ❑ The modification in the distribution of light energy due to superposition of two light waves is called interference of light or optical interference. ❑ The principle of superposition of waves states that the resultant displacement at a point is equal to the vector sum of the displacements of different waves at that point.  Constructive Interference Destructive Interference occurs occurs when two or more waves when two or more waves’ crests come together to form a larger coincide with the waves’ troughs. and stronger wave.  Polarization ❑ Polarization is a property of certain types of waves that describe the orientation of their vibrations. This can be classified as linear, circular, or elliptical. ❑ The simplest way to polarize light is via the use of a polaroid filter, which is made up of material that can block one of the axes of light oscillation.  Trigonometric Functions ❑ It can be simply defined as the functions of an angle of a triangle. The angles of sine, cosine, and tangent are the primary classification of functions of trigonometry.  Snell’s Law ❑ It is used to described the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction passing through two different boundaries.