THE COLORS OF LIGHT

What Is Light?

1) Properties of light
2) Colors
3) Reflection - Mirrors
4) Refraction – Lenses
5) Absorption
 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.
 Light travels 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!!
 Light is a form of energy called
Electromagnetic Radiation -
Electromagnetic Radiation comes from
the sun and other sources
Electromagnetic Radiation

•Travels at the speed of light

•Is mostly invisible
•Carries energy
•Is VERY important to society and is
something YOU can’t be without for
many reasons
 Types of electromagnetic
radiation
Radio and TV - Great for broadcasting
Microwave-Super for cell phones, microwaves
Infrared-Think HEAT
Visible Light - Yep, it’s how we see
Ultraviolet - Invisible, can cause cancer; kills
germs
Xray- images of bones and teeth; space
exploration
Gamma - treating cancer (radiation therapy)
 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.
Part 2 - Reflection and
Mirrors
 What is Reflection?

the bouncing back of light waves when it hits

a barrier of another medium.
What is Reflection?
 Laws of Reflection

1. The incident ray, the reflected

ray and the normal to the
reflecting surface all lie on the
same plane.
What is Reflection?
 Laws of Reflection

The angle of incidence is equal to

the angle of reflection
What is Reflection?
 Types of Reflection

Regular Reflection

Irregular reflection/ Diffused/Scattered

 Regular vs. Diffuse Reflection

Smooth, shiny surfaces

have a regular
reflection:

Rough, dull surfaces have

a diffuse reflection.

Diffuse reflection is when

light is scattered in
different directions
 Using mirrors
Two examples:

2) A car headlight

1) A periscope
Real vs. Virtual Image

Real Images appear in front of mirrors.

These can be projected on screen.

Virtual Images appear behind mirrors.

These images cannot be projected on screen.
Types of Mirrors: Plane, Concave, Convex

Plane mirrors are flat and make

“virtual images”. The images is
“virtual” because the light rays do
not come from the image, they only
appear to
 Concave Mirrors are curved inward
- just remember, you go “in” to a
cave, and “in” to a concave mirror!

Images of concave mirrors can be

virtual or real!
e. g. dentist mirror, light reflectors
Convex mirrors are mirrors that curve outward

Convex mirrors are used for

security purposes, in cars etc. They
allow us to see a wide view. The
images they make are virtual

e. g. side mirrors of vehicles

 Review of Reflection
1. Two types of reflection, regular and diffuse
2. Mirrors come in 3 types: plane, convex and
concave. Each has a distinct shape and use.
3. Mirrors can make virtual images or real
images depending on their type
4. Virtual images - light rays do not meet and
the image is always upright or right-side-up
5. Real images - always upside down and are
formed when light rays actually meet
 Refraction

The change in direction of light when its

travelling obliquely from one medium to
another
 Refraction

The change in direction or bending of light

when it passes from one medium to another
of different optical density.

Optical Density- is a property of a

transparent medium which is the measure
of the speed of light in the specific
medium.
 Refraction
•Refraction is when
waves speed up or slow
down due to travelling
in a different medium.
•A medium is
something that light
waves will travel
through.
Index of Refraction of some materials
The degree that light bends when it enters a
new medium is called the “index of refraction”
 Light hitting
Light hitting at an
straight on is
angle is bent
not bent
Lenses work because of refraction! Light is
bent as it enters a new medium, glass!

Convex lenses

1. Thicker in middle, thin on edges

2. Light rays meet to form a focal point
3. Makes real images since light rays come
together from a light source, but can
also make virtual images (center
picture)
4. Used in cameras, telescopes, human eye
 Concave Lenses
1. Concave lenses are thin in the
middle and thicker on the edges
2. Since light rays never meet with
this lens, they make virtual
images only
3. Used in cameras & telescopes to
correct spherical aberration, and
also eyeglasses
 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

Part 3 - Color In this section of the

Powerpoint you will learn about color and
how we can mix colors to create other
colors. We will also learn how light helps us
to see various colors around us.
 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
Just remember ROY G. BIV Violet
 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
 Absorption
Absorption of light happens
when atoms in an object
absorb (take in and hold)
the light waves.

For example: You are able to see a

red apple because all of the
other light waves are absorbed
but red is reflected to your
eyes.
 The Colors of Light

RED VIOLET
• has least energy • has most energy
• has longest wavelength • has shortest wavelength
• least bent • most bent
Abstraction
1. Reflection is the bouncing of a light ray
when it hits a barrier.
2. Reflection of light in a smooth surface, like
a mirror, is called specular or regular
reflection. Reflection in a rough surface is
known as irregular of diffuse reflection.
3. The laws of reflection are as follows:
A. the incident ray, reflected ray and the
normal to the reflecting surface all lie in
the same plane.
B. The angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection.
4. Refraction is the bending of light
rays as they pass obliquely from one
medium to another with a different
optical density.
5. Refraction makes objects in water
appear shallower.
6. Index of refraction is the ratio of
the speed of light in a vacuum to its
speed in another substance.
7. Diffraction is the bending of light as it
passes through an obstruction such as a
small opening.
8. Dispersion is the separation of white light
into spectral colors as it passes through a
prism.
9. The color of light is dependent on the
frequency or wavelength of the radiation
that reaches our eyes.
10. The color of an opaque object depends on
the kind of light it reflects to the eye. It
also depends on the color of light incident to
it.
Colors of Light
 Rainbows
1. Why do we see spectacular events in
the sky like rainbows, red sunset and
blue sky?

Due to refraction, reflection & dispersion

of light. When sunlight strikes droplets
of water, raindrops act as a prism
separating sunlight into colors.
 Blue sky
as the light of the sun shines down on
the atmosphere, the dust particles
and air molecules scatter the light in
all directions. The amount of
scattering of light inversely varies
with the wavelength of light. At noon
time, most of blue light, having short
wavelength is scattered and
reflected to Earth, so the sky looks
blue.
 Red Sunset

Near sunset, the light path travels

longer distances with more air and
dust in the atmosphere. Thus, most
of the blue light is absorbed before
it reaches you.
Red light, which has longer wavelength,
is the most predominant color left
when the light from the sun reaches
the eye.
 White Clouds
When sunlight encounters clouds, it
scatters from the droplets of water
into the atmosphere. These droplets,
though of different sizes, have
dimensions larger than the
wavelength of visible light. The
result is that light of all color is
equally scattered from the cloud and
the clouds appear white.
2. In different colors of light, which is
bent the most and the least?
The difference between one color and
another is due to differences in
wavelengths or frequencies. Each color
of light has its own wavelength and
frequency. In the spectrum, violet has
the highest frequency, higher energy but
shortest wavelength. Red has the lowest
frequency, lowest energy but longest
wavelength.
3. How are refraction and dispersion
demonstrated in light?

4. Interference is the overlapping of

waves.
Superposition Principle- if light waves
from two monochromatic light
sources arrive at the same point, the
amplitude of the resulting light wave
is he resultant of the amplitudes of
the individual light waves.
End of presentation.