Light

Reflection of
light is the
phenomenon of
bouncing back
of light in the
same medium
on striking the
surface of any
object.
Concentrating solar
collectors use mirrors and
lenses to concentrate and
focus sunlight onto a thermal
receiver, similar to a boiler
tube. The receiver absorbs
and converts sunlight into
heat. The heat is then
transported to a steam
generator or engine where it
is converted into electricity.
Refraction of light is
the phenomenon of
change in the path of
light in going from one
medium to another. In
going from a rarer to a
denser medium, the
ray of light bends
towards normal and in
going from a denser to
a rarer medium, the
ray of light bends
away from normal.
The property of light is the refraction of light because
when light travels from a denser medium to rarer medium
it bends away from the normal. The apparent depth of
water is always less than the real depth of the water.
Hence, water appears to be shallower than the real depth.
Light rays starting from the
dipped portion of the pencil
suffer refraction at the
water-air surface. Air is a
rarer medium than water.
So, the refracted rays bend
away from the normal and
appear to come from a
point slightly above the
actual position of the pencil.
Different systems have different speeds of light travel. This causes light to
refract when light travels from one medium to another, the light's speed
changes, which causes the light to bend. When light travels through one
medium and then into another, the speed of light will change.
Optical density is the ability of a material to transmit light through it.
It measures the speed of light passing through a substance
The optical density is a property of a transparent material that

measures the speed of the light through the material. The extent to
which any optically dense medium bends transmitted light rays
towards or away from the normal is called the optical density.
Optical density is a property that manifests itself in the slowing down of
light, i.e. the higher the optical density, the lower the speed of light. This
change in speed causes light to bend (refract), as can be seen when a
spoon is put into a glass of water.
The refraction of light takes place on going from one medium to
another because the speed of light is different in the two media.
Greater the difference in the speeds of light in the two media,
greater will be the amount of refraction.
What type of lens is used to correct both hypermetropia and myopia?
If a person is suffering from hypermetropia and myopia then the person is
suggested to wear a Bifocal lens. A concave lens of suitable focal length will
correct myopia and a convex lens of suitable focal length will correct
hypermetropia.
In case of hypermetropia
the image is formed
beyond retina we need
to use convex lens so as
to converge the rays and
make it possible for the
rays to meets on the
retina.
Nearsighted people wear glasses
with concave lenses to correct
their vision. A concave lens
corrects myopia by being thinner
at the center and thicker at the
edge. It diverges light rays
entering the eye so they focus a
little further back, landing directly
on the retina instead of in front of
it.
Rainbow, aren’t they beautiful? Have you ever wondered how a
rainbow is created? It is a simple physical phenomenon called
dispersion of light. So, what is the dispersion of light?
Splitting of white light into seven constituent colours when passed

through the prism. Prism is an optical element which is transparent
with flat, polished surfaces that refract light.
A diffraction grating is made by
making many parallel scratches on
the surface of a flat piece of some
transparent material. It is possible
to put some large number of
scratches per cm on the material.
For example, the grating to be used
has 6,000 lines per cm on it. The
scratches are opaque but the areas
between the scratches can transmit
the light through. Thus, a
diffraction grating becomes a
multitude for the source with
parallel slit, when light falls upon it.
A Newton disc is a
disc with segments
in rainbow colours.
When the disc is
rotated, the colours
fade to white. In this
way Isaac Newton
demonstrated that
white light is a
combination of the
seven different
colours found in a
rainbow.
Why does the shirt on the right look blue?
The shirt looks blue because all the other colours in the
visible light spectrum except blue are absorbed by the
shirt. Blue is the only colour reflected from the shirt.
Why does the shirt on left look red?
The shirt on left looks red because the shirt absorbs the
other colours and only reflects red waves.
White light Shirt looks red
What is colour addition?
The process of creating
various colours of light
by mixing or adding the
three primary colours is
known as colour
addition. Colour
addition has important
applications in colour
television, colour
computer monitors and
on-stage lighting at the
theaters.
Objects that appear
white appear so
because they reflect
all wavelengths of
light and objects
that appear black
appear so because
they absorb all
wavelengths. This
is why black is
sometimes defined
as the absence of
color.
Colors on a television
or computer screen
are produced using a
combination of three
primary colors: red,
green, and blue. This
color model is known
as the RGB color
model. The screen
displays these three
colors in varying
intensities to create a
wide range of colors
that our eyes
perceive.
The filter glasses
(very often
coloured glasses)
are red, green,
orange, blue, or
yellow. They let the
wavelengths of
their own colours
pass to the
greatest extent
(approx. 90 per
cent) and block
any other.
What is the colour
subtraction?
Definition: The method to
produce color by
removing colors from the
white light is called color
subtraction. A process in
which some wavelengths
of an illuminating light
source are absorbed by
pigments in an object,
while the remaining
wavelengths are
reflected.
Filters act by selective
absorption, and the
action of the idealized
primary filters above is
illustrated in terms of
the filter's effect on
white light composed
of the additive primary
colors red, green and
blue. Note that two
primary filters in
succession can be
used to produce each
of the additive primary
colors.
When light passes from
one medium to another,
say air, a glass of water,
then a part of the light is
absorbed by particles of
the medium, preceded by
its subsequent radiation
in a particular direction.
This phenomenon is
termed a scattering of
light.
Sunlight reaches
Earth's atmosphere
and is scattered in
all directions by all
the gases and
particles in the air.
Blue light is
scattered more than
the other colors
because it travels as
shorter, smaller
waves. This is why
we see a blue sky
most of the time.
When sunlight enters the atmosphere, fine air
particles scatter blue colour more than red. The
scattered blue light enters our eyes.
The main phenomenon behind the colour of the
sky is due to scattering. When sunlight passes
through the atmosphere, the fine particles in the
air scatter the blue colour (shorter wavelengths)
more strongly than red. The scattered blue light
enters our eyes. If the earth had no atmosphere,
there would not have been any scattering.
White light is a combination Blue is scattered more than
of all the lights. During other colours because it
sunrise/sunset, rays have to travels as shorter, smaller
travel larger distances and as waves. However, at sunset,
red light scatters least, it is light has further to travel
capable to reach our eyes through the atmosphere. The
while rest of the components shorter wavelength blue light
are scattered away. Hence, is scattered further, as the
sunlight passes over a greater
sky appears reddish orange
distance, and we see the
during sunrise or sunset.
longer wavelength yellow and
red light.

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Light

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Reflection of

The optical density is a property of a transparent material that

Splitting of white light into seven constituent colours when passed

Why does the shirt on left look red?

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