Republic of the Philippines

TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS
Ayala Boulevard cor. San Marcelino St. Ermita Manila
Telephone No.: 3027750/Loc. 301-305
TUP website: http://tup.edu.ph

BASIC
SOURCES OF
LIGHT

SUBMITTED BY:

MARY LENILIE C. VENGANO BSA-3B

SUBMITTED TO:

AR. ERIC SALIMBAGAT

INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION

What would the world be like without light? Imagine if there were no light from the sun. No
plants would be able to grow because plants rely on light to make food. Animals and then
humans would have nothing to eat. Sunlight is the source of most of the energy on Earth.
Without the sun the world would quickly become very cold and the water would freeze.
Very soon there would be no life left on Earth.
MEANING
In order to make sense of our world we need to understand how light works. This unit
explores how light works, the effects of light, how humans see light and colour and how
humans and other living things need and use light.

LIGHT
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IMPORTANCE

Light is a form of energy. When something burns it often gives off SOURCES
light energy as well as heat energy. The sun, for example, is a
ball of burning gases which give off lots of light. The earliest form
of light that humans used was the light created from burning
wood. Today we get light from many different sources both
natural and artificial.

Light travels in waves (light waves) like ripples across a pond. The
waves all travel through air at the same speed (300 000
kilometres per second, the fastest speed there is). The light from
the sun, which is approximately 150 million kilometres away, can
reach the Earth in about eight minutes.

Light waves usually travel in straight lines called rays of light.

Each light wave is made up of different wavelengths which
make different colours of light. Light waves may be reflected
(bounce off) or refracted (change direction) and may change
speed depending on the material they are passing through.

Light is electromagnetic radiation within a certain portion of

the electromagnetic spectrum. The word usually refers to visible
light, which is visible to the human eye and is responsible for the
sense of sight. Visible light is usually defined as
having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm),
or 4.00 × 10−7 to 7.00 × 10−7 m, between the infrared (with longer
wavelengths) and the ultraviolet (with shorter wavelengths). This
wavelength means a frequency range of roughly 430–
750 terahertz (THz).
The main source of light on Earth is the Sun. Sunlight provides the
IMPORTANCE
We cannot imagine our life without light. From the first ray of Sun in the morning to the lamp in the night,
light accompany us in all the activities. In modern life, three most important sources of light, which I think
make major impact on life are the Sun, the light emitting diode (LED) and the laser. We always come
across these sources in one way or the other.
 The Sun is undoubtedly the most important one. It is a constant source of energy for us. It is the
most important factor that influenced the way life evolved on Earth. From photosynthesis, which is
responsible for making food in plants to the
beautiful world we see and to meeting our
energy requirements, the Sun is pivotal to our
life. In recent years there has been
tremendous advancement in the area of solar
photovoltaic, a process which converts light
into electrical energy through a variety of
materials. Traditional bulky solar panels are
soon going to be replaced by flexible thin film
polymer solar cells. Now these cells can also
be coated on your car and generate electricity
while you drive in the Sun. You can
simultaneously get electricity from the window
pane of your room while you read a newspaper
in sunlight. With petroleum energy sources
getting exhausted rapidly, solar energy is the only clean energy option that can meet the energy
requirements of our future generations.

 Second important light source is the LED. This tiny

source of light is not only lighting up our world in a big
way but also creating high resolution display screens
for our smartphones, computers, and televisions. After
the Sun sets down, LEDs are probably the most seen
source of light around us, be it in indicators in electronic
devices, in traffic signal lights, remote controls, toys, or
decorative items. Advancements in organic LEDs have
made it quite efficient and flexible too. White LED lamps
are replacing fluorescent tube lights rapidly and white
LEDs are creating high resolution display screens. No
wonder the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 went to the
blue LED, which was crucial to create white light.

 Third most important source of light that influenced our lives is laser. Soon after its invention in
1960, this highly coherent, directional and powerful source of light brought revolution and gave
birth to several new branches of science and engineering. Advancements in nonlinear optics,
holography, precision cutting, welding and drilling, laser-guided defense equipments, and most
importantly optical telecommunication could be possible only because of the laser. Today, color of
light when passing through a crystal can be changed from red to blue, a 3D image of an object can
be created in space, data can be read from and written to a compact disc, missiles can be guided
by laser beam, very fine tiny holes can be drilled in thick metal sheets, nuclei can be fused to
 generate nuclear power, pictures and
video can be shared with our friends
thousands of miles away, thanks to
advancements in lasers. Lasers have
made our world very small through optical
telecommunication. Communication is
our fourth most important basic need
after food, shelter and clothing. Optical
telecommunication has made the flow of
information considerably fast. Voice,
video and internet data ride on light from
a laser diode and travel thousands of
miles through hair-thin optical fiber at
unprecedented rate to reach our colleague, friends and family. This blog is also reaching you
through light. Indeed, life without light is unimaginable.

SOURCE
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NATURAL SOURCE OF LIGHT

Our main source of natural light is the sun. The sun is a star that is a huge ball of gas.
Explosions at the centre of the sun produce large amounts of energy. This energy is released
as light and heat. Some of this light reaches Earth and gives us daylight. The light that comes
from the sun is known as white light.

Other forms of natural light include the moon and the stars. The stars provide only small
amounts of light at night as they are billions of kilometres away from Earth. A full moon,
however, can provide quite a lot of light. The light from the moon is just light reflected from
the sun
Some animals can produce their own light. This is known as bioluminescence. A chemical
reaction is produced in special light-producing cells. This light is then used in a variety of ways
but mainly to attract other creatures. Glow-worms, fireflies, some fish and mushrooms are
examples of living things that can create their own light.

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a

living organism. It is a form of chemiluminescence.
Bioluminescence occurs widely in
marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi,
microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria and
terrestrial invertebrates such as fireflies. In some animals, the
light is bacteriogenic, produced by symbiotic organisms such
as Vibriobacteria; in others, it is autogenic, produced by the
animals themselves.
In a general sense, the principal chemical reaction in
bioluminescence involves some light-emitting molecule and Female Glowworm, Lampyris
an enzyme, generally called the luciferin and the luciferase, noctiluca
respectively. Because these are generic names, the luciferins
and luciferases are often distinguished by including the species or group, i.e. Firefly luciferin.
In all characterized cases, the enzyme catalyzes the oxidation of the luciferin.
In some species, the luciferase requires other cofactors such
as calcium or magnesium ions, and sometimes also the
energy-carrying molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
In evolution, luciferins vary little: one in
particular, coelenterazine, is found in eleven different animal
(phyla), though in some of these, the animals obtain it through
their diet. Conversely, luciferases vary widely between
different species, and consequently bioluminescence has
arisen over forty times in evolutionary history.
Both Aristotle and Pliny the Elder mentioned that damp wood
sometimes gives off a glow and many centuries later Robert
Flying and Boyle showed that oxygen was involved in the process, both
glowing firefly, Photinus pyralis in wood and in glow-worms. It was not until the late
nineteenth century that bioluminescence was properly
investigated. The phenomenon is widely distributed among animal groups, especially in
marine environments where dinoflagellates cause phosphorescence in the surface layers of
water. On land it occurs in fungi, bacteria and some groups of invertebrates,
including insects.
The uses of bioluminescence by animals include counter-illumination camouflage, mimicry of
other animals, for example to lure prey, and signalling to other individuals of the same
species, such as to attract mates. In the laboratory, luciferase-based systems are used in
genetic engineering and for biomedical research. Other researchers are investigating the
possibility of using bioluminescent systems for street and decorative lighting, and a
bioluminescent plant has been created.
 ARTIFICIAL SOURCE OF LIGHT
Humans have been able to create and control light for thousands of years. The earliest form
of lighting was with fire such as burning wood, candles, gas or oil. Candles were made out of
beeswax or tallow (animal fat). Oil lamps used plant or animal oil and a wick to burn. Now
the most convenient source of artificial light is the electric light.

HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHTS

The development of the electric light began in the early 1800s. Many of the first efforts were dangerous and not very reliable. In
1879 two very similar electric light bulbs were invented by two different men: one by an American named Thomas Edison, the
other by a British man named Joseph Swan. Both electric light bulbs had a carbon thread (filament) that glowed when a current
flowed through it. The glass bulb contained so little oxygen that the filament could become very hot without catching on fire.

TYPES OF ELECTRIC LIGHTS

Electric lights are now used every day and night as an artificial form of light. There are several different types of electric lights
including tungsten filament light bulbs, neon lights and fluorescent tubes.
  Tungsten filament bulbs

Tungsten filament bulbs are cheap to make and easy to use. They contain a thin metal filament
made out of tungsten (a type of metal). This filament becomes very hot when electricity flows
through it and glows yellow-white. These bulbs last only about 1000 hours because the
filament becomes thinner and thinner as it burns.

 Neon lights

A neon light is commonly used for advertising. Neon is a gas that gives out light
when high-voltage electricity is passed through it. By changing the electric
current, up to five different colours can be produced in the same tube.

 Fluorescent tubes

Fluorescent tubes are widely used in the office and the home. Fluorescent tubes
are glass tubes that contain mercury vapour. When an electric current is passed
through the mercury vapour it gives off ultraviolet light. This ultraviolet light is
absorbed by phosphor powder that coats the inside of the tube and starts to glow
to make a blue-white light. These lights need special electronic starters to produce
the high voltage needed to start the light.

In the future, electric lights should become more efficient, use less energy and last a lot
longer than they do currently.

LASER
Lasers were first invented in 1960. Laser light is made up of mainly one wavelength so the
laser appears to us as a thin and powerful beam of light. Laser light is very important to us as
it is used in all sorts of areas including astronomy, entertainment, information storage and
medicine.
 INVISIBLE LIGHT
There are two types of light that our eyes cannot see: infrared and ultraviolet.

Nearly every living thing (and very hot objects) give out infrared (IR) light. The sun gives out a lot of infrared radiation. We feel
this infrared light as heat.

A lot of ultraviolet (UV) light also comes from the sun. It is very powerful light that cannot be seen by humans. UV light is the light
that causes sunburn and can damage our eyes.