Light

Lesson 1: Light Waves

Light is emitted by hot objects; these objects are known as light sources. The Sun and all the other
stars we see in the night sky are light sources. Other light sources include light bulbs, flames, LED’s
(light emitting diodes), lava, fireflies and some types of fish.

We can see objects that are not light sources because they reflect light back towards our eyes. We
can see the Moon and the other planets of our solar system because they reflect sunlight.

Light travels from these sources in all directions. However, it travels in straight lines and this can
be seen when sunlight comes through breaks in the clouds.

Light as a wave

Light is a transverse wave. The vibrations (oscillations) occur in the electric and magnetic fields
perpendicular (at 90O) to the direction of energy transfer.

1) What type of wave is light?

2) What does a light wave transfer from the source?
3) At what speed does light travel in a vacuum?
4) Is this faster or slower than the speed of sound?
5) State the 4 things that can happen to light when it reaches the boundary between
materials.

Drawing Ray Diagrams;

Light rays must be drawn as straight lines.

Light rays must touch the source of the light if that is shown in the diagram and any object they are
being reflected from.

If the light ray is being seen it must also touch the pupil of the eye.

Light rays must also be continuous, there should be no gaps in them.

There must be an arrow on the light ray to show the direction of travel. It is only necessary to draw
ONE arrow per light ray. It is best to draw the arrow in the middle of the light ray.
Diagram 1. A person looking at a candle flame.

Diagram 2. Sunlight shining on a dark curtain

Diagram 3. Light shining on a window

Diagram 4. Looking at a book by candle light.

When light hits a surface

 When light reaches a boundary any of the above 4 things can happen;

It can be transmitted - this means it goes straight through the material.

It can be reflected - this means it changes direction away from the material.

It can be refracted - this means it enters the material and changes speed and direction.

It can be absorbed – this means the energy is used to heat up the material.

Lesson 2: Chemical & Electrical Effects of Light

Plants absorb energy from the Sun and use it to make food in a process called photosynthesis.
This comes from the Greek words photo meaning light & synthesis meaning to put together.
This process happens in the green parts (usually the leaves) of a plant. Names the parts on the
diagram below.

……………………………………
……………………………………

……………………………………
……………………………………
……………………………………

The word equation for photosynthesis is;

……………………………………
…………………………………… CARBON DIOXIDE +
WATER 🡪 GLUCOSE + OXYGEN

6)Name the 2 reactants for the above

equation.

7)Name the 2 products for the above

equation.

8)In which part of the cell above does

photosynthesis occur?

9)The answer to Q3 above is not found in root cells. Why not?

Solar Cell Investigation

My independent variable is ……………………………………………………………………………………..

My dependent variable is …………………………………………………………………………………………

My control variables are …………………………………………………………………………………………..

My results table;

Complete the sentence below in your workbook:

My conclusion is;

My data to back up this conclusion is;

My experiment is repeatable because;

Lesson 3: When light meets a surface

Some materials allow light to travel through them; they are known as transparent; others
completely block light; these are known as opaque. Some materials only allow some light to pass
through them and are known as translucent.

When light is blocked by an opaque object it produces a dark shadow. When the light is very bright
the shadows produced have clearly defined edges. When the light is more diffuse, such as on a
cloudy day, the shadows have fuzzy, blurry edges. Translucent objects produce pale and sometimes
coloured shadows.

In the table below list 5 objects that are transparent, 5 that are translucent and 5 that are opaque.

Transparent Translucent Opaque

Calculating a mean

The mean is a type of average found by adding the results together and then dividing the total by
the number of results. For example;

Fred has 12 candles, Bob has 15 candles, George has 12 candles. Calculate the average number of
candles the boys have.

12 + 15 + 12 = 39

39 ÷3 =13 so the average is 13 candles

However, if you are calculating the mean from a set of results you should first look to see if they
are all similar. If 2 results are close together but the third is very different you should ignore it and
just work out the mean of the other 2.

Calculate the average values (mean) for the data in the table below;
 10)
Which values have you identified as anomalies?

11) Why?

12) What did you do about them?

Lesson 4: Reflection

In your investigation;

What is the independent variable? ………………………………………………………………………………………………

What is the dependent variable? …………………………………………………………………………………………………

What are the control variables? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Equipment Needed Method

1 Power Supply & 2 leads Place a mirror along the flat edge of the protractor in
the diagram.
1 Ray box with single slit grating
Using the ray box, shine a ray of light, along the 10°
1 Mirror
line, so that it hits the mirror at the centre of the
1 Ruler protractor.
 Angle of incidence (°) Angle of reflection (°)

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

13) What did you find out?

When writing a conclusion start with; I found out that …

Then use 2 examples from your data to back up what you have said.

Lesson 5: Reflected Images

What happens when you look at yourself in a plane (flat) mirror?

You see a reflection of yourself. Your image appears to be the same distance behind the mirror as
you are in front of the mirror. The image appears to be the same size. However, the image appears
to have its left and right mixed up. This is known as Lateral Inversion. The image is also virtual,
you could not project the image onto a screen.

14) Why is the word ambulance written back to front on the front of an ambulance
but not on the back?
15) Why do you appear larger in a mirror when you are standing closer to it?
16) Which letters of the alphabet appear the same in a mirror? Why?
17) If you stand in front of a mirror and wave your left-hand which hand does your
reflection wave?
Specular vs Diffuse Reflection

When parallel rays of light hit a smooth, flat surface all the incoming rays have the same angle of
incidence, therefore the same angle of reflection, and so the outgoing rays are also parallel. This is
called Specular Reflection.

When the hit a rough surface, they will all have different angles of incidence and so to will the
outgoing rays. This is called Diffuse Reflection. This affect is also known as scattering.

This is why smooth flat surfaces are used to make the best mirrors. In early Egyptian, Greek and
Roman civilizations they used polished copper surfaces as mirrors. They were not as good as
modern mirrors.

Mirrors designed to be used in space-based telescopes are made to a much higher standard than
every day household mirrors.

18) Why do you think mirrors used in space-based telescopes are made to a much higher
standard?

Lesson 6: Refraction
In a solid the particles are packed closely together with very little space between them. This gives
the material a high density. In a gas the particles are usually far apart and there is a lot of space
between them. This gives the material a low density.

The density of a material affects the speed at which things can move through it. This includes light.

In the vacuum of empty space light travels at 300,000,000 m/s. However, when it enters the
atmosphere it slows down very slightly and slows down even more in substances such as water,
glass and Perspex (a type of clear plastic).

Complete the ray diagram below to show how the ray of light travels through the glass block.

Include the rest of the light ray, the angles of incidence, i, and refraction, r.

We can use the example

below of a car travelling
from a road onto mud to explain the
behaviour of light.
As the car reaches the boundary between the road and the mud the right-hand wheel reaches the
mud first. This causes the car to slow down more on the right than the left. As the car cannot bend
it causes the car to turn to the right.

Imagine that we replace the car with a beam of light.

The right-hand side of the beam of light will reach the boundary before the left-hand side. This
means the different parts of the beam slow down at different times causing the light to bend.

19) In the diagram below is a picture of someone spear fishing. Where should he aim if he
wants to catch the fish?
20) Can you explain why?
21) Seawater is denser than fresh water. What affect would this have on where he should aim?
22) What happens to light that reaches a boundary at an angle of incidence of 0 O?
23) When light reaches a boundary between materials not all of it is refracted. What happens
to the light that is not refracted?
24) What could happen to the temperature of these materials?

Lesson 7: Vision

Label the diagram below with the correct names for those parts.

Cornea -the clear, dome-shaped tissue covering the front of the eye.
Iris - the coloured part of the eye - it controls the amount of light that enters the eye by changing
the size of the pupil.
Lens - a crystalline structure located just behind the iris - it focuses light onto the retina.
Optic nerve - the nerve that transmits electrical impulses from the retina to the brain.

Pupil - the hole in the centre of the iris- it changes size as the amount of light changes
(the more light, the smaller the hole) .
Retina - sensory tissue that lines the back of the eye. It contains millions of photoreceptors (rods
and cones) that convert light rays into electrical impulses that are relayed to the brain via the optic
nerve
Vitreous - a thick, transparent liquid that fills the centre of the eye - it is mostly water and gives
the eye its form and shape (also called the vitreous humour)
Sclera – the tough white coating of the eye.

The Pinhole Camera

Image

Light reflected from an object or from a light source enters through a small opening at the front of
the camera and forms an image on the screen at the back of the camera. However, the image is
inverted (upside down) as the light rays have crossed over each other as they have travelled from
the object to the screen.

Your eye works in the same way. However, your brain processes the information and turns the
image the correct way up, so we do not realise this.

The eye

Light is refracted by both the cornea and the lens.

This causes the image to become focussed on the retina so that we can see the object clearly.
 The point directly opposite the centre of the lens is called the fovea. This is where our eyes
have the highest concentration of light receptive cells, particularly the ones for colour. This
part of the eye has the sharpest vision and produces the clearest images.

The lens of the eye is attached to ciliary muscles which can change its shape depending on
where we are looking. To look at distant objects the muscles relax, allowing the lens to become
thinner. This causes the lens to refract the light less. To look at closer objects the lens needs
to become fatter to refract the light more. The ciliary muscles contract to do this.

25) Why can’t we focus on objects that are close and far away at the same time?
26) Why do objects we are looking at not appear upside down?
27) How are we able to see clearly in both bright light and low light conditions?
28) Why can’t we see colours as clearly in very low light conditions?

Lesson 8: Correcting Vision

The job of the cornea and lens of the eye is to focus the light onto the retina enabling us to see
clearly. However, in some people this process does not work as well as it should. In some cases, the
light is focussed behind the retina, causing us to see blurry images. People with this condition can
see far objects clearly but not close objects. This is called Long Sightedness. Conversely some
people’s eyes bring the focal point in front of the retina, again causing blurry images. People with
this condition can see objects that are close but not far away. This is called Short Sightedness.
Both conditions can be corrected by wearing glasses. The lens in the glasses refracts the light to
achieve the correct focal point for the wearer.
Lenses:

Lenses are optical tools that allow us to focus or disperse light. They are used in scientific
instruments such as microscopes and telescopes, as well as devices such as projectors and cameras.
They are also used to correct visual impairments in the form of glasses.

There are 2 main types of lens;

Convex or Converging: These bring light to a sharp focus.

Concave or Diverging: These cause light to spread out or disperse.

Look at the diagram below showing how a lens

can be used to correct impaired vision.

29) Explain how the lens in the glasses enables the wearer to see close objects correctly.
30) Which process explains why lenses change the direction of light?
31) What shape of lens would have a shortest focal length?
32) What type of lens would someone who is long sighted need?
33) How do bifocal and varifocal lenses in glasses work?

Colour Blindness

Colour blindness is most commonly a genetic, inherited condition but can also be caused as a result
of injury to the eye. It is caused by problems with the cone cells in the retina (those that detect
colour). Either by having too few or those that you do have not working correctly. It is more
common in men than women. The most common type is red-green colour blindness where sufferers
have difficulty distinguishing between those colours. Less common is blue-yellow and the rarest
form is total colour blindness.

34) Which day to day activities are most likely to be affected by colour blindness?
35) Which careers may you be unable to follow due to colour blindness?
 36) Why does colour blindness affect more men than women?

Lesson 9: Dispersion & Colour

The visible spectrum is the small part of the whole electro-magnetic (EM) spectrum of waves. It
covers a range of wavelength from 400-700 nanometres (nm). 1 nanometre is 1 billionth of a metre.
Wavelengths shorter than 400 nm are known as Ultra-Violet (UV) and longer than 700 nm are
Infra-Red (IR). This is the part that we can detect with our eyes. Some animals can only see part of
the visible spectrum. Some insects can also detect ultra-violet.

EM

waves also have a frequency (the number of waves per second), measured in units called Hertz
(Hz). The higher their wavelength the lower their frequency.

Dispersion in a prism

White light is made up of all 7 colours of the visible spectrum. When that light is passed through a
prism the light is refracted. The light with the longest wavelength is refracted the least. The light
with the shortest wavelength is refracted the most. This is known as Dispersion and produces a
distinct pattern of colours more commonly known as a Rainbow.

You need to know the order of the colours of the spectrum. Some people use a mnemonic to help
them remember it. Try making up your own in the space below;

RED Richard …………………………………….

ORANGE Of …………………………………….

YELLOW York …………………………………….

GREEN Gave ……………………………………..

BLUE Battle …………………………………….

INDIGO In …………………………………….

VIOLET Vain …………………………………….

Seeing Colour

We see objects the colours they are because of the light they reflect.

Objects, such as this hat, appear

white because they reflect ALL
the light that reaches them.

This hat appears black because it reflects NONE of the light, it is all
ABSORBED. When the light is absorbed the object becomes warmer as the energy is transferred to
the thermal store.

These trousers appear blue as they reflect the blue light but absorb all the other colours.

37) Why does a leaf appear green?

38) What colour would the trousers above appear if they were only lit with red light?
39) Why do we see rainbows in the sky when it is raining and sunny at the same time?
40) Why do people in hot, sunny countries paint their houses white?
41) Polar bears have black skin. How is that an advantage for them?
Lesson 10: Colours and Filters

Red, Green and Blue are the Primary Colours of light.

When mixed in equal intensities they make white.

When combined in pairs the produce the Secondary Colours.

Red + Blue 🡪 Magenta

Red + Green 🡪 Yellow
Blue + Green 🡪 Cyan

Varying the intensity of the different colours produces all the

other colours that we can see. This is the way that modern
TV’s produces their images.

The screen contains thousands of small components that produce either red, green or blue light. By
varying the intensity of these lights, they produce a multi-coloured picture on the screen. To show
black all the lights are switched off.

Filters.

Filters only transmit light of a specific colour. The other colours are absorbed, which will cause the
filter to heat up.

White Light Blue Filter Blue Light only

42) Which colours of light will be transmitted by a magenta filter?

43) Which colours of light will be absorbed by a red filter?
44) If white light is shone through both a yellow, then red filter before hitting a screen what
colour would appear on the screen?
45) Which colours of light will be transmitted by a clear filter?
46) If white light is shone onto a magenta filter and a red filter which one would heat up the
most?

Objects appear the colour they do because of the light they reflect. If no light of that colour is
shone onto them, they will appear black as all the light is absorbed. For example;

No light reflected so appears

Complete the table below to show what colours these objects appear;