Scribd
Upload
32 views1 page

12U Newton - S Particle Model

Newton proposed a particle model to explain the properties of light, including that it travels in straight lines and exhibits geometric reflection like particles. However, his model was weak in explaining refraction, as it was later shown that light slows down when entering a denser medium, not speed up like particles. It also could not explain how light can both partially reflect and refract from a surface or exhibit diffraction, as particles do not show these behaviors. Newton suggested light of different colors had different particle masses to explain dispersion. However, his particle model faced challenges in fully accounting for light's properties.

Uploaded by

Tariq Zaitoun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
32 views1 page

12U Newton - S Particle Model

Newton proposed a particle model to explain the properties of light, including that it travels in straight lines and exhibits geometric reflection like particles. However, his model was weak in explaining refraction, as it was later shown that light slows down when entering a denser medium, not speed up like particles. It also could not explain how light can both partially reflect and refract from a surface or exhibit diffraction, as particles do not show these behaviors. Newton suggested light of different colors had different particle masses to explain dispersion. However, his particle model faced challenges in fully accounting for light's properties.

Uploaded by

Tariq Zaitoun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Newton’s Particle Model for Light

1. Rectilinear Propagation: Light travels in a straight line, but particles exhibit


parabolic trajectories due to the acceleration of gravity. Newton had a problem: how
could he reconcile this difference in the straight line trajectory of light and the curved,
parabolic trajectory of particles? He proposed that particles of light must be travelling
at such a high speed that the curve of their trajectory was distended to the point of
being unobservable.

2. Geometric Reflection: Newton had no problem explaining this property of light with
his particle model. Particles regularly exhibit geometric reflection: think of most sports
involving bouncing balls. Therefor, the behavior of particles matches the behavior of
light for this property.

3. Refraction: Particles undergo refraction and so does light. The problem is this:
particles bend towards the normal when they speed up; light bends towards the normal
when it slows down, as it does when it enters water. When Newton and Huygen were
alive, no one knew the speed of light in water relative to air. They did not know if light
sped up or slowed down when it entered water. About 100 years after the death of
Newton and Huygen, scientists were able to show that light slows down in water, so its
refraction matches the refraction of waves, not particles. So Newton’s model is weak
here.

4. Partial Reflection-Partial Refraction: Particles do not exhibit this behavior – they


either bounce off a barrier or they penetrate it, but they never do both at the same time.
Newton admitted his model was weak for this property of light. The best he could say
was that light particles sometimes struck a barrier in a “fit” of reflection, and
sometimes in a “fit” of refraction.

5. Diffraction: Particles do not diffract and neither Newton nor Huygen could show
diffraction of interference of light in the laboratory. Newton took this negative result to
be supportive of his particle model for light. That is to say, he felt the absence of any
evidence of diffraction or interference of light proved that light must be a particle.

6. Dispersion: A refracting medium will cause particles to refract by varying amounts


based on their inertia. The larger the mass of the particle, the greater its inertia, and the
harder it is for a refracting medium to make it bend away from its original path.
Newton proposed that light is split up into its component colours by refracting media
because the different colors of light were made of particles of differing masses. For
example, blue light was made of very low mass particles of light, so these particles
would have lower inertia and be refracted more than other colours of light.

You might also like