Fundamentals of Architectural Acoustics: Building Skin Envelope
Fundamentals of Architectural Acoustics: Building Skin Envelope
Fundamentals of Architectural Acoustics: Building Skin Envelope
ACOUSTICS
Architectural acoustics (also known as room acoustics and building acoustics) is
the science and engineering of achieving a good sound within a building and is a branch
of acoustical engineering. The first application of modern scientific methods to
architectural acoustics was carried out by Wallace Sabine in the Fogg Museum lecture
room who then applied his new found knowledge to the design of Symphony Hall,
Boston.
The science of limiting and/or controlling noise transmission from one building
space to another to ensure space functionality and speech privacy. The typical sound
paths are ceilings, room partitions, acoustic ceiling panels (such as wood dropped
ceiling panels), doors, windows, flanking, ducting and other penetrations. Technical
solutions depend on the source of the noise and the path of acoustic transmission, for
example noise by steps or noise by (air, water) flow vibrations. An example would be
providing suitable party wall design in an apartment complex to minimize the mutual
disturbance due to noise by residents in adjacent apartments.
Prefabricated panels are limited to the size of the substrate ranging from 2 by 4
feet (0.61 m × 1.22 m) to 4 by 10 feet (1.2 m × 3.0 m). Fabric retained in a wall-mounted
perimeter track system, is referred to as "on-site acoustical wall panels". This is
constructed by framing the perimeter track into shape, infilling the acoustical substrate
and then stretching and tucking the fabric into the perimeter frame system. On-site wall
panels can be constructed to accommodate door frames, baseboard, or any other
intrusion. Large panels (generally, greater than 50 square feet (4.6 m2)) can be created
on walls and ceilings with this method. Wood finishes can consist of punched or routed
slots and provide a natural look to the interior space, although acoustical absorption
may not be great.
There are three ways to improve workplace acoustics and solve workplace sound
problems – the ABCs.
Building services noise control is the science of controlling noise produced by:
-Elevators
Inadequate control may lead to elevated sound levels within the space which can
be annoying and reduce speech intelligibility. Typical improvements are vibration
isolation of mechanical equipment, and sound traps in ductwork. Sound masking can
also be created by adjusting HVAC noise to a predetermined level.
Maximize Your Space
No matter what kind of equipment you’re using, the space they are in determines
sound performance more than anything else. The size and shape, levels of absorption
and reflection, even the materials used in construction all affect the way sound waves
move through a space.
This science of sound is a dense subject, but a few fundamentals can help you
understand how sound waves behave, and what parts of your space are helping – and
hurting – what you hear.
Sound is measured in frequencies (Hz), which travels in the form of waves. The
higher the frequency, the higher the pitch! Higher pitches (or higher frequencies) have a
much shorter wavelength than lower frequencies/pitches. This affects how the sound
waves travel, and one of the reasons you can hear lower pitches (bass) at a further
distance from the sound source.
It’s important to keep these things in mind when you’re doing acoustic treatment,
or just when listening to how a particular room sounds. The larger wave forms of lower
pitches cover more distance with each cycle, so the bass in the back of a room may be
drastically different than right near a subwoofer or amplifier (for just one example).
When sound waves hit a surface, they behave in a variety of ways. When they
“bounce,” it is typically with either reflection or diffusion. Sound waves reflect when they
strike a flat surface and bounce back in the same direction. Because a tiny fraction of
the energy is lost, the reflected frequency is quite identical – this leads to overtones and
distortion within the nearly identical sound waves, and is the primary reason that large,
flat surfaced rooms sound harsh to the ear.
Alternatively, when sound waves strike rounded or uneven surfaces, they are
diffused – meaning they are “bounced” in multiple directions. Since they don’t reflect
exactly back on themselves, there isn’t interference among the waveforms. This is why
you see acoustic treatment with textured surfaces, or why rooms with many angles and
objects tend to sound “warmer” or less harsh.
ABSORPTION
Sound waves are also absorbed by the objects they hit. Different materials offer
different levels of absorption, and frequencies ranges behave in their own unique
waves. Higher frequencies are more easily absorbed, while lower frequencies can pass
through objects. This means that lower frequencies often far more difficult to control.
Absorbent materials, like foam, sound absorbing panels, etc. certainly help, but those
large waves have to go so somewhere!
MORE RESOURCES
In fact, the science of sound is far more than high and low pitches, or what
direction your speakers are pointing. It’s math and physics, vibrations in the air moving
at incredible speeds and behaving in fascinating, complex ways. For many audio
engineers, getting a handle on the basics of acoustics – especially within rooms – is
important to mastering their equipment. For architectural acoustic designers, it’s an
entire world of study… And for physicists, it’s even deeper!
Useful Formulas
ELECTRICAL FORMULAS
Lighting System Efficacy (Lumens per Watt or LPW) = System Lumen Output ÷ Input
Wattage
Unit Power Density (W/sq.ft.) = Total System Input Wattage (W) ÷ Total Area (Square
Feet)
Watts (W) = Volts (V) x Current in Amperes (A) x Power Factor (PF)
ECONOMIC FORMULAS
Simple Payback on an Investment (Years) = Net Installation Cost ($) ÷ Annual Energy
Savings ($)
5-Year Cash Flow ($) = 5 Years - Payback (Years) x Annual Energy Savings ($)
Simple Return on Investment (%) = [Annual Energy Savings ($) ÷ Net Installation Cost
($)] x 100
DESIGN FORMULAS
Footcandles (fc) = I ÷ D2
Many workplanes are not perpendicular to the direction of light intensity, which is
why calculating light level at a point is useful for such applications. In these cases, we
often must determine light levels on workplanes that are not horizontal and
perpendicular but tilted or even vertical. For tilted-horizontal or vertical planes:
H = Distance between the lamp and the point direct below on the workplane
L = Distance between that point and the point where light level is being calculated
Light Loss Factor (LLF) = Ballast Factor x Fixture Ambient Temperature Factor x Supply
Voltage Variation Factor x Lamp Position Factor x Optical Factor x Fixture Surface
Depreciation Factor x Lamp Burnouts Factor x Lamp Lumen Depreciation Factor x
Fixture Dirt Depreciation Factor x Room Surface Dirt Depreciation Factor
Room Cavity Ratio (for regular rooms shaped like a square or rectangle) = [5 x Room
Cavity Depth x (Room Length + Room Width)] ÷ (Room Length x Room Width)
Room Cavity Ratio (for irregular-shaped rooms) = (2.5 x Room Cavity Depth x
Perimeter) ÷ Area in Square Feet
Ceiling Cavity Ratio = [5 x Ceiling Cavity Depth x (Room Length x Room Width)] ÷
(Room Length x Room Width)
Floor Cavity Ratio = [5 x Floor Cavity Depth x (Room Length x Room Width)] ÷ Room
Length x Room Width
Spacing Between Fixtures = Square Root of (Area in Square Feet ÷ Required No. of
Fixtures)
For the above two formulas, round results to the nearest whole integer.
If the resulting number of fixtures does not equal the originally calculated number,
calculate impact on the designed light level:
% Design Light Level = Actual No. of Fixtures ÷ Originally Calculated No. of Fixtures
Lamp Life
Calendar Lamp Life (Years) = Rated Lamp Life (Hours) ÷ Annual Hours of Operation
(Hours/Year)
C = (Lamp Cost, Group Relamping + Labor Cost to Group Relamp 1 Lamp) x Number
of Lamps
Average Annual Cost ($) = (Operating Hours/Year ÷ Rated Lamp Life) x (Lamp Cost +
Labor Cost to Replace 1 Lamp) x Total Number of Lamps
Cleaning Cost
Cleaning Cost ($) = Time to Wash 1 Fixture (Hours) x Hourly Labor Rate ($) x Number
of Fixtures in Lighted Space
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Average Reduced Air Pollution (lbs. Carbon Dioxide) = Energy Savings (kWh) x 1.6 lbs.
Average Reduced Air Pollution (g. Sulphur Dioxide) = Energy Savings (kWh) x 5.3 g.
Average Reduced Air Pollution (g. Nitrogen Oxides) = Energy Savings (kWh) x 2.8 g.
Architectural acoustics
Sound
Sound propagation
Sound absorption
Ray diagram
Weighting networks
The STC rating figure very roughly reflects the decibel reduction in noise that a partition
can provide.
Rating methodology
The ASTM sound transmission loss test methods have changed every few years.
Thus, STC results posted before 1999 may not produce the same results today, and the
differences become wider as one goes further back in time–the differences in the
applicable test methods between the 1970s and today being quite significant.
Sound Transmission Class Report Sample from NTi Audio showing Transmission Loss
in the sixteen standard frequencies
The STC number is derived from sound attenuation values tested at sixteen
standard frequencies from 125 Hz to 4000 Hz. These Transmission Loss values are
then plotted on a sound pressure level graph and the resulting curve is compared to a
standard reference contour. Acoustical engineers fit these values to the
appropriate TL Curve (or Transmission Loss) to determine an STC rating. The
measurement is accurate for speech sounds, but much less so for amplified music,
mechanical equipment noise, transportation noise, or any sound with substantial low-
frequency energy below 125 Hz. Sometimes, acoustical labs will measure TL at
frequencies below the normal STC boundary of 125 Hz, possibly down to 50 Hz or
lower, thus giving additional valuable data to evaluate transmission loss at very low
frequencies, such as a subwoofer-rich home theater system would produce.
Alternatively, Outdoor-Indoor Transmission Class (OITC) is a standard used for
indicating the rate of transmission of sound between outdoor and indoor spaces in a
structure that considers frequencies down to 80 Hz (Aircraft/Rail/Truck traffic) and is
weighted more to lower frequencies.
Sound Isolation Techniques
The following sound isolation results and methodologies are presented with data
that is measured within the standard frequency range specified by appropriate ASTM
standards. Although it is worthwhile to discuss the utility of sound transmission loss data
that lies outside the standard frequency range (especially in the low-frequency region),
for simplicity results will be primarily be presented and discussed within these standard
limitations.
Typical interior walls in homes (1 sheet of 1/2″ (13 mm) gypsum wallboard
(drywall) on either side of a 2x4 (90 mm) wood studs spaced 16" (406 mm) on-center
with fiberglass insulation filling each stud cavity) have an STC of about 33. When asked
to rate their acoustical performance, people often describe these walls as "paper thin."
They offer little in the way of privacy. Multi-family demising partition walls are typically
constructed with varying gypsum wallboard panel layers attached to both sides of
double 2x4 (90 mm) wood studs spaced 16" (406 mm) on-center and separated by a 1"
(25 mm) airspace. These double-stud walls vary in sound isolation performance from
the mid STC-40s into the high STC-60s depending on the presence of insulation and
the gypsum wallboard type and quantity. Commercial buildings are typically constructed
using steel studs of varying widths, gauges, and on-center spacings. Each of these
framing characteristics have an effect on the sound isolation of the partition to varying
degrees.
Sound Absorption
Adding absorptive materials to the interior surfaces of rooms (e.g. fabric-faced
fiberglass panels, thick curtains) will result in a decrease of reverberated sound energy
within the room. However, absorptive interior surface treatments do not significantly
improve the sound isolation from one room to another through demising partitions over
the typical frequency range measured currently. Installing absorptive insulation (e.g.,
fiberglass batts, blow-in cellulose, mineral fiber batts) into the wall or ceiling cavities
affects the sound isolation of the partition to varying degrees, depending on the framing
configuration and joist or stud depth. For example, the presence of type of insulation in
single 2x4 wood stud framing spaced 16" (406 mm) on-center results in only a few STC
points. In contrast, adding standard fiberglass insulation to an otherwise empty cavity in
light-gauge (25-gauge or lighter) steel stud partitions can result in a nearly 10 STC-point
improvement. As the stud gauge becomes heavier, the presence and type of insulation
matters less.
Mass
The effect of adding multiple layers of gypsum wallboard to a frame also varies
depending on the framing type and configuration. Doubling the mass of a partition does
not double the STC, as the STC is calculated from a non-linear decibel sound
transmission loss measurement. So, whereas installing an additional layer of gypsum
wallboard to a light-gauge (25-ga. or lighter) steel stud partition will result in about a 5
STC-point increase, doing the same on single wood or single heavy-gauge steel will
result in only 2 to 3 additional STC points. Adding a second additional layer (to the
already 3-layer system) does not result in as drastic an STC change as the first
additional layer. The effect of additional gypsum wallboard layers on double- and
staggered-stud partitions is similar to that of light-gauge steel partitions. Due to
increased mass, poured concrete and concrete blocks typically achieve higher STC
values (in the mid STC 40s to the mid STC 50s) than equally thick framed walls.
However the additional weight, added complexity of construction, and poor thermal
insulation tend to limit masonry wall partitions as a viable sound isolation solution in
many building construction projects. Temperate climates and hurricane- or tornado-
prone areas may, however, require the use of masonry walls for structural stability.
Decoupling
Structurally decoupling the gypsum wallboard panels from the partition framing
can result in a large increase in sound isolation when installed correctly. Examples of
structural decoupling in building construction include resilient channels, sound isolation
clips and hat channels, and staggered- or double-stud framing. The STC results of
decoupling in wall and ceiling assemblies varies significantly depending on the framing
type, air cavity volume, and decoupling material type. Great care must be taken in each
type of decoupled partition construction, as any fastener that becomes mechanically
(rigidly) coupled to the framing can short-circuit the decoupling and result in drastically
lower sound isolation results.
Damping
Sound damping tapes and other materials have been used to reduce both
vibration and sound transmission through materials since the early 1930s. Although the
applications of sound damping was largely limited to defense and industrial applications
such as naval vessels and aircraft in the past, recent research has proven the
effectiveness of damping in interior sound isolation in buildings. Constrained-layer
damping gypsum wallboard panels increase sound isolation in building partitions by
drastically reducing the vibration of panels and, incidentally, the radiation of sound
through panels. The shear loading of a highly visco-elastic interlayer sandwiched
between two more rigid constraining layers causes decreased displacement due to
vibration, reducing the amount of sound energy radiated through a panel between
enclosures. Damped gypsum wallboard panels are effective in reducing sound
transmission over a broad range of frequencies and especially useful for achieving high
levels of speech privacy between partitions.
Addressing Sound Flanking
Sound isolation metrics, such as the STC, are measured in specially-isolated and
designed laboratory test chambers. It is important to note that there are nearly infinite
field conditions that will affect sound isolation in situ when designing or remodeling
building partitions and enclosures. Partitions that are inadequately or inappropriately
sealed—that contain back-to-back electrical boxes, untreated recessed lighting, and
unsealed pipes to name just a few—provide flanking paths for sound. Sound flanking
paths include any sound transmission path other than the wall or ceiling partition itself.
Great care and caution must be applied to any acoustically-treated building partition to
ensure that the field sound isolation performance more closely approaches laboratory-
tested values (see data from the National Research Council of Canada.)
Section 1207 of International Building Code 2006 states that separation between
dwelling units and between dwelling units and public and service areas must achieve
STC 50 (STC 45 if field tested) for both airborne and structure-borne. However, not all
jurisdictions use the IBC 2006 for their building or municipal code. In jurisdictions where
IBC 2006 is used, this requirement may not apply to all dwelling units. For example, a
building conversion may not need to meet this rating for all walls.
25 Normal speech can be understood quite easily and distinctly through wall
Loud speech can be understood fairly well, normal speech heard but not
30
understood
40 Onset of "privacy"
Very loud sounds such as musical instruments or a stereo can be faintly heard;
50
99% of population not annoyed.
Single pane glass window (typical value) (Dual pane glass window range is 26-
27
32)"STC Ratings".
Single layer of 1/2″ drywall on each side, wood studs, no insulation (typical
33
interior wall)
39 Single layer of 1/2″ drywall on each side, wood studs, fiberglass insulation [14]
45 Double layer of 1/2″ drywall on each side, wood studs, batt insulation in wall
Single layer of 1/2″ drywall, glued to 6″ lightweight concrete block wall, painted
46
both sides
8″ Hollow CMU (Concrete Masonry Unit) with 2″ Z-Bars and 1/2″ Drywall on each
52
side [16]
Single layer of 1/2″ drywall, glued to 8″ dense concrete block wall, painted both
54
sides
54 8″ Hollow CMU (Concrete Masonry Unit) with 1 1/2″ Wood Furring, 1 1/2″
Fiberglass Insulation and 1/2″ Drywall on each side [16]
Double layer of 1/2″ drywall on each side, on staggered wood stud wall, batt
55
insulation in wall
Double layer of 1/2″ drywall on each side, on wood stud wall, resilient channels
59
on one side, batt insulation
Double layer of 1/2″ drywall on each side, on double wood/metal stud walls
63
(spaced 1″ apart), double batt insulation
8″ concrete block wall, painted, with 1/2″ drywall on independent steel stud walls,
72
each side, insulation in cavities
Acoustic Absorption
When sound from a loudspeaker collides with the walls of a room part of the
sound's energy is reflected, part is transmitted, and part is absorbed into the walls. Just
as the acoustic energy was transmitted through the air as pressure differentials (or
deformations), the acoustic energy travels through the material which makes up the wall
in the same manner. Deformation causes mechanical losses via conversion of part of
the sound energy into heat, resulting in acoustic attenuation, mostly due to the
wall's viscosity. Similar attenuation mechanisms apply for the air and any
other medium through which sound travels.
In general, soft, pliable, or porous materials (like cloths) serve as good acoustic
insulators - absorbing most sound, whereas dense, hard, impenetrable materials (such
as metals) reflect most.
How well a room absorbs sound is quantified by the effective absorption area of
the walls, also named total absorption area. This is calculated using its dimensions and
the absorption coefficients of the walls.[2] The total absorption is expressed
in Sabins and is useful in, for instance, determining the reverberation time of auditoria.
Absorption coefficients can be measured using a reverberation room, which is the
opposite of an anechoic chamber
Sound reflection
Acoustic transmission
Is the transmission of sounds through and between materials, including air, wall,
and musical instruments.
In building design
1. Airborne transmission - a noise source in one room sends air pressure waves which
induce vibration to one side of a wall or element of structure setting it moving such
that the other face of the wall vibrates in an adjacent room. Structural
isolation therefore becomes an important consideration in the acoustic design of
buildings. Highly sensitive areas of buildings, for example recording studios, may be
almost entirely isolated from the rest of a structure by constructing the studios as
effective boxes supported by springs. Air tightness also becomes an important
control technique. A tightly sealed door might have reasonable sound reduction
properties, but if it is left open only a few millimeters its effectiveness is reduced to
practically nothing. The most important acoustic control method is adding mass into
the structure, such as a heavy dividing wall, which will usually reduce airborne sound
transmission better than a light one.
2. Impact transmission - a noise source in one room results from an impact of an object
onto a separating surface, such as a floor and transmits the sound to an adjacent
room. A typical example would be the sound of footsteps in a room being heard in a
room below. Acoustic control measures usually include attempts to isolate the
source of the impact, or cushioning it. For example carpets will perform significantly
better than hard floors.
The four classical mechanisms of sound absorption in material media are shearvi
scosity, heat conduction, heat radiation, and diffusion. These attenuationmechanisms ar
e generally grouped together and referred to as classical attenuationor thermoviscous at
tenuation.
Reverberation time
Reverberation time is defined as the length of time required for sound to decay
60 decibels from its initial level. Classrooms should have reverberation times in the
range of 0.4-0.6 seconds, but many existing classrooms have reverberation times of 1
second or more. In such cases, the teacher is competing against the lingering
reflections of his or her own voice for the student's attention. The result is a chaotic
jumble of sounds.
Over 100 years ago, a Harvard physics professor named Wallace Clement
Sabine developed the first equation for reverberation time, which has since been named
after him and is still used today. Reverberation time is defined as the length of time
required for sound to decay 60 dB from its initial level. Sabine’s simple formula is:
Where:
To use this formula, the volume of the room, surface area of each material in the
room, and absorption coefficients for those materials must be known. Absorption
coefficients are measured in specialized laboratories, and represent the fraction of
sound energy (not sound level-dB) the material will absorb as a decimal from 0 to 1.
Figure 15 gives absorption coefficients for common classroom materials.
Reverberation time is often calculated with the room unoccupied. Since people
and their clothing provide additional sound absorption, an unoccupied room is the worst-
case scenario, though not an unreasonable one, since occupancy of most classrooms
varies. In a complete analysis, this calculation should be performed for each octave
band, as the RT can vary widely at different frequencies. However, for a quick estimate,
the RT of a classroom can be calculated for just one octave band representative of
speech frequencies, such as 1000 Hz. If this RT is acceptable, then the RT throughout
the speech range will likely be acceptable.
The polar coordinate graph below plots contours of sound levels for speech. The
shapes of the contours show the directional characteristics of speech at low frequencies
(<= 500 Hz to represent vowels, which contribute to the tone of an individual’s speech)
and at high frequencies (=> 4000 Hz to re present consonants, which strongly influence
intelligibility of sibilants). 00 is the direction the speaker is facing, 180° the direction
behind the speaker. Sound levels at low frequencies are diminished very little at the
sides (90° orientation) and moderately at the rear (8 dB lower). However, sound levels
at high frequencies are diminished by about 6 dB at the sides and 20 dB (about one-
fourth as loud) at the rear. When speakers turn their backs to the audience, consonants
can become completely inaudible
Sightline
C-value
Good sightlines allow spectators to see all areas of a venue stage or field of play.
To ensure this designers utilize the C-value. The C-value is the vertical distance from
the spectator eye to where it intersects the sightline of the spectator directly behind.
The vertical distance from a spectator's eyes to sightline of the spectator directly
behind is called a C-value. The C-value is a value that helps produce a rake. The
stadium bowl rake if based on consistent C-values will follow half of a parabola in
section. The curvature will be greatest closest to the pitch and will become an
increasingly flatter curve as it moves to the upper rows. As a general rule the rake or
curve of the seating bowl will flatten as the first row of seats move away from the side-
line for a constant C-value. It is impractical to make different step heights for every
single row. In practice the riser height is the same for a set of 4 or 5 rows at the bottom
of the bowl with the number of rows in each same height set increasing for higher up
rows. The uppermost tier could have only 2 or even 1 different step heights.
It is the lowest rows of seats that are the most sensitive to the impact of the C-
value because of the very flat view angle to the touch line. The higher seats can have a
reduced C-value without impacting as seriously on the clear view of the field of play
Sightlines in theatres
Sightline criteria in theaters can include: the "isacoustic curve" defined by John
Scott Russell in 1838 and applied at the Auditorium Building in Chicago and the Emery
Theatre in Cincinnati; alternate row sightlines where each patron sees between the
heads of patrons in the row in front and over the heads of patrons in the second row in
front; next row sightlines where each patron sees over the heads of patrons in the row
immediately in front; and basic considerations like pointing the chairs more or less
toward the performance, being able to see the conductor in the pit, being able to see
other patrons, being able to see actors on elevated scenery, and not being obstructed
by a wall, railing, column, ceiling overhang, loudspeaker cluster, or any other
obstruction. The design of sightlines includes considerations of how much of the stage
and scenery each patron can see. For example, can each patron see the top of the
scenery or not, and can each patron see the whole stage floor or not? Design of
sightlines is divided into two related exercises, vertical sightlines and horizontal
sightlines. Design of proper sightlines includes resolving both technical and aesthetic
issues. At issue is the emotional response of the audience: whether a performer can
hold the audience's attention or not; whether the patron feels they had a "good" seat
and their ticket was fairly priced or not; whether the audience gets the emotional impact
of the performance or not; and whether the patron wants to come back and see another
performance in that theater or not. Building codes restrict the maximum and minimum
rise per row, limit the minimum width per row, limit the maximum deviation in the size of
steps from row to row to achieve the curvature of the rake, and limit other aspects of
sightline design.
Sightlines in stadium
The spectator view in modern stadia is optimised very carefully to balance the
uninterrupted clear view to the field for every seat whilst not making the seating terraces
any higher than necessary to satisfy structure, cost and safety considerations.
Sightlines in plan
The illustration indicates the partially obstructed view of the front row spectators
looking at the far corner flag of the adjacent touchline. One eye can see the action on
the field whilst vision to the second eye is blocked.
The C-Value considers the sightlines in the vertical plane. The sightlines in the
horizontal plane need to be considered for the front row spectators in the instance
where they look acutely sideways, typically adjacent far end corner flag. At the extreme
end of the front row, spectators could have their view from one of their eyes blocked by
the head of the adjacent spectator. During exciting play this can lead to spectators
jumping up out of their seats to get a better view. A clear view for both eyes for all front
row spectators can be achieved by the use of curved stands in plan. It can also be
argued that with play that is already a long distance away a better view of the game is
available on the big video screen.
Focus point
The touch-line (or side-line) and the goal-line are considered the C-Value focus point in
Stadia.
There should be a clear view of the playing field from all seats. Roof supports
should be eliminated entirely from the seating area. In calculating the sight lines it
should be appreciated that advertising boards of 90–100 cm in height may be erected
around the field at a distance of five metres from the touch lines and five metres behind
the centre of the goal lines. FIFA ticketing carry out an assessment of all seats and
those seats that have an obstructed view of the game will be classed obstructed view
seats and will not be sold. Quite often these are the first few seats adjacent to the pitch
with their view partially blocked by the advertising hoardings. This is an especially big
problem with football stadiums that have running tracks around them. These seats are
either covered with a fabric and not occupied during the game or the tickets are issued
to non-paying spectators.
Luminous intensity
Photopic (black) and scotopic (green) luminosity functions. The photopic includes
the CIE 1931 standard (solid), the Judd–Vos 1978 modified data (dashed), and the
Sharpe, Stockman, Jagla & Jägle 2005 data (dotted). The horizontal axis is wavelength
in nm.
Luminous intensity, the quantity of visible light that is emitted in unit time per unit
solid angle. The unit for the quantity of light flowing from a source in any
one second (the luminous power, or luminous flux) is called the lumen. The lumen is
evaluated with reference to visual sensation. The sensitivity of the human eye is
greatest for light having a wavelength of 555 nanometres (10 -9 metre); at this
wavelength there are 685 lumens per watt of radiant power, or radiant flux (the
luminous efficiency), whereas at other wavelengths the luminous efficiency is less. The
unit of luminous intensity is one lumen per steradian, which is the unit of solid angle—
there are 4π steradians about a point enclosed by a spherical surface. This unit of
luminous intensity is also called the standard candle, or candela, one lumen per
steradian.
Lumen
Lumen, unit of luminous flux, or amount of light, defined as the amount streaming
outward through one steradian (a unit of solid angle, part of the volume of space
illuminated by a light source) from a uniform point source having an intensity of one
candela. The lumen is used in…
Luminous intensity is also not the same as the radiant intensity, the
corresponding objective physical quantity used in the measurement science
of radiometry.
Units
Like other SI base units, the candela has an operational definition—it is defined
by the description of a physical process that will produce one candela of luminous
intensity. By definition, if one constructs a light source that emits monochromatic green
light with a frequency of 540 THz, and that has a radiant intensity of
1/683 watts per steradian in a given direction, that light source will emit one candela in
the specified direction.
Prior to the definition of the candela, a variety of units for luminous intensity were
used in various countries. These were typically based on the brightness of the flame
from a "standard candle" of defined composition, or the brightness of an incandescent
filament of specific design. One of the best-known of these standards was
the English standard: candlepower. One candlepower was the light produced by a
pure spermaceti candle weighing one sixth of a pound and burning at a rate of
120 grains per hour. Germany, Austria, and Scandinavia used the Hefnerkerze, a unit
based on the output of a Hefner lamp. In 1881, Jules Violle proposed the Violle as a unit
of luminous intensity, and it was notable as the first unit of light intensity that did not
depend on the properties of a particular lamp. All of these units were superseded by the
definition of the candela.
Usage
where
If more than one wavelength is present (as is usually the case), one must sum or
integrate over the spectrum of wavelengths present to get the luminous intensity:
Luminous flux
Units
The SI unit of luminous flux is the lumen (lm). One lumen is defined as the
luminous flux of light produced by a light source that emits one candela of luminous
intensity over a solid angle of one steradian. In other systems of units, luminous flux
may have units of power.
Weighting
The luminous flux accounts for the sensitivity of the eye by weighting the power
at each wavelength with the luminosity function, which represents the eye's response to
different wavelengths. The luminous flux is a weighted sum of the power at all
wavelengths in the visible band. Light outside the visible band does not contribute. The
ratio of the total luminous flux to the radiant flux is called the luminous efficacy.
Context
Luminous flux is often used as an objective measure of the useful light emitted by
a light source, and is typically reported on the packaging for light bulbs, although it is not
always prominent. Consumers commonly compare the luminous flux of different light
bulbs since it provides an estimate of the apparent amount of light the bulb will produce,
and a lightbulb with a higher ratio of luminous flux to consumed power is more efficient.
Luminous flux is not used to compare brightness, as this is a subjective
perception which varies according to the distance from the light source and the angular
spread of the light from the source.
Luminous flux (in lumens) is a measure of the total amount of light a lamp puts
out. The luminous intensity (in candelas) is a measure of how bright the beam in a
particular direction is. If a lamp has a 1 lumen bulb and the optics of the lamp are set up
to focus the light evenly into a 1 steradian beam, then the beam would have a luminous
intensity of 1 candela. If the optics were changed to concentrate the beam into 1/2
steradian then the source would have a luminous intensity of 2 candela. The resulting
beam is narrower and brighter, however the luminous flux remains the same.
SI photometry quantities
Notes
Symbol[n
Name Name Symbol Symbol[nb 2]
b 1]
Luminous
flux / Luminous energy
Φv [nb 3] lumen (= cd⋅sr) lm J
luminous per unit time
power
Luminous
Illuminanc
Ev lux (= lm/m2) lx L−2⋅J flux incident on a
e
surface
Luminous
Luminous
exitance /
Mv lux lx L−2⋅J flux emitted from a
luminous
surface
emittance
Luminous Time-integrated
Hv lux second lx⋅s L−2⋅T⋅J
exposure illuminance
Luminous
lumen second lm⋅s⋅m−
energy ωv L−3⋅T⋅J
per cubic metre 3
density
Ratio of luminous
flux to radiant flux or
Luminous M−1⋅L−2⋅T3⋅
η [nb 3] lumen per watt lm/W power consumption,
efficacy J
depending on
context
2. Jump up^ The symbols in this column denote dimensions; "L", "T" and "J"
are for length, time and luminous intensity respectively, not the symbols
for the units litre, tesla and joule.
Examples
Light is a transverse, electromagnetic wave that can be seen by humans. The wave
nature of light was first illustrated through experiments on diffraction and interference.
Like all electromagnetic waves, light can travel through a vacuum. The transverse
nature of light can be demonstrated through polarization.
Sources
Speed
Just notes so far. The speed of light in a vacuum is represented by the letter c from the
Latin celeritas — swiftness. Measurements of the speed of light.
The speed of light in a medium is always slower the speed of light in a vacuum.
The speed of light depends upon the medium through which it travels.The speed
of anything with mass is always less than the speed of light in a vacuum.
Other characteristics
Color is such a complex topic that it has its own section in this book.
o There are six simple, named colors in English (and many other languages)
each associated with a band of monochromatic light. In order of increasing
frequency they are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
Light ranges in wavelength from 400 nm on the violet end to 700 nm on the red
end of the visible spectrum.
Phase differences between light waves can produce visible interference effects.
(There are several sections in this book on interference phenomena and light.)
Fly's Eye has a flicker fusion rate of 300/s. Humans have a flicker fusion rate of
only 60/s in bright light and 24/s in dim light. The flicker fusion rate is the
frequency with which the "flicker" of an image cannot be distinguished as an
individual event. Like the frame of a movie… if you slowed it down, you would
see individual frames. Speed it up and you see a constantly moving image.
Octopus' eye has a flicker fusion frequency of 70/s in bright light.
Penguin has a flat cornea that allows for clear vision underwater. Penguins can
also see into the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Reindeer can see ultraviolet wavelengths, which may help them view contrasts in
their mostly white environment.
Light
The main source of light on Earth is the Sun. Sunlight provides the energy that
green plants use to create sugars mostly in the form of starches, which release energy
into the living things that digest them. This process of photosynthesis provides virtually
all the energy used by living things. Historically, another important source of light for
humans has been fire, from ancient campfires to modern kerosene lamps. With the
development of electric lights and power systems, electric lighting has effectively
replaced firelight. Some species of animals generate their own light, a process
called bioluminescence. For example, fireflies use light to locate mates, and vampire
squids use it to hide themselves from prey.
EMR in the visible light region consists of quanta (called photons) that are at the
lower end of the energies that are capable of causing electronic excitation within
molecules, which leads to changes in the bonding or chemistry of the molecule. At the
lower end of the visible light spectrum, EMR becomes invisible to humans (infrared)
because its photons no longer have enough individual energy to cause a lasting
molecular change (a change in conformation) in the visual molecule retinal in the human
retina, which change triggers the sensation of vision.
There exist animals that are sensitive to various types of infrared, but not by
means of quantum-absorption. Infrared sensing in snakes depends on a kind of
natural thermal imaging, in which tiny packets of cellular water are raised in temperature
by the infrared radiation. EMR in this range causes molecular vibration and heating
effects, which is how these animals detect it.
Above the range of visible light, ultraviolet light becomes invisible to humans,
mostly because it is absorbed by the cornea below 360 nanometers and the internal
lens below 400. Furthermore, the rods and cones located in the retinaof the human eye
cannot detect the very short (below 360 nm) ultraviolet wavelengths and are in fact
damaged by ultraviolet. Many animals with eyes that do not require lenses (such as
insects and shrimp) are able to detect ultraviolet, by quantum photon-absorption
mechanisms, in much the same chemical way that humans detect visible light.
Plant growth is also affected by the color spectrum of light, a process known
as photomorphogenesis.
m
Speed of light
Léon Foucault carried out an experiment which used rotating mirrors to obtain a
value of 298,000,000 m/s in 1862. Albert A. Michelson conducted experiments on the
speed of light from 1877 until his death in 1931. He refined Foucault's methods in 1926
using improved rotating mirrors to measure the time it took light to make a round trip
from Mount Wilson to Mount San Antonio in California. The precise measurements
yielded a speed of 299,796,000 m/s.
The effective velocity of light in various transparent substances containing
ordinary matter, is less than in vacuum. For example, the speed of light in water is about
3/4 of that in vacuum.
Optics
The study of light and the interaction of light and matter is termed optics. The
observation and study of optical phenomena such as rainbows and the aurora
borealis offer many clues as to the nature of light.
Refraction
When a beam of light crosses the boundary between a vacuum and another
medium, or between two different media, the wavelength of the light changes, but the
frequency remains constant. If the beam of light is not orthogonal (or rather normal) to
the boundary, the change in wavelength results in a change in the direction of the
beam. This change of direction is known as refraction.
Light sources
Atoms emit and absorb light at characteristic energies. This produces "emission
lines" in the spectrum of each atom. Emission can be spontaneous, as in light-emitting
diodes, gas discharge lamps (such as neon lamps and neon signs, mercury-vapor
lamps, etc.), and flames (light from the hot gas itself—so, for example, sodium in a gas
flame emits characteristic yellow light). Emission can also be stimulated, as in a laser or
a microwave maser.
Certain substances produce light when they are illuminated by more energetic
radiation, a process known as fluorescence. Some substances emit light slowly after
excitation by more energetic radiation. This is known as phosphorescence.
Phosphorescent materials can also be excited by bombarding them with subatomic
particles. Cathodoluminescence is one example. This mechanism is used in cathode
ray tube television sets and computer monitors.
A city illuminated by colorful artificial lighting
Bioluminescence
Cherenkov radiation
Electroluminescence
Scintillation
Sonoluminescence
Triboluminescence
Radioactive decay
Light is measured with two main alternative sets of units: radiometry consists of
measurements of light power at all wavelengths, while photometry measures light with
wavelength weighted with respect to a standardised model of human brightness
perception. Photometry is useful, for example, to quantify Illumination (lighting) intended
for human use. The SI units for both systems are summarised in the following tables.
Dimen
Quantity Unit
sion
Notes
Symb Symbo
Name Name Symbol
ol[nb 1] l
Energy of
M⋅L2⋅T
Radiant energy Qe[nb 2] joule J electromagnetic
−2
radiation.
joule per
Radiant energy M⋅L−1⋅ Radiant energy per unit
we cubic J/m3
density T−2 volume.
metre
watt per
steradia
Radiant intensity per unit
Ie,Ω,ν[nb n per M⋅L2⋅T
W⋅sr−1⋅Hz− frequency or wavelength.
3] hertz −2
Spectral 1 The latter is commonly
or or or
intensity or measured in
Ie,Ω,λ[nb watt per M⋅L⋅T−
W⋅sr−1⋅m−1 W⋅sr−1⋅nm−1. This is
4] steradia 3
a directionalquantity.
n per
metre
Radiant
flux leaving (emitted,
watt per reflected and transmitted
Radiosity Je[nb 2] square W/m2 M⋅T−3 by) a surface per unit
metre area. This is sometimes
also confusingly called
"intensity".
watt per
Radiosity of
square
a surface per unit
metre
Je,ν[nb frequency or wavelength.
per hertz W⋅m−2⋅Hz− M⋅T−2
3] The latter is commonly
Spectral or 1 or
or measured in
radiosity watt per or M⋅L−1⋅
Je,λ[nb W⋅m−2⋅nm−1. This is
4]
square W/m3 T−3
sometimes also
metre,
confusingly called
per
"spectral intensity".
metre
Radiant exitance of
watt per
a surface per unit
square
frequency or wavelength.
metre
Me,ν[nb The latter is commonly
per hertz W⋅m−2⋅Hz− M⋅T−2
3] measured in
Spectral or 1 or
or W⋅m−2⋅nm−1. "Spectral
exitance watt per or M⋅L−1⋅
Me,λ[nb emittance" is an old term
square W/m3 T−3
4]
for this quantity. This is
metre,
sometimes also
per
confusingly called
metre
"spectral intensity".
joule per
square Radiant exposure of
He,ν[nb metre a surface per unit
M⋅T−1
3] −2 −1
per hertz J⋅m ⋅Hz frequency or wavelength.
Spectral or
or or or The latter is commonly
exposure M⋅L−1⋅
He,λ[nb joule per J/m
3 measured in J⋅m−2⋅nm−1.
T−2
4]
square This is sometimes also
per
metre
Radiant exitance of
a surface, divided by that
Hemispherical
ε 1 of a black body at the
emissivity
same temperature as
that surface.
Spectral exitance of
Spectral εν a surface, divided by that
hemispherical or 1 of a black body at the
emissivity ελ same temperature as
that surface.
Radiance emittedby
a surface, divided by that
Directional emitted by a black
εΩ 1
emissivity body at the same
temperature as that
surface.
Spectral
radiance emitted by
Spectral εΩ,ν
a surface, divided by that
directional or 1
of a black body at the
emissivity εΩ,λ
same temperature as
that surface.
Radiance absorbed by
a surface, divided by the
Directional radiance incident onto
AΩ 1
absorptance that surface. This should
not be confused with
"absorbance".
Spectral
radiance absorbed by
a surface, divided by the
Spectral AΩ,ν
spectral radiance
directional or 1
incident onto that
absorptance AΩ,λ
surface. This should not
be confused with
"spectral absorbance".
Radiance reflectedby
Directional
RΩ 1 a surface, divided by that
reflectance
received by that surface.
Spectral
Spectral RΩ,ν
radiance reflected by
directional or 1
a surface, divided by that
reflectance RΩ,λ
received by that surface.
Radiant
Hemispherical flux transmitted by
T 1
transmittance a surface, divided by that
received by that surface.
Spectral
Spectral Tν
flux transmitted by
hemispherical or 1
a surface, divided by that
transmittance Tλ
received by that surface.
Radiance transmitted by
Directional
TΩ 1 a surface, divided by that
transmittance
received by that surface.
Spectral
Spectral TΩ,ν
radiance transmitted by
directional or 1
a surface, divided by that
transmittance TΩ,λ
received by that surface.
Hemispherical Radiant
reciproc
attenuation μ m−1 L−1 flux absorbed and scatter
al metre
coefficient ed by a volume per unit
length, divided by that
received by that volume.
Spectral radiant
Spectral
μν flux absorbed and scatter
hemispherical reciproc
or m−1 L−1 ed by a volume per unit
attenuation al metre
μλ length, divided by that
coefficient
received by that volume.
Spectral
Spectral radiance absorbed and s
μΩ,ν
directional reciproc cattered by a volume per
or m−1 L−1
attenuation al metre unit length, divided by
μΩ,λ
coefficient that received by that
volume.
Notes
Symbol[n
Name Name Symbol Symbol[nb 7]
b 6]
Luminous
flux / Luminous energy
Φv [nb 8] lumen(= cd⋅sr) lm J
luminous per unit time
power
Luminous
Illuminanc
Ev lux(= lm/m2) lx L−2⋅J flux incident on a
e
surface
Luminous Luminous
Mv lux lx L−2⋅J
exitance/ flux emitted from a
luminous surface
emittance
Luminous Time-integrated
Hv lux second lx⋅s L−2⋅T⋅J
exposure illuminance
Luminous
lumen second lm⋅s⋅m−
energy ωv L−3⋅T⋅J
per cubic metre 3
density
Ratio of luminous
flux to radiant
Luminous M−1⋅L−2⋅T3⋅ flux or power
η [nb 8] lumen per watt lm/W
efficacy J consumption,
depending on
context
The photometry units are different from most systems of physical units in that
they take into account how the human eye responds to light. The cone cells in the
human eye are of three types which respond differently across the visible spectrum, and
the cumulative response peaks at a wavelength of around 555 nm. Therefore, two
sources of light which produce the same intensity (W/m 2) of visible light do not
necessarily appear equally bright. The photometry units are designed to take this into
account, and therefore are a better representation of how "bright" a light appears to be
than raw intensity. They relate to raw power by a quantity called luminous efficacy, and
are used for purposes like determining how to best achieve sufficient illumination for
various tasks in indoor and outdoor settings. The illumination measured by
a photocell sensor does not necessarily correspond to what is perceived by the human
eye, and without filters which may be costly, photocells and charge-coupled
devices (CCD) tend to respond to some infrared, ultraviolet or both.
Light pressure
Light exerts physical pressure on objects in its path, a phenomenon which can be
deduced by Maxwell's equations, but can be more easily explained by the particle
nature of light: photons strike and transfer their momentum. Light pressure is equal to
the power of the light beam divided by c, the speed of light. Due to the magnitude of c,
the effect of light pressure is negligible for everyday objects. For example, a one-
milliwatt laser pointer exerts a force of about 3.3 piconewtons on the object being
illuminated; thus, one could lift a U.S. penny with laser pointers, but doing so would
require about 30 billion 1-mW laser pointers. However, in nanometre-scale applications
such as nanoelectromechanical systems (|NEMS), the effect of light pressure is more
significant, and exploiting light pressure to drive NEMS mechanisms and to flip
nanometre-scale physical switches in integrated circuits is an active area of research. At
larger scales, light pressure can cause asteroids to spin faster, acting on their irregular
shapes as on the vanes of a windmill. The possibility of making solar sails that would
accelerate spaceships in space is also under investigation.
Although the motion of the Crookes radiometer was originally attributed to light
pressure, this interpretation is incorrect; the characteristic Crookes rotation is the result
of a partial vacuum. This should not be confused with the Nichols radiometer, in which
the (slight) motion caused by torque (though not enough for full rotation against
friction) is directly caused by light pressure. As a consequence of light
pressure, Einstein in 1909 predicted the existence of "radiation friction" which would
oppose the movement of matter. He wrote, “radiation will exert pressure on both sides
of the plate. The forces of pressure exerted on the two sides are equal if the plate is at
rest. However, if it is in motion, more radiation will be reflected on the surface that is
ahead during the motion (front surface) than on the back surface. The backwardacting
force of pressure exerted on the front surface is thus larger than the force of pressure
acting on the back. Hence, as the resultant of the two forces, there remains a force that
counteracts the motion of the plate and that increases with the velocity of the plate. We
will call this resultant 'radiation friction' in brief.”
In the fifth century BC, Empedocles postulated that everything was composed
of four elements; fire, air, earth and water. He believed that Aphrodite made the human
eye out of the four elements and that she lit the fire in the eye which shone out from the
eye making sight possible. If this were true, then one could see during the night just as
well as during the day, so Empedocles postulated an interaction between rays from the
eyes and rays from a source such as the sun.
In about 300 BC, Euclid wrote Optica, in which he studied the properties of light.
Euclid postulated that light travelled in straight lines and he described the laws of
reflection and studied them mathematically. He questioned that sight is the result of a
beam from the eye, for he asks how one sees the stars immediately, if one closes one's
eyes, then opens them at night. If the beam from the eye travels infinitely fast this is not
a problem. In 55 BC, Lucretius, a Roman who carried on the ideas of earlier
Greek atomists, wrote that "The light & heat of the sun; these are composed of minute
atoms which, when they are shoved off, lose no time in shooting right across the
interspace of air in the direction imparted by the shove." (from On the nature of the
Universe). Despite being similar to later particle theories, Lucretius's views were not
generally accepted. Ptolemy (c. 2nd century) wrote about the refraction of light in his
book Optics.
Classical India
In ancient India, the Hindu schools of Samkhya and Vaisheshika, from around
the early centuries AD developed theories on light. According to the Samkhya school,
light is one of the five fundamental "subtle" elements (tanmatra) out of which emerge
the gross elements. The atomicity of these elements is not specifically mentioned and it
appears that they were actually taken to be continuous.[31] On the other hand, the
Vaisheshika school gives an atomic theoryof the physical world on the non-atomic
ground of ether, space and time. (See Indian atomism.) The basic atoms are those of
earth (prthivi), water (pani), fire (agni), and air (vayu) Light rays are taken to be a stream
of high velocity of tejas (fire) atoms. The particles of light can exhibit different
characteristics depending on the speed and the arrangements of the tejas atoms.
The Vishnu Purana refers to sunlight as "the seven rays of the sun".
The Indian Buddhists, such as Dignāga in the 5th century and Dharmakirti in the
7th century, developed a type of atomism that is a philosophy about reality being
composed of atomic entities that are momentary flashes of light or energy. They viewed
light as being an atomic entity equivalent to energy.
Descartes
René Descartes (1596–1650) held that light was a mechanical property of the
luminous body, rejecting the "forms" of Ibn al-Haytham and Witelo as well as the
"species" of Bacon, Grosseteste, and Kepler. In 1637 he published a theory of
the refraction of light that assumed, incorrectly, that light travelled faster in a denser
medium than in a less dense medium. Descartes arrived at this conclusion by analogy
with the behaviour of sound waves. Although Descartes was incorrect about the relative
speeds, he was correct in assuming that light behaved like a wave and in concluding
that refraction could be explained by the speed of light in different media.
Descartes is not the first to use the mechanical analogies but because he clearly
asserts that light is only a mechanical property of the luminous body and the
transmitting medium, Descartes' theory of light is regarded as the start of modern
physical optics.
Particle theory
Newton's theory could be used to predict the reflection of light, but could only
explain refraction by incorrectly assuming that light accelerated upon entering a
denser medium because the gravitational pull was greater. Newton published the final
version of his theory in his Opticks of 1704. His reputation helped the particle theory of
light to hold sway during the 18th century. The particle theory of light led Laplace to
argue that a body could be so massive that light could not escape from it. In other
words, it would become what is now called a black hole. Laplace withdrew his
suggestion later, after a wave theory of light became firmly established as the model for
light (as has been explained, neither a particle or wave theory is fully correct). A
translation of Newton's essay on light appears in The large scale structure of space-
time, by Stephen Hawking and George F. R. Ellis.
The fact that light could be polarized was for the first time qualitatively explained
by Newton using the particle theory. Étienne-Louis Malus in 1810 created a
mathematical particle theory of polarization. Jean-Baptiste Biot in 1812 showed that this
theory explained all known phenomena of light polarization. At that time the polarization
was considered as the proof of the particle theory.
Wave theory
The wave theory predicted that light waves could interfere with each other like
sound waves (as noted around 1800 by Thomas Young). Young showed by means of
a diffraction experiment that light behaved as waves. He also proposed that
different colours were caused by different wavelengths of light, and explained colour
vision in terms of three-coloured receptors in the eye. Another supporter of the wave
theory was Leonhard Euler. He argued in Nova theoria lucis et colorum (1746)
that diffraction could more easily be explained by a wave theory. In 1816 André-Marie
Ampère gave Augustin-Jean Fresnel an idea that the polarization of light can be
explained by the wave theory if light were a transverse wave.[34]
Later, Fresnel independently worked out his own wave theory of light, and
presented it to the Académie des Sciences in 1817. Siméon Denis Poissonadded to
Fresnel's mathematical work to produce a convincing argument in favour of the wave
theory, helping to overturn Newton's corpuscular theory. By the year 1821, Fresnel was
able to show via mathematical methods that polarisation could be explained by the
wave theory of light and only if light was entirely transverse, with no longitudinal
vibration whatsoever.
The weakness of the wave theory was that light waves, like sound waves, would
need a medium for transmission. The existence of the hypothetical
substance luminiferous aether proposed by Huygens in 1678 was cast into strong doubt
in the late nineteenth century by the Michelson–Morley experiment.
Newton's corpuscular theory implied that light would travel faster in a denser
medium, while the wave theory of Huygens and others implied the opposite. At that
time, the speed of light could not be measured accurately enough to decide which
theory was correct. The first to make a sufficiently accurate measurement was Léon
Foucault, in 1850. His result supported the wave theory, and the classical particle theory
was finally abandoned, only to partly re-emerge in the 20th century.
Electromagnetic theory
Quantum theory
In 1900 Max Planck, attempting to explain black body radiation suggested that
although light was a wave, these waves could gain or lose energy only in finite amounts
related to their frequency. Planck called these "lumps" of light energy "quanta" (from a
Latin word for "how much"). In 1905, Albert Einstein used the idea of light quanta to
explain the photoelectric effect, and suggested that these light quanta had a "real"
existence. In 1923 Arthur Holly Comptonshowed that the wavelength shift seen when
low intensity X-rays scattered from electrons (so called Compton scattering) could be
explained by a particle-theory of X-rays, but not a wave theory. In 1926 Gilbert N.
Lewis named these light quanta particles photons.
Eventually the modern theory of quantum mechanics came to picture light as (in
some sense) both a particle and a wave, and (in another sense), as a phenomenon
which is neither a particle nor a wave (which actually are macroscopic phenomena,
such as baseballs or ocean waves). Instead, modern physics sees light as something
that can be described sometimes with mathematics appropriate to one type of
macroscopic metaphor (particles), and sometimes another macroscopic metaphor
(water waves), but is actually something that cannot be fully imagined. As in the case
for radio waves and the X-rays involved in Compton scattering, physicists have noted
that electromagnetic radiation tends to behave more like a classical wave at lower
frequencies, but more like a classical particle at higher frequencies, but never
completely loses all qualities of one or the other. Visible light, which occupies a middle
ground in frequency, can easily be shown in experiments to be describable using either
a wave or particle model, or sometimes both.
In February 2018, scientists reported, for the first time, the discovery of a new
form of light, which may involve polaritons, that could be useful in the development
of quantum computers.
Light is the common name for electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths of 400-
750 nm. This term is sometimes expanded to include ultraviolet and infrared radiation.
The human eye is capable of detecting light, which distinguishes it from other regions of
the electromagnetic spectrum (despite having shared properties with light, most notably
speed).
Both the electric field component and the magnetic field component of
electromagnetic radiation travel in space, much like a wave travels in water. In fact,
these two components are perpendicular to each other, and are both also at a right
angle to the direction of propagation of the wave (e.g. if the wave travels along a z-axis,
then the electric field might be on the x-axis and the magnetic field on the y-axis). The
speed of travel of the wave is constant, equal to about 300,000 kilometers per second in
vacuum. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, this speed is unique in that it is not
affected by the speed of the observer.
Light obviously has a crucial role in our lives; allowing us to see, delivering us the
sun's radiation, warming the surface of the Earth, and more. Light is characterized by
several very interesting properties, the observation of which has led to the development
of the most prominent theories in contemporary physics – the theory of
relativity and quantum mechanics. In this article I will briefly review some of these
properties – the duality of light, light polarization and the interaction between light and
matter.
The concept of the duality of matter stands at the heart of quantum theory, and it
is well established today that matter can possess properties of both waves and
particles. With respect to light, this has been recognized for many years, and even
during the time of Newton it was realized that light can be described using either linear
optics (like a beam of particles), and also using wave-related phenomena, such as
interference and diffraction.
Today we can describe light at the macroscopic level using Maxwell's wave
equations which describes the propagation of the electromagnetic field in space, while
at the microscopic level we know that light is composed of energy quanta in the form of
photons.
Another interesting property, which can also be associated with electrons the
polarity of light.
This feature of light can be exploited in the making of polarizers, which are
devices that block out light waves of a specific linear polarity. The light coming from the
sun or from incandescent light bulbs is polarized in a completely random manner. By
passing it through a polarizer, one can reduce its intensity (as is done in sunglasses)
and obtain polarized light.
Polarity can also be discussed with respect to quantum theory. Since photons
possess a spin that can take on one of two possible values (one or negative one), we
can make a polarizer that would completely block photons with a spin of negative one
and let through only photons with a spin of one. In fact, this property of photons is
utilized today as a means to encrypt information. This type of encryption is extremely
difficult to decipher without being discovered.
This type of quantum polarity can be described for electric current much like it is
described for light. Like photons, electrons also possess a spin, which can take on a
value of either half or negative half. Hence, one can think of a similar use of electron
spins in order to produce a polarized electric current. However, the implementation of
this is much more complicated.
One of the most interesting questions in the field is how light and matter interact
with each other. For example, why are some materials transparent while others are not?
Can light change the properties of materials? And so on.
Following the suggestion that light is composed of energy quanta in the form of
photons, it was Albert Einstein who proposed a mechanism by which photons that hit a
material can be absorbed by it and excite its electrons to a higher energy state, but only
if the photons possess the required amount of energy. If not, no matter how many
photons hit the material, they would not be able to excite the electrons and be
absorbed. It was this photoelectric effect that endowed Einstein with a Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1921. When this effect was later demonstrated experimentally, it provided a
practical proof for the very existence of photons.
Since a photon excites electrons when it gets absorbed, it can change some of
the properties of the material. For example, a photon can transfer electrons between
different energy levels, thus transforming the material from a non-conductive to a
conductive state. This phenomenon is exploited in devices such as night vision
instruments, photoelectric cells and more.
Einstein's suggestion that photons get absorbed and emitted when electrons are
moving between different energy levels led to the realization that this process can be
controlled and exploited to produce a unique light beam, the laser. This invention
brought about a true technological revolution.
A lamp is a device that produces light by the flow of electrical current, and it is a
general form of artificial lighting. Lamps or lights are vital for a lighting system and offer
efficient lighting. Generally, electrical lighting is powered by acentrally
generated electrical power. If main lights fail,lighting can also be powered by battery
systems, mobiles or generators. This article describes different types of lights, their
working and uses. To conserve energy, select an efficient light bulb, which is capable of
providing the type of lighting you need.
Incandescent lamps
Halogen lamps
Fluorescent tube
Neon lamps
Incandescent Lamps
Incandescent bulbs are standard bulbs and many people are quite familiar with
these bulbs. These incandescent bulbs
are available in a broad range of sizes
and voltages. An incandescent bulb
glows and produces heat when electricity
passes through the tungsten filament
present inside the bulb. The filament of
this bulb is placed either in a mixture of
nitrogen gas or in a vacuum. These bulbs
are being gradually replaced by LEDs, fluorescent lamps, and other service based new
technologies.
The reason for this is that when this bulb is switched on, the sudden flow of
current, energy and heat penetrate the thin areas, which in turn heat up the filament;
once the filament heats up, it tends to break and burns out the bulb. Incandescent bulbs
can last for 700 – 1000 hours and can also be used with a dimmer. Incandescent bulbs
generate steady heat, which is quite good for house hold applications. Luminous
efficiency of incandescent lamp is about 15 lumens per watt.
Halogen Lamps
Fluorescent Tube
Neon Lamps