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Optics

This document discusses the dual nature of light as both a particle and wave. It describes light as a photon, which is a particle of electromagnetic energy that always travels at the speed of light. Photons have properties of both particles and waves, such as carrying energy and momentum related to frequency and wavelength. The document also covers topics in optics including reflection, refraction via Snell's Law, polarization, scattering, and Huygens' principle for constructing wave fronts.

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n4mei31
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10 views

Optics

This document discusses the dual nature of light as both a particle and wave. It describes light as a photon, which is a particle of electromagnetic energy that always travels at the speed of light. Photons have properties of both particles and waves, such as carrying energy and momentum related to frequency and wavelength. The document also covers topics in optics including reflection, refraction via Snell's Law, polarization, scattering, and Huygens' principle for constructing wave fronts.

Uploaded by

n4mei31
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Optics

-deals with the behavior of light and other electromagnetic waves

The Dual Nature of Light


Newton thought that light was a particle because the edges of the shadows it created was extremely sharp
and clear. About the same time as Newton, Dutch physicist, Christian Huygens, believed that light was
made up of waves vibrating up and down perpendicular to the direction of the light travels. It explained
diffraction and could be demonstrated through experimentation. Light is a form of energy and has a
dual nature. This means that light possesses both particle properties and wave properties.

c = 2.99792458 x 108 m/s

Photon
A photon is a particle of light defined as a discrete bundle (or quantum) of electromagnetic (or light)
energy. Photons are always in motion and, in a vacuum (a completely empty space), have a constant
speed of light to all observers. Photons travel at the vacuum speed of light (more commonly just called
the speed of light) of c = 2.99792458 x 108 m/s.
Basic Properties of Photons
According to the photon theory of light, photons:
1. behave like a particle and a wave, simultaneously
2. move at a constant velocity, c = 2.99792458 x 108 m/s (i.e. "the speed of light"), in empty space
3. have zero mass and rest energy
4. carry energy and momentum, which are also related to the frequency (f)and wavelength (λ) of the
electromagnetic wave, as expressed by the equation

E = hf or E = hc/ λ (energy) h-Planck’s constant


p = h / λ (momentum)

λ = h /p is called the de Broglie wavelength

5. can be destroyed/created when radiation is absorbed/emitted.


6. can have particle-like interactions (i.e. collisions) with electrons and other particles, such as in the
Compton effect in which particles of light collide with atoms, causing the release of electrons.

Wave Front
The locus of all adjacent points at which the phase of vibration of a physical quantity associated with the
wave is the same.
Rays
an imaginary line along the direction of travel of the wave.

Light is a transverse wave


Reflection
is when light bounces off an object.
Law of Reflection
The law of reflection states that the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface of the
mirror all lie in the same plane.

Refraction
Refraction is the bending of light (it also happens with sound, water and other waves) as it passes from
one transparent substance into another.
Index of Refraction
The index of refraction of an optical material (also called the refractive index), denoted by n, plays a
central role in geometric optics:

Snell’s Law (Law of Refraction)


For monochromatic light and for a given pair of materials, a and b, on opposite sides of the interface, the
ratio of the sines of the angles θa and θb, where both angles are measured from the normal to the surface,
is equal to the inverse ratio of the two indexes of refraction:
Total Internal Reflection
The angle of incidence for which the refracted ray emerges tangent to the surface is called the critical
angle, denoted by ϴcrit.
Dispersion
Ordinary white light is a superposition of waves with all visible wavelengths. The speed
of light in vacuum is the same for all wavelengths, but the speed in a material substance is
different for different wavelengths. Therefore the index of refraction of a material depends
on wavelength. The dependence of wave speed and index of refraction on wavelength is
called dispersion.

Polarization
Polarization is a characteristic of all transverse waves. When a wave has only y-displacements, we say
that it is linearly polarized in the y-direction; a wave with only z-displacements is linearly polarized in the
z-direction. For mechanical waves we can build a polarizing filter, or polarizer, that permits only aves
with a certain polarization direction to pass.
SCATTERING OF LIGHT

When you look at the daytime sky, the light that you see is sunlight that has been absorbed and then re-
radiated in a variety of directions. This process is called scattering
Huygen’s Principle
Huygens’s principle: Huygens’s principle states that if the position of a wave front at one instant is
known, then the position of the front at a later time can be constructed by imagining the front as a
source of secondary wavelets. Huygens’s principle can be used to derive the laws of reflection and
refraction.

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