OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, with at least 80% level of proficiency you should be able to:

1. trace the history of the study of light’s nature;

2. describe how light behaves as it goes to a medium; and
3. compare and contrast reflection and refraction.

LEARNING COMPETENCIES

1. Describe what happens when light is reflected, refracted, transmitted and

absorbed. S11/12PS-IVf-56

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

Answer the following question with using your prior knowledge about
reflection and refraction.

1. To what does the law of reflection apply?

a. Regular reflection
b. Specular reflection
c. Diffuse reflection
d. All of the above
2. The photoelectric effect is best explained by considering light to be a _____.
a. vibrating waves
b. moving particles
c. vibrating waves and moving particles
d. None of the above
 3. Refraction of light happens when light undergoes _______________.
a. reflection from a surface
b. a change of speed between two transparent materials
c. movement through a critical angle
d. a 90° angle of incidence.
4. What happens if the wave is incident into a rough medium?
a. The reflected wave travels in different directions.
b. The reflected wave travels in one direction.
c. The reflected wave will not travel.
d. The reflected ray will be absorbed by the medium.
5. What happens if the wave is incident into a smooth medium?
a. The reflected wave travels in different directions.
b. The reflected wave travels in one direction.
c. The reflected wave will not travel.
d. The reflected ray will be absorbed by the medium.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Looking into a mirror, you see your own image. Diving into a pool of water which
you thought to be less deep appears to be deeper than it actually is. A pencil held
obliquely and partially submerged in water seems to be bend at the water surface.
These common observations involve light and vision.
You use light and your eyes more than any other sense to learn about your
surroundings. All of your other senses— touch, taste, sound, and smell—involve
matter, but the most information is provided by light. Yet light seems more mysterious
than matter. Light, on the other hand, can only be studied indirectly in terms of how
it behaves. Once you understand its behavior, you know everything there is to know
about light.
History of the Study of Light’s Nature

Four hundred years before Christ, during the Age of Golden Enlightenment in
Greece, Socrates and Plato speculated that light rays left our eyes, which then
reflected from objects, then returning to our eyes. In that way, allowing us to see.

Then around 300 BC, there was a published book of Euclid with a title “Optica”.
The book contained 58 theorems about the nature of light, especially its geometrical
behaviour.

In a more recent history of the study of light,

our understanding about the nature of light is
anchored on two opposing theories.

In late 1600s, Sir Isaac Newton

formulated that light streaming from
objects consisted a huge numbers of
tiny particles or corpuscles of light which
is called the “Corpuscular Theory”.

However, Newton’s Corpuscular Theory

was not believed by Christian Huygens in which
he proposed a contradicting theory to the
corpuscular theory. According to Huygens
principle, light is a wave that travels through an
ether in which the light passed through that
Figure 3.1 Huygen’s Principle
ether, the ether vibrates.
Each point on a wavefront is a source of
wavelets.
 In 1801, Thomas Young
presented that light beams coming from
two sources interfered with each other
like how sound waves interfere.
However, inconsistency to corpuscular
theory was observed with these
constructive and destructive interference
of light. Rather it was consistent with the
wave theory. That is why light was
Figure 3.2 Thomas Young Double-Slit Experiment considered as a wave during 1800s.
A sunlight passed through a single in a screen to produce
coherent light. The light is then projected to a pair of vertical
slits which again diffracts the incident illumination as it
passes though. The result of the interference between
diffracted beams can be visualize as light intensity
distribution on the dark film.

A more detailed information

about the nature of light was described
by James Clerk Maxwell. He formulated
equations encompassing all the
previously known behavior of electrical
and magnetic phenomena. Maxwell’s
equations predicted the presence of
light waves and the speed at which it
travels. The wave nature of light as
described by Maxwell left a slight
disbelief to others.

Until the 19th century, new experiments were done which did not correspond
to the wave theory of light.

Figure 3.3 Photoelectric Effect
Incident radiation strikes a clean metal surface,
ejecting multiple electrons from it.
In 1905, a new theory was proposed by
Albert Einstein which concerns with the
photoelectric effect. Photoelectric effect is the
emission of free electrons from a metal surface
when light strikes it. The photoelectric theory
states that, “Light is composed of individual,
massless bundles of energy which is called
photons.” Photons are particles, making the
photoelectric effect theory to be consistent with
the corpuscular theory.

Up until 1990, it was proven that the light has a dual nature. It is called the
“Wave-Particle Duality” in which light has a properties of both wave and particle.

Reflection, Refraction, Transmission and Absorption of Light

Light is a transverse, electromagnetic wave that can be seen by the typical

human. Light waves travel through space in a straight line and will continue to do so
unless diverted from the original direction. When light interacts with matter it can be
reflected, refracted, transmitted, or absorbed.

A. Reflection is the bouncing back of a wave (light) to the medium after

reaching the boundary.

The law of reflection states that, “The angle of incidence is equal to

the angle of reflection.”

θi = θr
 Simply describing reflection, the reflection of rays is considered, which ignores
the wave nature of light. A ray is a straight line that represents the path of light with a
directional arrowhead.

Types of Reflection
There are two types of reflection: regular reflection and irregular reflection.

1. Regular Reflection (Specular Reflection) - occurs when light strikes a

smooth surface like a mirror, and light rays are reflected in one direction. (Fig. 3.4a)

2. Irregular Reflection (Diffuse Reflection) - occurs when light strikes a

rough surface, and light rays are reflected in random directions. (Fig. 3.4b)

Regular Reflection Irregular Reflection

(a) (b)
Figure 3.4 Types of Reflection

(a) A smooth surface (mirror) produces specular (regular) reflection. (b) A rough surface (cloth) produces
diffuse (irregular) reflection. Both reflections obey the law of reflection.

B. Refraction is the bending of a wave (light) due to the changing speed as it

goes through a different medium or the same medium, but, with some characteristics
of the medium changed.

The light ray that is entering a different medium is called the incident ray while
the bent ray is called the refracted ray.
 Figure 3.5 Refraction

A ray diagram shows refraction at the boundary

as a ray moves from air through water. Note that
θi does not equal θr in refraction.

Refractive index describes how light propagates through a medium. A higher

refractive index means the light propagates slower, and its direction changes more
upon entering a medium. A lower refractive index means the light travels faster, and
its direction changes less upon entering a medium.

 When light travels from a medium with a low refractive index to a

medium with a higher refractive index, it slows down and refracts
closer to the normal line (Fig. 3.6a).
 When light travels from a medium with a high refractive index to a
medium with a lower refractive index, it speeds up and refracts
away from the normal line Fig. 3.6b).
 (a) (b)

Figure 3.6 Refraction

(a) A light ray moving to a new material with a slower speed of light is refracted toward the normal (θi > θr). (B) A light
ray moving to a new material with a faster speed is refracted away from the normal (θi < θr).

C. Transmission is the passing of light through a material without being

absorbed.
The extent of the transmission of light depends on the type of the material the
light strikes. Transparent and translucent materials transmit light, but opaque
materials do not. If light is not transmitted, it may have been reflected or absorbed.

Figure 3.7 Transmission of Light Depending on Material Type

Transparent material allows light to pass through freely. Most light rays pass through, but are scattered in all directions,
in a translucent type medium. An opaque material prevents any light from passing through it. It will only absorb or reflect
light.
 D. Absorption of light occurs when light strikes a material, and the energy that
it carries is absorbed by the atoms of the material and is converted into thermal
energy.

White light is composed of different components of a spectrum: red, orange,

yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (ROYGBIV). When an object reflects all the
components of light, it appears white. However, when an object absorbs all the
components of light, it appears black.

Selective absorption describes the tendency of an object to absorb specific

frequencies of light. An object that appears with a particular color means that the
object absorbs most of the frequencies and reflects only the color of the object. For
instance,

Figure 3.8 Selective Absorption

The leaf absorbs all the frequencies of light except for

green. The green color is reflected and perceived by
the observer’s eye.
 ACTIVITY 1

Trace the history of studying the nature of light by filling in the blank spaces in
the timeline with the correct answer.

History of the Research on

Light

(1)
400 BC
(2)
Emission Theory
300 BC
Optica

Isaac Newton 1600

(4)
(3)
1670
Huygen’s Principle

Thomas Young (5)

James Maxwell
(6)
1860
(7)

(8)
1900

(9)
1990 (10)
 ACTIVITY 2

The illustration below shows what happens to light as it goes to a medium.

Referring to the image, describe the behavior of light (reflection, refraction,
transmission and absorption).
 ACTIVITY 3

Show the similarities and differences of reflection and refraction using the
Venn Diagram below. Choose the answers from the box.

Reflection Refraction

Differences Similarities Differences

*Bouncing of Light *Θi = Θr

*Bending of Light *Θ i < Θr / Θi > Θr

*Takes place in mirror *Do not absorb light

*Takes place in lenses *Behavior of a wave
*Light travels from one medium to another *Light returns to the same medium
 ANSWER KEY

What do you know?

1. D
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. B

Activity 1
1. Socrates and Plat 6.Double-Slit Experiment
2. Euclid 7. Electromagnetism
3. Corpuscular Theory 8. Albert Einstein
4. Christian Huygens 9. Photoelectric Effect
5. 1801 10. Wave-Particle Duality

Activity 2
Note: Student’s answers may vary.

During reflection, light bounces back when it strikes into a reflecting surface.
During refraction, light slightly bends or changes direction as it travels form one medium
to another.
During transmission, light neither bounces nor bends. Rather, light passes directly
without being blocked by the medium.
During absorption, light does not passed through the medium as it was block by the
material.
Activity 3

Reflection Refraction

*Bouncing of Light *Do not *Bending of Light

absorb light
*Θi = Θr *Θ i < Θr / Θi > Θr
*Both
*Takes place in mirror behaviors of *Takes place in lenses
waves
*Light returns to the *Light travels from
same medium one medium to another
 REFERENCES

James T. Shipman, Jerry D. Wilson and Charles A. Higgins, Jr. (2013). An Introduction
to Physical Science. Thirteenth Edition. Lachina Publishing Services
Bill M. Tillery (2012). Physical Science, Ninth Edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies