The Nature of Light

CHRISTIAN HUYGENS
He proposed the
wave theory of light.
Christiaan Huygens
He compared light not with water waves,
but with sound waves. According to him,
light is a longitudinal wave propagating
in all directions at constant velocity in a
homogenous medium.
 SIR ISAAC NEWTON
He proposed the corpuscular theory of
light in 1704.
According to this theory, light consists
of tiny particles or corpuscles coming
from a luminous object.
 THOMAS YOUNG
He discovered the diffraction
and interference of light which
can be explained in terms of
the wave theory.
 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL
He proposed that light is a transverse wave
having electrical and magnetic properties.
In addition, light as a transverse wave can
propagate in a vacuum, and hence no
hypothetical ether is required.
 HEINRICH HERTZ
He discovered an
electromagnetic waves
through radio waves.
 MAX PLANCK
He proposed that
energy comes in
discrete units called
quanta.
 ALBERT EINSTEIN
He theorized that light is
composed of bundles of
wave energy called
PHOTONS.
 ARTHUR COMPTON
He theorized that photons of x-
rays decreased in energy when
colliding with electrons. This
suggested radiation, including
light behaves like a particle.
LOUIS-VICTOR de BROGLIE
He suggested the dual
nature of light. Light is a
particle and a wave.
 NON – LUMINOUS OBJECT
an object that can be seen
because it reflects light
waves
LUMINOUS OBJECT
an object that gives off its
own light because of the
energy of its oscillating
particles.
INCANDESCENT LIGHT
is light emitted by hot
objects such as the sun and
other stars, flame for a
burner, and the filament of
an electric lamp.
FLOURESCENT LIGHT
is cooler and uses less
electricity than
incandescent light.
PHOSPHOR
coating inside a fluorescent
lamp which absorbs
ultraviolet energy and glows
to produce visible light.
BIOLUMINESCENCE
chemical reaction among
proteins and oxygen in the
organism that enables them
to produce their own light
SHADOW
area where light rays
cannot reach.
OPAQUE
materials that absorb
light waves that fall on
them
TRANSPARENT
materials that transmit
light waves and permit
objects to be seen
clearly through them
TRANSLUCENT
materials that allow light to
be transmitted through them
but its rays are distorted
during the passage.
OPTICS
 OPTICS

study of
light.
REFLECTION
bouncing of
light
It is the turning back of light
to the original medium from
where it has been traveling
after hitting a surface.
REFRACTION
bending of
light
A change of direction that light
undergoes when it enters a medium with
a different density from the one through
which it has been traveling.