Practical 2 : Investigate the nature of light

AIM (i) To analyse the behaviour of light

(ii) To demonstrate the wave nature of light
BACKGROUND
According to Tom Duncan (1994), the corpuscular theory
INFORMATION
regarded light as a stream of tiny particles or corpuscles travelling at
high speed in straight lines and accounted for rectilinear
propagation, reflection and refraction. On the other hand, the wave
theory proposed by Huygens around 1680 considered light to travel
as waves which can account satisfactorily for reflection and
refraction.

Reflection of light is the process of sending back the light rays which
falls on the surface of an object. The image formed due to reflection of
an object on a plane mirror is at different places. (Shikha Goyal, 2016).
Refraction is the bending of light or change in direction of a wave
passing from one medium to another or from a gradual change in
the medium.
Interference is the process in which two or more light, sound, or
electromagnetic waves of the same frequency combine to reinforce
or cancel each other, the amplitude of the resulting wave being
equal to the sum of the amplitudes of the combining waves.
(Cheong, F. C., 2011).

Diffraction is the slight bending of light as it passes around the edge

of an object. The amount of bending depends on the relative size of
the wavelength of light to the size of the opening. If the opening is
much larger than the light's wavelength, the bending will be almost
unnoticeable. However, if the two are closer in size or equal, the
amount of bending is considerable, and easily seen with the naked
eye.
Light is a transverse, electromagnetic wave consisting of a
fluctuating electric field coupled with a fluctuating magnetic field. It
can travel through a vacuum. A photon is a bundle of
electromagnetic energy. It is the basic unit that makes up all light.
The photon is sometimes referred to as a "quantum" of
electromagnetic energy. Photons are not thought to be made up of
smaller particles. They are a basic unit of nature called
an elementary particle. 
Photons have some basic properties that help define what they are
and how they behave. These properties include :

 They have zero mass.

 They have no electric charge.
 They are stable.
 They carry energy and momentum which are dependent on
the frequency.
 They can have interactions with other particles such as
 electrons.
 They can be destroyed or created by many natural
processes.
 When in empty space, they travel at the speed of light.

The speed of light

 The speed of light in a vacuum is a universal constant in all
reference frames.
 The speed of light in a vacuum is fixed at 299,792,458 m/s
by the current definition of the meter.
 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.
MATERIALS AND A light source, 2 sheets of cardboards, a paper cutter, a white board
APPARATUS to act as a screen
PROCEDURE

Figure 1
1. Make two small slits in the middle of the first sheet of cardboard.
The slit should be 1mm x 5mm. The slits are parallel to each other
and 5mm apart.
2. Make one slit bout 1mm x 5mm in the middle of the second sheet
of cardboard.
3. Set up as illustrated in Figure 1.
4. Place a light source in front of the cardboard sheet and the
whiteboard at the back.
5. Adjust the distance between the light source and the screen so
that the diameter of the circle of light that falls on the slits is larger
than the slits on the cardboard.
6. Observe the light pattern on the white board.
 7. Compare the light pattern formed by single slit and double slits.
8. Discuss and draw conclusion from the results.
OBSERVATION,
ANALYSIS, Diffraction through a single slit :
DISCUSSION Theory Experiment

Monochromatic light passing through a single slit has a central

maximum and many smaller and dimmer maxima on either side.
This follows the theory as from my observation the light is bigger in
the centre and have fine line of light pattern on the side. The slit is
narrow which it is only a few times greater than the wavelength of
light. This is consistent with the fact that light must interact with an
object comparable in size to its wavelength in order to exhibit
significant wave effects such as this single-slit diffraction pattern.

Diffraction through double slits :

Theory Experiment

From the observation, we cannot see the intensity distribution of

fringes. This is probably caused by the distance between to slits that
 are too far and bigger than the wavelength so the light wave could
not interfere with each other. An important parameter in the double-
slit geometry is the ratio of the wavelength of the light λ to the
spacing of the slits d. If λ/d is much smaller than 1, the spacing
between consecutive interference fringes will be small, and the
interference effects may not be observable. The angle of
diffraction is directly proportional to the size of the wavelength.
When the gap size is larger than the wavelength, the wave passes
through the gap and does not spread out much on the other side.
When the gap size is equal to the wavelength,
maximum diffraction occurs and the waves spread out greatly which
the wave fronts are almost semi-circular.

Light travels in straight line from the light source straight to the
screen, hence, the light have speed. The light source eventually will
be hot after quite some times indicate that the light release energy in
the form of heat energy.

Precaution steps that need to be taken during this experiment is one

need to be careful in handling the paper cutter or scissors to make
the slits to prevent any injuries. Next, one must avoid look into the
light source directly with naked eyes to prevent from sight problems.
To get an accurate result, one must consider the wavelength before
cutting the cardboard so that the image formed will be more clear.
CONCLUSION Light is a form of wave as it could reflect, refract, interfere, diffract,
have wavelength, speed and energy.
REFERENCES Cheong, F. C. (2011). Pre-U Text STPM Physics Volume 2.
Selangor Darul Ehsan: Pearson Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
Duncan, T. (1994). Advanced Physics Fourth Edition. London: John
Murray Ltd.
Shikha Goyal. (12 February , 2016). Reflection of Light. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.jagranjosh.com/general-
knowledge/reflection-of-light-1455278459-1

APPENDICES
Picture 1 : Apparatus used in the experiment

Picture 2 : Measuring the slits

Picture 3 : Conducting the experiment