Lesson 4

AGENDA:

Physics of Light :
DEFINING LIGHT AS ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY

• Light as a form of Energy

• Definition of Light as a Wave (EM Radiation)

• The Electromagnetic Spectrum

• Definition of Light as a ‘Particle’ (photon)

1
Course Map: Cross-Disciplinary Examination of Colour
History
Colour classification systems
evolved with improved
understanding of colour Chemistry
Surface colours:
pigments, paints
Physics and dyes
Light as source
of all colours Colour

Art
Physiology
The 7 types of
Human vision system: colour contrasts
eyes detect light,
brain creates
perception of colour 2
 Video 4.1:

Light as a Form of Energy

3
 Our Universe: Matter and Energy
In a very broad statement, our universe can be characterized as being made
up of matter and energy; they can interact with each other in various ways.

Matter is the ‘stuff’ that all ‘material’ objects are made of (atoms).

Energy is the ‘means’ to make matter move, or do other ‘work’.

Further (Optional) Resources:

Reading: What is Our Universe Made of?

http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_matter.html

Video: What’s the Universe Made Of?

https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvnw-sci-birth/birth-of-the-universe-
nova-wonders-whats-the-universe-made-of/
4
 3 Types of Energy
Let’s look at energy first. Recall that generally speaking, energy is the
‘means’ to make matter move, or ‘do work’.

There are 3 main types of energy:

• kinetic energy (or, energy of motion)

• potential energy (or, ‘stored’ energy)

• radiative energy (or, light energy)

Light is a radiative
type of energy – it
can spread without
needing a physical
‘contact’ or ‘medium’.
5
 Optional Resources:
Solar Energy: Saved by the Sun?
Program Companion Website:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/

Video: How do solar panels work? (Ted-Ed)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKxrkht7CpY

The Rise Of Solar Power (CNBC News)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od5yWB5aE0c

Optional Resources: Renewable Energies (Solar) - (Gov. of Canada)

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/energy-sources-distribution/renewables/solar-thermal/7301

6
 Interactive
Features
TV Program Description
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/about.html

Inside a Solar Cell

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/inside.html

This Solar House

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/house.html

New Ways to Catch Rays

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/catc-nf.html

Ask the Expert

7
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/solar/expert.html
 So, what is light?
• In the 17th Century, Isaac Newton argued that light was
composed of tiny particles, while Christian Huygens suggested
that light travels in the form of waves.

• In the 19th and 20th Century Maxwell, Young, Einstein and

others were able to show that Light behaves both like a particle
and a wave depending on how you observe it!

→ light has a wave-particle duality

Animation: Wave-Particle Duality

http://www.edumedia-sciences.com/en/a455-wave-particle

8
 Some Basic Properties of Light
1. Light travels at the constant speed of 300,000km/s in vacuum. In fact,
nothing else in this universe can travel faster than this speed!
→ The speed of light in vacuum is a ‘cosmic speed limit’.

This speed of light is usually labeled as c = 300,000 km/s.

This speed can be expressed in different units:
in km/s: c= 300,000km/s = 3x105 km/s
in m/s: c= 300,000,000m/s = 3x108m/s

Light will slow down when traveling through mediums other than vacuum (air,
water, glass, etc), depending on the density of these media.

2. Light is both a wave and a particle → it exhibits the ‘wave-particle duality’.

• EM radiation • ‘photon’ with energy

• wave-like behaviour • particle-like behaviour 9
(diffraction, interference) (travels in straight lines)
Optional Resources: Measuring the Speed of Light
Some optional articles on the history of how we have attempted to measure
the actual speed of light:

C is for Celeritas:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/ance-c.html

A Brief History of the Speed of Light:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/brief-history-speed-light/

10
 PHYSICS OF LIGHT: UNIT MAP
LIGHT

Wave Particle
(EM radiation)
Big REALM Small
(photon)

Ways of Interacting with Matter Ways of Interacting with Matter

Applications Applications

11
 Video 4.2:

Definition of Light as a Wave

12
 Part 1: Electromagnetic Radiation as a Wave
In the 1860s, Scottish physicists James Clerk Maxwell showed mathematically
that light must be a combination of electric and magnetic fields, travelling
together as ‘one’.

EM radiation is a special wave in that it does not need a medium to travel

through (like sound) – it can travel in vacuum! It does so at c=300,000km/s.
13
But, where does light actually come from?
Certain particles – like protons and
electrons – carry electrical charges
on them, such that opposite-charges
attract, while like-charges repel.

Each charged particle is surrounded

by an electric field emanating from it,
represented by ‘field lines’.

If a charged particle is vibrating or

otherwise being accelerated, this will
set up a disturbance in its electric
field, traveling through space.
14
 Light is a Disturbance of the EM Fields

Disturbance in an
electric field will also
generate a disturbance
in the magnetic field,
creating an EM wave.

Therefore, at its most basic form, light is a disturbance of the EM fields, caused
by the acceleration of charged particles (such as electrons and protons).

In other words, accelerating charges produce ‘light’ – electromagnetic radiation

– by creating disturbances in the electric and magnetic fields surrounding them.
These EM field disturbances are light, traveling through vacuum or media. 15
Light as a Wave of Electromagnetic Radiation cont’d

Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation:

Radiation: any way in which energy is transmitted through space from one
point to another without the need for any physical connection between those
two locations. [note: don’t confuse this with ‘radioactivity’]

Electromagnetic: energy is carried in the form of rapidly changing ‘invisible’

electric and magnetic fields.

So, electromagnetic radiation is the ‘spreading’ of energy through space in the

form of rapidly changing ‘invisible’ electric and magnetic fields.
16
 Wave Properties in General
A wave is a disturbance of any medium, that carries energy through it in a
distinctive, repeating pattern. [e.g. ripples on surface of a pond, sound waves in
air, EM waves in space.]
:λ

Any wave can be described in terms

of its wavelength and amplitude.
Wavelength, λ: distance from crest to crest (or trough to trough). Measured in
units of nm (for light), where 1nm=10-9m.
Amplitude, A: the maximum departure from the undisturbed state to the crest
of the wave (or to the trough). Sometimes called amplitude of oscillation.
17
 Wave Properties in General cont’d
A wave can also be described in terms of its period and frequency.

Period, T: the time needed for a whole wavelength (or, one cycle of a wave) to
pass through a point in space. Units: seconds (s).

Frequency, f: number of cycles (or wavelengths) that pass through a point in

space per second. Units: Hertz (Hz), or s-1.

General relationship between wavelength, frequency and speed of a wave:

speed = wavelength  frequency

The speed of light is always CONSTANT! (in vacuum)

(300,000km/s in vacuum)
18
 Wave Properties in General cont’d
speed = wavelength  frequency
This means that wavelength and frequency have an inverse relationship:
speed speed
wavelength = or frequency =
frequency wavelength

19
 Video 4.3:

The Electromagnetic
Spectrum of Light

20
 Shortest
Wavelengths The
(highest Electromagnetic
energy)
Spectrum
The full array of all
types of EM radiation
that exist is called the
electromagnetic
spectrum. It is
organized by the
amount of energy each
type of radiation carries.
Notice that the shortest
wavelengths are very
‘compressed’, while the
longest wavelengths
are very ‘stretched out’.
Longest
Wavelengths VIDEO: Tour of the EM Spectrum (5 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL09E558656CA5DF76&feature=plcp
(lowest (See further examples of each EM section on this play list)
energy) 21
The Electromagnetic Spectrum

22
 Colour = Wavelength

Spectrum of light:

The range of light the human eye is sensitive to – also called the ‘visible light’ -
is from violet to red, or, in wavelengths of light, from 400 to 700 nm.

23
EM Spectrum

24
 Videos: Ultraviolet and Infrared Light
Immediately outside of the visible range of the EM spectrum are UV
(ultraviolet) and IR (infrared) lights. Watch these brief videos about them.

Video: Infrared: More Than Your Eyes Can See! (6 minutes)

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/video-audio/145-ask_ir-Infrared-More-Than-Your-Eyes-Can-See

Video: How the Sun Sees You (3 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9BqrSAHbTc

25
 Video 4.4:

Definition of Light as a
Particle
26
 Part 2: Light as a Particle of Energy
In 1905, Einstein performed an experiment which lead to his formulation of the
‘The Photoelectric Effect’ (and a subsequent Nobel Prize!)

He showed that if a photon (‘particle of light’) has sufficient energy (UV

or above), it can transfer this energy to a ‘lucky electron’ in the metallic
surface, which will then be ‘kicked out’ of this solid surface completely.

27
 Part 2: Light as a Particle of Energy
Light can also behave as a particle – a ‘photon’.

Photon: a particle-like packet of EM radiation with a discrete energy that is

determined by the wavelength of the EM radiation. It is a ‘massless particle’.

The wave-particle duality of light relates the wave aspect of light (wavelength of
the EM radiation wave) with the particle aspect of light (energy of photon)
through Planck’s Law:

where E = energy of a photon in J (Joules)

hc
E= h = Planck’s constant = 6.625x10-34 J·s

 c = speed of light = 3x108 m/s

λ = wavelength of light in m
Particle aspect Wave aspect

28
 Optional Resource:
Nobel Prize in Physics (2009) given to ‘Masters of Light’

A Canadian-born scientist is one

amongst three scientists
honoured with the Nobel Prize in
Physics for their ground-breaking
invention of devices taking
advantage of behaviour of light.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ph
ysics/laureates/2009/index.html

29
More detailed information about their work is available in this article:
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/illpres.html
 Summarizing Light: wave and particle
We have seen now that light behaves both as a wave and a particle → it
exhibits the wave-particle duality.

As a wave:

• light is a wave of EM radiation: the spreading of energy in form of rapidly

changing electric and magnetic fields

• characterized by its wavelength λ

As a particle:

• light is a stream of ‘massless particles’ called photons: packets of energy

• characterized by its energy E

30
 Which description to use: wave or particle?
Which description of light should be used – wave or particle - depends on which
phenomenon we are trying to describe. Generally speaking:

• in the macroscopic (bigger) realm of everyday experience, EM radiation is

more usefully described as a wave

• examples: blue sky, red sunsets, white clouds, rainbows, etc.

• in the microscopic (smaller) domain of atoms, it is best characterized as a

stream of massless particles called photons

• examples: blackbody radiation, spectra of stars, aurorae, etc.

31