CHAPTER 10

LIGHT WAVE

LIGHT WAVE
• Consists of energy in the form of electric and magnetic
fields.
• The fields vibrate at right angles to the direction of
movement of the wave, and at right angles to each
other.
• Because light has both electric and magnetic fields, it
is also referred to as electromagnetic radiation.
• The size of a wave is measured as its wavelength,
which is the distance between any two corresponding
points on successive waves, usually peak-to-peak or
trough-to-trough.
• The wavelengths of the light we can see range from
400 to 700 billionths of a meter (10-9) or nanometer.
Light Frequencies
• Light waves also come in many frequencies.
• The frequency is the number of waves that pass a
point in space during any time interval, usually one
second.
• It is measured in units of cycles (waves) per second,
or Hertz (Hz).
• The frequency of visible light is referred to as color,
and ranges from 430 trillion Hz, seen as red, to 750
trillion Hz, and seen as violet.
• Light not only vibrates at different frequencies, but it
also travels at different speeds.
• Light waves move through a vacuum at their
maximum speed, 300,000 kilometers per second or
186,000 miles per second, which makes light the
fastest phenomenon in the universe.
• Light waves slow down when they travel inside
substances, such as air, water, glass, or a diamond.
The way different substances affect the speed at
which light travels is key to understanding the
bending of light, or refraction.
• So light waves come in a continuous variety of sizes,
frequencies, and energies. We refer to this range as
the electromagnetic spectrum.
Producing a Photon
• Any light that you see is made up of a collection of
one or more photons propagating through space as
electromagnetic waves.
• In total darkness, our eyes can sense single photons,
but generally what we see in our daily lives comes to
us in the form of zillions of photons produced by light
sources and reflected off objects.
• Our eyes absorb some of the photons flowing around,
and that is how we see.

Incandescence
Heat is the most common way we see light being
generated.

1. Halogen lamps
Halogen lamps use electricity to generate heat but
benefit from a technique that lets the filament run hotter.
2. Gas lanterns
A gas lantern uses a fuel like natural gas or kerosene as
the source of heat.

3. Fluorescent lights
Fluorescent lights use electricity to directly energize
atoms rather than requiring heat.
4. Lasers
Lasers use energy to "pump" a lasing medium, and all the
energized atoms are made to dump their energy at the
exact same wavelength and phase.

5. Glow-in-the-dark toys
In a glow-in-the-dark toy, the electrons are energized but
fall back to lower-energy orbitals over a long period of
time, so the toy can glow for half an hour.
6. Indiglo watches
In Indiglo watches, voltage energizes phosphor atoms.

7. Chemical light sticks

A chemical light sticks and, for that matter, fireflies, use
a chemical reaction to energize atoms.
Properties of Light
• Visible light is light that can be perceived by the
human eye.
• When you look at the visible light of the sun, it
appears to be colorless, which we call white.
• And although we can see this light, white is not
considered to be part of the visible spectrum. This is
because white light is not the light of a single color,
or frequency. Instead, it is made up of many color
frequencies.
• When sunlight passes through a glass of water to
land on a wall, we see a rainbow on the wall. This
would not happen unless white light were a mixture
of all the colors of the visible spectrum.
• Isaac Newton was the first person to demonstrate
this. Newton passed sunlight through a glass prism
to separate the colors into a rainbow spectrum. He
then passed sunlight through a second glass prism
and combined the two rainbows. The combination
produced white light. This proved conclusively that
white light is a mixture of colors, or a mixture of light
of different frequencies. The combination of every
color in the visible spectrum produces a light that is
colorless, or white.
1. Colors by Addition
By adding various combinations of red, green, and blue
light, you can make all the colors of the visible spectrum.
This is how computer monitors (RGB monitors) produce
colors.

2. Colors by Subtraction
Another way to make colors is to absorb some of the
frequencies of light, and thus remove them from the
white light combination. The absorbed colors are the
ones you will not see -- you see only the colors that come
bouncing back to your eye.
Light Hitting an Object
When a light wave hits an object, what happens to it
depends on the energy of the light wave, the natural
frequency at which electrons vibrate in the material and
the strength with which the atoms in the material hold on
to their electrons. Based on these three factors, four
different things can happen when light hits an object:
1. The waves can be reflected or scattered off the object.
2. The waves can be absorbed by the object.
3. The waves can be refracted through the object.
4. The waves can pass through the object with no effect.

1. Transmission
o If the frequency or energy of the incoming light wave
is much higher or much lower than the frequency
needed to make the electrons in the material vibrate,
then the electrons will not capture the energy of the
light, and the wave will pass through the material
unchanged.
o Light passes through a substance.
o Passing of light through matter.
2. Absorption
o The frequency of the incoming light wave is at or near
the vibration frequency of the electrons in the
material.
o This occurs when light hits opaque materials.
o Light energy hitting the surface is converted to heat
energy.
o Dark or black objects absorb more light and feel
hotter than lighter or white objects.
3. Reflection
o The materials contain many free electrons that can
jump readily from one atom to another within the
material. When the electrons in this type of material
absorb energy from an incoming light wave, they do
not pass that energy on to other atoms.
o The energized electrons merely vibrate and then send
the energy back out of the object as a light wave with
the same frequency as the incoming wave.
o The overall effect is that the light wave does not
penetrate deeply into the material.
o Light that bounces off a surface.
o Highly polished surfaces such as mirrors are opaque
because most of the visible light is reflected, none is
transmitted and very little is absorbed.
o When light reflects off a surface, the angle of
incidence (incoming light) is equal to the angle of
reflection (outgoing light) – called “Law of
Reflection” which states that the angle of incidence
equals the angle of reflection.
4. Scattering
o It is merely reflection off a rough surface. Incoming
light waves get reflected at all sorts of angles
because the surface is uneven.
o Occurs when light travels through a medium
containing some obstacles suspended in it.

5. Refraction
o Occurs when the energy of an incoming light wave
matches the natural vibration frequency of the
electrons in a material. The light wave penetrates
deeply into the material and causes small vibrations
in the electrons. The electrons pass these vibrations
on to the atoms in the material, and they send out
light waves of the same frequency as the incoming
wave.
6. Interference
o This happens when light waves pass through an
object with two reflective surfaces.
o When white light shines on a film with two reflective
surfaces, the various reflected waves interfere with
each other to form rainbow.
Electromagnetic Radiation
o Carries energy through space (also known as radiant
energy)
o Includes visible light, dental x-rays, radio waves, heat
radiation from a fireplace
o Share certain fundamental characteristics
o All move through a vacuum at 3 x 108 m/s (speed of
light)
o Has "wave-like" characteristics
o The number of complete wavelengths, or cycles, that
pass a given point in 1 second is the frequency of the
wave
o Electromagnetic radiation has both electric and
magnetic properties. The wave-like property of
electromagnetic radiation is due to the periodic
oscillations of these components.
o If the wavelength is long, there will be fewer cycles
passing a given point per second, thus the frequency
will be low
o If the wavelength is short, there will be more cycles
passing a given point per second, and the frequency
will be high
o Thus, there is an inverse relationship between
wavelength and frequency
 𝐜
𝐟=
𝛌

𝐜 = 𝛌𝐟

Frequency
• Frequency is expressed in cycles per second, also
known as Hertz (Hz)
Lenses
A lens is made of transparent material such as glass or
plastic with a refractive index larger than that of air.

Two Types of Lenses

1. Convex Lens
A convex lens is thicker at the center than at the edges.
Also called converging.

2. Concave Lens
A concave lens is thinner at the center than at the edges.
Also called diverging.
Features of Lenses

1. Principal Plane
The line that passes vertically through the middle of the
lens.

2. Principal Axis
The straight line perpendicular to the Principal Plane of
the lens at its center.

3. Focal Point
The location where the parallel rays of light from the
source meet or converge.

4. Focal Length
The distance from the Focal Point to the Principal Plane
along the Principal Axis.

5. Center of Curvature
Twice the distance of the focal point to the mirror
surface.
 Lens Equation
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= +
𝐟 𝐝𝐢 𝐝𝐨

where:
f = focal length
di = distance of the image
do = distance of the object

Magnification Equation
𝐡𝐢 −𝐝𝐢
𝐦= =
𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨
Optical Instruments
Tools that use lenses.

Examples:
o Cameras
o Telescopes
o Compound microscopes
o Projectors
The Basics of Photography
o No light is allowed into the camera, except for when
the button is pushed. The aperture is in the lens
compartment. Its purpose is to control the amount of
light that reaches the film. If either of these two
devices doesn’t work properly, the picture will not
come out looking as it should.
o Light. The most important aspect of photography.
o The lens and the aperture are the two parts of the
camera that regulate the light that enters the camera.
o Shutter aperture. The shutter is in the camera box. It
regulates the amount of light by allowing it to pass
through for a certain amount of time.

Telescopes
There are several different types of telescopes.
o Light
o Refractor
o Newtonian Reflector
o Catadioptric
o Radio
o Infrared
Refractors are the type of telescope that most of us are
familiar with. They have the following parts:
1. a long tube, made of metal, plastic, or wood
2. a glass combination lens at the front end (objective
lens)
3. a second glass combination lens (eyepiece)

Compound Microscope
o Works very similar to the refracting telescope in that
it enlarges small objects.
o Uses 2 converging lenses of short focal length.

Projector
o An LCD projector is a type of video projector for
displaying video, images or computer data on a
screen or other flat surface. It is a modern analog of
the slide projector or overhead projector.
o To display images, LCD (liquid crystal display)
projectors typically send light from a Metal halide
lamp through a prism that separates light to three
poly silicon panels – one each for the red, green, and
blue components of the video signal.
 o As polarized light passes through the panels
(combination of polarizer, LCD panel and analyzer),
individual pixels can be opened to allow light to pass
or closed to block the light. The combination of open
and closed pixels can produce a wide range of colors
and shades in the projected image.
o A series of converging lenses are uses to show
enlarged images of slides or movies. One set of
lenses is used to send intensely bright light through
the slide or negatives and a second lens, the
projection lens, can be slid back and forth to focus
the image.

The Human Eye Components

Basic Optics of the Eye
• The eye is set up to be a basic lens and receiver of
light.
• The lens bends the light which forms an image so
that it inverts at a focal point.
• The brain compensates for this natural inversion due
to the lens, and re-inverts the image, so that we see
properly.
• The pupil and iris also work optically to change the
amount of light flow into the eye, effectively
darkening or brightening the image, depending on the
amount of light let into the eye.

Defects in Vision

1. Farsighted
Can see far, but not near (hyperopia)

2. Nearsighted
Can see close, but not far. (myopia)

3. Astigmatic
An astigmatism is caused by a defective curve in either
the lens or the cornea. Instead of the lens and cornea
bending the light into a point, the extra curve bends the
light into a line which blurs vision.
Defects in Lenses

Aberrations
Departures of the performance of an optical system from
the predictions of paraxial optics. Aberration leads to
blurring of the image produced by an image-forming
optical system. It occurs when light from one point of an
object after transmission through the system does not
converge into (or does not diverge from) a single point.
Instrument-makers need to correct optical systems to
compensate for aberration.

1. Spherical aberration
Edges bend differently than center.

2. Chromatic aberration
Colors bend different amounts and need to be resolved
to get a focused image.
Sample Problems

1. Sodium vapor lamps are sometimes used for public

lighting. They give off a yellowish light with a wavelength
of 589 nm. What is the frequency of this radiation?

2. Determine the frequency of:

a) red visible light (λ = 650 nm)
b) violet visible light (λ = 420 nm)

3. Determine the wavelength of the infrared carrier wave

transmitted by a television remote control at 38 kHz.

4. A radio station has two antennae which are used to

broadcast their 582 kHz radio wave signal. The Robinson
family, who lives in the Cedar Ridge subdivision, have
very poor reception when tuned to this signal due to the
destructive interference of radio waves from the two
antennae. The Robinson home is located 13.78 km from
the nearest antenna. What is the likely minimum distance
from the Robinson’s home to the furthest antenna?
5. A 4.00-cm tall light bulb is placed 45.7 cm from a
double convex lens having a focal length of 15.2 cm.
Determine the image distance and the image size.