Optic

s
eries
on
Ole Rømer : Light
Has a Finite • Speed
• Light travels at a
particular speed.
• Discovered this while he
was observing IO.
• Speed of Light
3 x m/s
Christiaan Huygens:
Light Is a Wave
Discovered a way of
knowing how to
determine the
movement of light
as waves can be
determined
Pierre de Fermat: Light
Seeks the Fastest Way
States that
light seeks the
path where it
will take the
shortest time
to traverse
James Maxwell: Light is an
Electromagnetic Wave
Changing the
magnetic and
electric fields
from an
accelerating
charged particle
can both sustain
each other and
 Albert Einstein:
Light is a Particle
Too
Light travels as
small particles
• Photons – small
particles
containing
discrete amount
of energy
Light
Rays
Light Rays
used to
trace the
Paraxial
Approxim
ation
Reflect
ion
Reflection
bouncing of
light when it
hits a surface
• • Incident Ray
• Reflected Ray
• Reflecting Surface
• Normal Axis
• Incident Angle
• Reflected Angle

LAW OF REFLECTION
the end