Chapter 14B

Visible Light
 Light Characteristics
• All light travels in a straight line unless
something gets in the way. Then one of three
things can happen:

• Reflection - reflect it (like a mirror)

• Refraction - bend it (like a prism)

• or scatter it (like molecules of the gases in the

atmosphere)
 Light Waves
• light energy travels in waves, too. Some
light travels in short, "choppy" waves.
Other light travels in long, lazy waves.
Blue light waves are shorter than red light
waves.
 Reflection
• the change in direction of a wave front at
an interface between two dissimilar media
so that the wave front returns into the
medium from which it originated.
• may be specular (that is, mirror-like) or
diffuse (that is, not retaining the image
 Specular vs Diffuse Reflection
• Diffuse - When light strikes a rough or
granular surface, it bounces off in all
directions due to the microscopic
irregularities of the interface. Thus, an
image is not formed.
• Specular - light from a single incoming
direction is reflected into a single outgoing
direction
 How is something a color?
• The color of an object is not actually within
the object itself; rather, the color is in the
light which shines upon it that ultimately
becomes reflected or transmitted to our
eyes.
What color are the papers?
 Transparent
• The appearance of a transparent object is
dependent upon what color(s) of light
is/are incident upon the object and what
color(s) of light is/are transmitted through
the object
 Color Perception
• Primary Colors - a color that cannot be
created by mixing other colors.
• The three primary colors of pigments are
magenta, yellow, and cyan.
 The Color White
• When all the wavelengths of the visible
light spectrum strike your eye at the same
time, white is perceived.
• Technically speaking, white is not a color
at all, but rather the combination of all the
colors of the visible light spectrum
 The Color Black
• black is merely the absence of the
wavelengths of the visible light spectrum.
• when you are in a room with no lights and
everything around you appears black, it
means that there are no wavelengths of
visible light striking your eye as you sight
at the surroundings.
• black is not actually a color
 Whys is the sky blue?
• Sunlight reaches Earth's
atmosphere and is
scattered in all directions
by all the gases and
particles in the air. Blue
light is scattered in all
directions by the tiny
molecules of air in Earth's
atmosphere. Blue is
scattered more than other
colors because it travels
as shorter, smaller
waves. This is why we
see a blue sky most of
the time
 Why is the sun yellow?
• the light that is not
scattered is able to pass
through our atmosphere
and reach our eyes in a
non-interrupted path.
• The lower frequencies of
sunlight (ROY) tend to
reach our eyes as we
sight directly at the sun
during midday.
 Why is the sunset red?
• the appearance of the sun changes with
the time of day.
• as the sun approaches the horizon line,
sunlight must travel a greater distance
through our atmosphere.
 Why are clouds white?
• Light is made up of colors of the rainbow
and when you add them all together you
get white.
• Clouds reflect all the colors the exact
same amount so they look white.

…or cuz they’re made from cotton candy…

 Why do clouds turn gray?

• Clouds are made up of tiny water droplets

or ice crystals, usually a mixture of both.
The water and ice scatter all light, making
clouds appear white. If the clouds get thick
enough or high enough all the light above
does not make it through, then they look
gray or dark.