Behaviour of Light

Review
● History of light
○ What did Pythagoras believe about our vision?
○ Who corrected his theory?
● What was Euclid’s contribution to the study of light?
● Who provided the first measurement of the speed of light?
○ Who correctly measured the speed of light?
● What are the 4 properties of light?
● How do optical devices use light?
How does light travel?
Light Travels in Rays
● We know that light travels in
a straight line, or rays
● We can represent this using
ray diagrams
● Help represent
○ Light intensity
○ Shadows
○ Reflection
○ Image formation
Light Interacts with Materials Differently
● Different materials interact with
light differently
● Transparent
○ Allow all light to pass
● Translucent
○ Allow some light to pass
● Opaque
○ Allows no light to pass
Some produce Light
● We call this a luminous light
source

Some Reflect light

● We call this a non-luminous
source
Regular Reflection
● When light strikes a smooth
surface, they are reflected in the
same way and rays stay parallel
to each other
Diffuse Reflection
● When light is reflected on a
rough surface, light is
reflected in many different
directions
● What examples can you think
of?
The Law of Reflection
● Light behaves in
predictable ways
● Law of Reflection
states:
○ Angle of incidence
= angle of
reflection
● The normal is
perpendicular to the
reflective surface
Check & Reflect
● P.181 2-4
● P.186 2-4
● P.193 2-5

Next Class: Activity on the law of Reflection