Module 4: Properties of Light

Light is electromagnetic radiation that has properties of waves. The electromagnetic spectrum can be
divided into several bands based on the wavelength. As we have discussed before, visible light
represents a narrow group of wavelengths between about 380 nm and 730 nm.
Different Properties of Light

What are the Interactions of Light? Effects of Materials on Light Materials can be classified based on
how they respond to light incident on them (remember the Acronym TOT):

a. Transparent materials - allow light to easily pass through them

b. Opaque materials - absorb light; do not let light to pass through

c. Translucent materials - allow light to pass through but distorts the light during the passage.
The RAT Law

Once light encounters an interference of some kind, its fate can be separated into three general
categories. These are: (a) reflection and/or scattering of the light from the surface; (b) transmission
and/or refraction of light into and through the object; (c) partial or total absorption of li ght by the
object. Kirchoff's law (a law of conservation of energy), formulated by Gustav Robert Kirshhoff in the
nineteenth century, requires that the sum of the intensity of the light involved with events 1, 2, and 3
must equal the intensity of the incident light. This fact is sometimes known as the RAT law (Reflected
intensity + Absorbed Intensity + Transmitted Intensity= Incident Intensity.

Properties of Light

a. Reflected - Light that bounces off a surface. All objects reflect some light to be visible. Highly polished
surfaces such as mirrors are opaque because most of the visible light is reflected, none is transmitted
and very little is absorbed. 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." Light can bounce off
materials in two ways:

1. Diffuse Reflection - Reflected rays go in different directions; happens in rough textured or uneven
surfaces

2. Regular/Specular Reflection - Reflected rays go in one direction, it happens in smooth and shiny
surfaces; image can be seen.

To visualize the differences between specular and diffuse reflection, consider two very different
surfaces: a smooth mirror and a rough reddish surface. The mirror reflects all the components of white
light (such as red, green, and blue wavelengths) almost equally and the reflected specular light follows
the same angle from the normal, as does the incident light. The rough reddish surface, however, does
not reflect all wavelengths because it absorbs most of the blue and green components, and reflects the
red light. Also, the diffuse light that is reflected from the rough surface is scattered in all directions.

b. Absorbed - Light energy hitting the surface is converted to heat energy. When light enters a
transparent material some of its energy is dissipated as heat energy, and it thus loses some of its
intensity. When this absorption of energy occurs selectively for different wavelengths of light, the light
that gets transmitted through the material will show only those wavelengths of light that are not
absorbed. The transmitted wavelengths will then be color, called the absorption color of the material.
Dark or black objects absorb more light and feel hotter than lighter or white objects. Objects that do not
transmit or reflect much visible light, absorb it, so the object appears opaque.

c. Transmitted - Light that passes through a substance. Transmission occurs when a wave travels
through a material, like light through glass (the process of transmission is called transmittance). When a
material allows a large proportion of light to be transmitted, it may do so because it is thinner, or more
transparent (having more transparency and less opacity).

1. Transparent - Visible light is transmitted easily, and objects are seen clearly.

2. Translucent - Some visible light is transmitted, but some is scattered (or diffused) so that objects are
not clearly seen.

Other Properties of Light

a. Refraction - Refraction occurs when light waves change direction as they enter a new medium.
Refraction Light bends/refracts when it changes speed. Simple rule of thumb in refraction: a) If light
slows down, it will refract towards the normal line; and b) If light speeds up, it will refract away f rom the
normal line.

Refraction Light travels faster in air, slow in water and slower still in glass. The slower light is in a
medium, the more it refracts/bends in it. The measure of how much light refracts in a medium is called
index of refraction.

Refraction occurs when light passes from one medium, such as air, to another, such as glass, changing
direction of the light rays.

When light crosses a boundary into a material with a higher refractive index, its direction turns to be
closer to perpendicular to the boundary
A lens is like a collection of prisms, such as the one shown here. When light passes through a convex
lens, it is refracted toward a focal point on the other side of the lens. The focal length is the distance to
the focal point. Light passing through a concave lens is refracted away from a focal point in front of the
lens.

White light can be separated into its component colors using refraction. If we pass white light through a
prism, different colors will be refracted in different directions, creating a rainbow-like spectrum on a
screen behind the prism. This separation of colors is called dispersion, and it occurs because, for a given
material, the refractive index is different for different frequencies of light.

What happens and what do we see when white light passes through the prism? When white light
enters the prism, it refracts. The different colors of light travel at different speeds in the prism so they
refract at different angles and split up. Prisms are not the only objects that can split white light into
separate colors. In fact, a rainbow is a good example of white light splitting up.

b. Diffraction - Diffraction light spreads out after passing through/by an opening /edge. The opening
must be very narrow for diffraction of light to occur. "Every cloud has a silver lining."

What is Lens Diffraction? It refers to the fact that a photograph grows progressively less sharp at small
aperture values such as f/16, f/22, and so on. As you stop down your lens to such small apertures, the
finest detail in your photographs will begin to blur.

What is the Relationship between the Diffraction and Depth of Field? Diffraction decreases a
photograph's sharpness at small apertures. Yet, at the same time, small apertures increase the amount
of depth of field in a photograph. This is not a contradiction, although it can be confusing at first.

How to Avoid Diffraction? Use a larger aperture. If you need the absolute sharpest photograph, this is
the only way to avoid the effects of diffraction. Try to focus stacking at an aperture of f75.6 or f/8,
where diffraction is minimal. In theory, it is possible to correct for diffraction through a sharpening
process known as deconvolution sharpening. This type of sharpening is most effective when one has a
perfect model of the lens in question, including its exact optical characteristics.
c. Interference - Light passing through the specimen is scattered and diffracted into divergent waves by
tiny details and features present in the specimen. The seemingly close relationship between diffraction
and interference occurs because they are manifestations of the same physical process and produce
ostensibly reciprocal effects. One of the best examples of interference is demonstrated by the light
reflected from a film of oil floating on water. Another example is the thin film of a soap bubble, which
reflects a spectrum of beautiful colors when illuminated by natural or artificial light sources.

What is the Use of Interference in Scientific Photography? Interference finds practical applications in
single or multi-layer antireflection coatings on lenses and as interference or dichroic filters for selective
filtration or broad or narrow spectral bands. Interference effects also emit the performance of an
otherwise perfect lens by the effects of diffraction.

d. Dispersion of Light - The process in which light is separated into its colors due to the differences in
degrees of refraction. The fact that refractive indices differ for each wavelength of light produces an
effect called dispersion.
Dispersion of Light can be defined as the splitting of white light when it passes through a glass prism
into its constituent spectrum of colors (i.e. violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red)

What Causes the Dispersion of Light? The cause of dispersion of light is that white light consists of
seven different colors, and each color has different angle of deviation. Therefore, on passing through
the prism, different colors deviate through different angles. Hence the seven colors of white light
separate and form a spectrum. Out of seven colors, the red color deviates the least, and hence the red
color is present at the top of the spectrum. On the other hand, the violet color deviates most that is why
violet color is present at the lower end of the spectrum.

e. Scattering of Light - Some light is scattered in all directions when it hits very small particles such as
gas molecules or much larger particles such as dust or droplets of water. When light passes from one
medium to any other medium, say air, glass, or water, then a part of the light is absorbed by particles of
the medium preceded by its subsequent radiation in a direction. This phenomenon is termed as
Scattering of light.

What is the Relationship between Scattering of Light and Camera? The scattered light causes
additional unwanted lighting of objects. If there is no scattered light, a lens would give an image with
relative brightness of different areas matched with brightness of corresponding object areas. A
scattered light overlay shadow parts of the image and makes the m brighter that decreases overall image
brightness range.

Some effects of scattering if we perform passive imaging of a simple object that is illuminated by
sunlight, a detector element in the focal plane of the imaging system will in general receive part of the
radiation that is reflected off a specific part of the surface of the object.

f. Polarization of Light - Normal light vibrates equally in all direction perpendicular to its path of
propagation. The direction that the light vibrates is called the vibration direction, which for now will be
perpendicular to the direction.
Electromagnetic Radiation - Light waves and other types of energy that radiate (travel out) from where
they're produced are called electromagnetic radiation. Together, they make up what's known as the
electromagnetic spectrum.

Who Discovered the Electromagnetic Spectrum?

James Clerk Maxwell. He is the father of electromagnetism

The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from long wavelength, low frequency waves (like radio waves
which can be used for communication) to short wavelength, high frequency waves (like gamma rays
which can be used for medical treatment). In the electromagnetic spectrum, waves with higher
frequency have greater energy than lower frequency waves.

a. Radio Waves. Radio waves cover a huge band of frequencies, and their wavelengths vary from tens of
centimeters for high-frequency waves to hundreds of meters (the length of an athletics track) for lower-
frequency ones. Typical size: 30cm-500m.

b. Microwaves. Obviously used for cooking in microwave ovens, but also for transmitting information in
radar equipment. Microwaves are like short-wavelength radio waves. Typical size: 15cm (the length of a
pencil).
c. Infrared. Just beyond the reddest light we can see, with a slightly shorter frequency, there's a kind of
invisible "hot light" called infrared. Although we can't see it, we can feel it warming our skin when it hi ts
our face.

d. Visible Light. The light we can see is just a tiny slice in the middle of the spectrum. Typical size: 550
nanometers (the size of a small amoeba). While invisible light is a shorter or longer wavelength.

e. Ultraviolet. This is a kind of blueish light just beyond the highest frequency violet light our eyes can
detect. The Sun transmits powerful ultraviolet radiation that we can't see: that's why you can get
sunburned even when you're swimming in the sea or on cloudy days. Typical size: 500 nanometers (the
width of a typical bacteria).

f. X-Rays. A very useful type of high-energy wave widely used in medicine and security. Find out more in
our main article on X rays. Typical size: 0.1 nanometers (the width of an atom). g.

g. Gamma Rays. These are the most energetic and dangerous form of electromagnetic waves. Gamma
rays are a type of harmful radiation. Typical size: 0.000001 nanometers (the width of an atomic
nucleus).

Colors of Light Found in Visible Spectrum

1. Order of Color

a. The Primary Colors. Yellow, Red and Blue, are at the top of any color structure. These three colors are
known as the primary RGB colors, and all other colors in the spectrum come from combining at least
two of them. In theory, primary colors are the root of every other colors.

b. The Secondary Colors. The are those that require the visual stimulation of two different receptor
cones. For example, seeing yellow requires a balanced amount of red and green light.

Yellow + Red = ORANGE

Red + Blue = PURPLE

Blue + Yellow =GREEN

c. Tertiary. Also known as intermediate colors, tertiary colors are those resulting from the mix of a fully
saturated primary color with another half-saturated primary color, and none of the third primary color.
You can also get them by combining a primary color with a secondary color.

Yellow + Orange = YELLOW/ORANGE

Red + Orange = RED/ORANGE

Red + Purple = RED/PURPLE

Blue + Purple = BLUE/PURPLE

Blue + Green = BLUE/GREEN

Yellow + Green = YELLOW/GREEN

2. Types of Color Schemes. In order to use color in photography effectively, one must learn how to
create balanced color combinations. These combinations are commonly known as color schemes.

Complementary Colors. Complementary colors are those found in opposite sides of the color whe el.
There are three main reasons why complementary color schemes are so popular in photography. One,
the juxtaposition of the two hues results in a bold, vivid contrast. Two, colors that are complementary
inherently balance one another. And three, they simply look good together.

Analogous Colors. Analogous color schemes are those that use adjacent hues on the color wheel.
They're usually based on a primary color that serves as the connection between all of them, but in some
cases the dominant hue might be a secondary color.

Monochrome Colors. Monochrome color schemes refer to any composition that uses only a single hue,
with variations of its tones and shades.

Color Variables. Each color has a wide range of tones and shades, which transform a basic col or wheel
into the complete palette of the 10 million colors humans can see. Each of the unique colors on this
broad palette has a specific name, tone, and shade, which are determined by the color variables of hue,
saturation, and luminance respectively.

• Hue. It refers to the radial position of a color on the RGB color wheel. It determines the name
given to the color, like red, yellow, blue, or purple, and is displayed in degrees ranging from 0 to
360.

• Saturation. It refers to the purity or intensity of a color on a scale from 0 to 100. The lower the
saturation level, the closer the color is to grayscale.

• Luminance. Also known as brightness or value, luminance determines how bright or dark a color
is. It ranges from 0 to 100, with 0 being black.

e. Advancing and Receding Colors. The color wheel is split between warm and cool colors. Warm colors
range from red to yellow, while purple to green hues are known as cool colors. Warm colors tend to
stand out, drawing our attention right away. That's why, for example, danger and stop signs are often
yellow or red.