PHYSICAL SCIENCE

QUARTER 2 – WEEK 3
Module 3: Propagation
of Light, Reflection and
Refraction
 Objectives:
 1. Describe how the propagation of light,
reflection, and refraction are explained by the
wave model and the particle model of light
(S11/12PS- IVf-59); and
 2. Explain how the photon concept and the fact
that the energy of a photon is directly
proportional to its frequency can be used to
explain why red light is used in photographic
dark rooms, why we get easily sunburned in
ultraviolet light but not in visible light, and
how we see colors (S11/12PS-IVf-61)
 Activity 1: FIND ME!

 Directions. Encircle the 10 words listed

below. Words may appear straight
across, back-word straight across, up,
and down. Use a separate sheet of paper
for your answers.
 Activity 2: Identify Me!
 Directions: Based on your answers in Activity
1, identify correctly what is being asked in the
following questions below. Use a separate
sheet of paper for your answers.
 ____________1. Itexplains how light bends
(or diffracts) around an object.
 ____________2. It is the bouncing of light when
it reaches a reflecting surface or the boundary
between two media.
 ____________3. The amount of energy that light
contains in joules.
 _________4. He conducted an experiment that involves
prism and observed that the red light refracted the
least, whereas the violet light refracted the most.
 _________5. It occurs when parallel rays of light hit a
smooth surface and is reflected uniformly or regularly.
 _________6. It is the bending of light due to the change
in its speed when it obliquely passes two different
media.
 _________7. The number of complete wavelength
passing through a point per unit of time and its unit is
s¯¹ or hertz (Hz.
 _________8.He studied and explained the concept of
refraction with the assumption that light is a wave.
 _________9. This model explains how light travels in
straight lines.
 _________10. It occurs when parallel beam of light
strike uneven or coarse surfaces.
 General Behavior of Light
 Reflection and refraction are some of the
behaviors of light that can be explained by
both particle and wave models.
 Like water and sound waves, light is
reflected.
 Reflection is the bouncing of light when it
reaches a reflecting surface or the
boundary between two media.
 The part of the light coming from source
that passes through a medium, such as a
glass plane, is absorbed or scattered.
 The rest of the light that strikes the
boundary of the medium is partially
reflected and transmitted.
 The amount of reflected light depends on
factors such as the kind of medium the
object is made of, the texture of the surface
of the medium, and the angle at which the
light strikes the surface of the medium.
  What happens to the light ray as they strike a
smooth and shiny surface, like that of a mirror?
 When a light ray is reflected, it bounces off the

surface.
 As shown in figure 1, the line LN represents the

reflecting surface; AM is the ray of incident light on

the reflecting surface at M; MB is the direction of
the reflectedray from M; the normal CM is the line
drawn perpendicular to LN at M; angle AMC is the
angle of incidence, θᵢ, which is the angle between
the incident ray and the normal CM; and angle CMB
is the angle of reflection, θᵣ, which is the angle
between the reflected ray and the normal CM.
Sample Problem 1
If the angle between the mirror and the incident ray

is 25º, what is the angle of reflection?



Solution

If
the angle between the mirror and incident ray is
25º, then the angle of incidence must be 65º. So, the
angle of reflection must be 65º.
 Two types of Reflection

 1. Specular reflection occurs when

parallel rays of light hit a smooth surface
and is reflected uniformly or regularly. You
can see yourself in the mirror because of
specular reflection.
 2. Diffuse reflection occurs when parallel
beam of light strike uneven or coarse
surfaces. Light reflected through diffuse
reflection allows us to see most objects
around us.
 When light passes obliquely from one
medium to another medium or different
density, or when it passes through
different layers or varying densities within
the same medium, such as Earth’s
atmosphere, its path is bent from a straight
line at the boundary of the medium where
the density changes. This phenomenon is
called refraction. It is a manifestation of
the fact that the speed of light slows
down upon entering a denser medium, and
speeds up when it passes through a less
dense medium.
  A straw dipped obliquelyin
water appears bent at the
surface of the water as shown
in figure 4. A person aiming a
riffle at a target assumes that
light travels in a straight line.
This is true only if the light is
transmitted by a medium of
uniform optical density – a
property of transparent
Figure 4. Refraction of material that is an inverse
light causes a straw measure of the speed of light
dipped in water to
appear bent. through the material.
 Laws of Refraction
 Figure 5 shows how a ray of light bends abruptly at the
boundary of two media of different optical densities. Let
us assume that the first medium is air and the second
medium is water, which has a larger optical density than
air. The normal to the surface at the point hit by the
incident ray is drawn. As in the case of refraction, the
angle made by the incident ray with the normal is the
angle of incidence (θᵢ), and the angle made by the
refracted ray with the same normal is the angle of
refraction (θᵣ). The refracted ray is bent toward the
normal. Conversely, when the optical density of the first
medium is more than that of the second medium, the
refracted ray is bent away from the normal.
The laws of refraction can then
be stated as follows:
1. When a ray of light passes obliquely from a
medium of lower optical density (air) to one of
greater optical density (water), it is bent toward
the normal. When a ray of light passes obliquely
from a medium of greater optical density to one of
lower optical density, it is refracted away from the
normal.
2. At the point of incidence, the incident ray, the
refracted ray, and the normal lie in the same plane.
 3. The index of refraction is independent of
the angle of incidence, and is constant for
any homogeneous medium. The refractive
index of a material, n, is the ratio of the
speed of light in a vacuum, c, and the
speed of light in that material, v: n=c/v.
Note that c = 3.00 × 10⁸ m/s and v is a
value of speed that is always lower than c.
Thus, n is always greater than 1.
 Dual Nature of Light

 Light has a dual nature, sometimes it behaves like a

particle (called a photon), which explains how light travels
in straight lines and sometimes it behaves like a wave,
which explains how light bends (or diffracts) around an
object.
 René Descartes and Isaac Newton were the two scientists
who studied the behavior of light. They conducted
experiments using a prism separately to explain the
emergence of the colors of light.
 Descartes subscribed to wave model, whereas Newton
subscribed to particle model. Christiaan Huygens would
later have wave model that was quite different from that
of Descartes.
 1. Particle Model
 In an experiment conducted by Isaac Newton
(1643–1727) that involves prism, he observed
that the red light refracted the least, whereas
the violet light refracted the most. According
to Newton, this difference in refraction
occurred due to the differences in the mass of
the colors of light. He also proposed the
corpuscular theory of light, which states that
light was composed of tiny particles called
corpuscles that travel in straight line and can
travel through a vacuum.
 Violet corpuscles are the least massive
and deflected the most while red light
corpuscles are the most massive and
deflected the least, whereas violet
corpuscles are the least massive and
deflected the most.
 Reflection was explained as the bouncing
of light corpuscles on a surface similar to
a ball. Corpuscles traveling side-by-side
would hit the reflecting surface at
different times, causing reversal of image.
 Refraction was explained by the presence
of a force at the interface of two media.
This force was directed toward the
medium with higher refractive index and
could deflect the path of corpuscles.
 2. Wave Model
 A. René Descartes (1596-1650)
 He studied and explained the concept of refraction
with the assumption that light is a wave. In one of
his experiments, he produced a rainbow by using a
water-filled glass sphere and sunlight. He explained
that refraction of light caused the formation of
rainbows.
 He studied the refraction and emergence of colors
of light in a prism. Based on his study, he observed
that the different colors of light are refracted at
varying degrees and also noted that the red light
refracted more than the violet light.
 He also explained the wave nature of light using
the concept of the plenum, an invisible substance
occupying all space not occupied by matter. This
plenum was made of small spherical particles
that rotate with the same speed and he thought
that light was a disturbance traveling through the
plenum.
 Descartes noted that when these particles passed
through the prism and encountered a slit on the
edge, their rotational speed would change. The
different colors seen are due to the different
rotational speeds of the plenum particles.
 B. Christiaan Huygens (1629–
1695)
 He proposed a wave model that was different
from that of Descartes. Huygen’s light is that of a
longitudinal wave in which the medium moves
in the same line as the wave.
 Light travels through aether, which, like plenum,
also encompasses all space unoccupied by any
other particle. This is the same aether that,
according to ancient Greeks, is the element that
constitutes the stars and planets as well as the
celestial spheres on which they are mounted.
 Reflection was the bouncing of light waves on
reflecting surface or a material it cannot pass
through, similar to the echo of sound and
ocean waves bouncing on a cliff. The waves
turn back and produce a reverse image.
 Refraction was due to the difference in the
speed of wave in two different media.
 Other scientists like Thomas Young, James
Clerk Maxwell and Albert Einstein also
conducted experiments and explained the
dual nature of light. Today, scientists
accept that light is both a wave and a
particle as it has the attributes of both; this
is called the wave-particle duality.
Frequency and Energy of Photons
 Frequency (f) is the number of complete wavelength
passing through a point per unit of time and its unit
is s¯¹ or hertz (Hz). Energy (E) is the amount of
energy that light contains in joules. Electromagnetic
waves with shorter wavelength and higher
frequency have higher energy than those with longer
wavelength and lower frequency.
 In an atom, electrons occupy states called energy
levels. You can visualize the energy levels as circular
orbits around the nucleus. Energy levels have values
n = 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, with 1 being the closest to
the nucleus. Electrons can occupy only the energy
levels.
 They cannot be in a position that is between two
energy levels. When an electron absorbs energy, it
jumps to a higher energy level. The electron will
eventually (after about 10¯⁸ s) return to its lower
state and release light in the process. When
electrons absorb energy (heat or electrical energy)
from another source, they may release light as they
return to ground state. Some materials have
reflective surfaces. Reflection happens when the
electrons on the surface of a material absorb light, go
to a higher energy level, return to ground state, and
release light. The light released may or may not be
of the same energy or wavelength as the light
absorbed; some energy are converted to kinetic
energy of the molecule or used in a chemical
reaction.
 Aether
 Corpuscles
 Enrichment Activity 2: Draw Me!
Explain Me!
 Direction: Illustrate an example of a particle and
a wave. Explain your illustrations in not less than
3 sentences correctly.
 1. Draw an example of how light travels as a
particle.

2. Draw an example of how light travels as a wave.