s

Jess Heath 3853907

Light is an amazing form of energy. It travels in straight lines through

transparent materials or empty space at speeds of around 300000km/s.
1
Light is a very complex and its structure is yet to be completely
worked out. Some scientist say that light travels in waves but others
say it travels in straight lines as particles, but most scientist have
come to agree that light has both properties of a wave and a particle,
and that the waves are moving so fast and are so small that they also
act like particles.

Waves are type of electromagnetic energy (components of both

magnetic and electric); the wave has amplitude, which is the
brightness of the light, the higher the amplitude the higher the
intensity. A wave also has wavelength which is the colour of the light.

http://library.thinkquest.org/27356/p_index.htm

At one end of the electromagnetic spectrum there is radio waves,

which have the lowest frequency but the longest wavelength, Infra-
red waves have shorter wavelengths and most commonly refer to
these as heat rays. Visible light rays appear to us in colour, and are
the only light waves we can see. Ultra violet rays have shorter
wavelengths, these come from the sun and without sunscreen we
can get burnt. Gamma and cosmic rays have the shortest
wavelength and therefore the highest frequency which make these
rays very dangerous.
2
 http://quarknet.fnal.gov/quarknet-summer-research/QNET2010/Astronomy/

The Photoelectric Effect: whenever electromagnetic radiation is

absorbed by at a material it causes it to release charged particles.
Below the threshold frequency there are no electrons released no
matter how bright the light is. Above the threshold there are always
electrons released no matter how dim the light is.

Albert Einstein proposed in 1905 that light could travel not only as a
wave but as packets of energy called photons. As a photon hit an
electron, it would provide it with a certain amount of energy, if it was
enough energy the electron would be kicked to the surface of the
metal and be observed, but if it wasn’t enough, the electron would
fall back to its atom. Therefore photons with energy below threshold
had no effect on.

3
There are many different types of light. Some of these wavelengths
of lights have a greater frequency and hence more powerful and
dangerous.

When you shine a beam of light through a glass prism, the light is
split into a band of colours called a spectrum; this means that white
light is actually a mixture of all of these colours in the spectrum. The
colours are red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo and violet.

Refer to Experiment 1

An object that is seen as red reflects

red light towards our eyes and
absorbs orange, yellow, green, blue
and violet light. Because white light
is made up of all of the colours of
light added together, white objects
reflect all of the light that hits them,
and black objects absorb all colours
and reflect none.

4
The concept of monochromatic light, incident light, deflection,
reflection, concave, convex, diverging and
converging.

Refraction: when light travels from one substance or

medium into another its speed changes, light travels
faster through air than through water or glass.
When light passes from a fast medium to a slow
medium, the light bends towards the normal, and
when it goes from a slow to a fast medium it bends away
from the normal. The normal being where the light would end
up if it was straight. REFER TO EXPERIMENT 3

Reflection: the angle of incidence of a light beam is equal to the

angle of reflected light. For a perfectly flat and shiny surface as in
the case of a mirror, all light rays will be reflected in the same
direction, a process called specular reflection. Diffused reflection is
achieved when a rough surface is used.

Convex are also called converging lenses

because they focus parallel light rays to a point.
Objects look upside down in a concave lense
because the light hits the top
and the bottom and reflect
off in the opposite direction.
Our eyes are converging
lenses!

Concave lenses are diverging because they

spread out parallel rays of light. When you look
into a concave lense everything appears
larger because the light spreads out in all
different directions. REFER TO EXPERIMENT 2

5
6
Aim: The aim of the lesson is to explore white light and how it is made
up of 7 different colours and how their wavelengths.
Materials:
 Tape
 Water
 Mirror
 Scissors
 White Card
 Clear plastic Box
 Flashlight/torch
 Black (thick) Paper
 Dark Room
Steps:
- Using the black paper,
cut out the shape of
your flashlight/torch face (area that the light comes out).
- Cut a small slit in the middle of the black paper cover which you
have just cut out.
- Place the black paper cover over your torch and secure with
tape.
- Fill the plastic box with water.
- Stand the mirror in the water so it leans against the end of the
box on an angle
- Point your torch so the light beam shines on the mirror through
the water. (torch on outside of box not in the water)
- Hold up the white card so reflected light coming from the mirror
can shine on it.

What should happen?

You should see a rainbow on the white paper. When light travels
through water, the light beam slows down and bends. The seven
different colours (wavelengths) that make up the rainbow (light
spectrum) all travel at different speeds and therefore each colour
bends at a slightly different angle. The mirror reflects the different
colours so that you can see the seven separated colours of the
spectrum.

7
Discussion Questions:

Has anyone seen a rainbow? When does it occur?

- Rainbows occur after it rains because the light is being split
when it hits the rain drops. Usually spread out across the sky.
- They can also occur if light goes through glass (window) but
these are only small.
What is another name for calling the colours than the rainbow?
- Light spectrum. These are the only waves of light we can see.
What are the colours of the light spectrum/rainbow?
- Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
Why are they always in this order?
- Each colour has a different wavelength that our eyes are able
to pick up, the longer the wave length the higher on the rainbow
the colour will sit, Red has the longest wavelength so it sits at
the top and Violet has the shortest wavelengths so it sits down
the bottom of the rainbow.

If students ask about why the colours bend, refer to experiment 3.1
to explain this. (Might want to be done the following day/week)

If students ask about how it reflects from the mirror, refer to

experiment 2.1 to explain this.

8
I N D A N G L E R A I N Q R M
V I O R S P R S P E C T R U M
T R P R A R E R R A I R E W I
R H O S R I N D I G O R D A R
F B R E D R N V I S I B L E R
O L V V R N R B E R I R A I O
L I R I O L U V O L A W G V R
G G R N O R N B O W I S R I A
B H R D R L R T E L R F E L N
W T R W A V E L E N G T H R G
R E B V I S I P L R M I R R E
R R R C O L O U R R U O L C O
RAINBOW WAVELEGTH ANGLE
SPECTRUM VIOLET ORANGE
RED VISIBLE COLOUR
LIGHT MIRROR INDIGO

9
FILL IN THE GAP. Words can be used more than once.

white. violet. wavelength. red. orange. refraction. yellow. seven.

green. blue. visible. indigo.

1. There are ________ different colours in the electromagnetic

spectrum.

2. The colours are; _______, ________, ________, _________, _______,

________ and _________.

3. These colours together make _________ light.

4. _______ has the shortest wavelengths.

5. _______ has the longest wavelengths.

6. When a light passes through a different medium we see

_________.

7. A colours ________________ depends on where it sits on the

rainbow.

8. ________ light is in the middle of the light spectrum.

ANSWERS –
1. Seven
2. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
3. White
4. Violet
5. Red
6. Refraction
7. Wavelength
8. Visible

10
SOLVE THE PROBLEM AND COLOUR BY NUMBER

3 = INDIGO 4. VIOLET 5 = YELLOW 6 = BLUE

7 = ORANGE 8 = RED 9 = GREEN

ANSWERS

11
Aim: To explain the different between concave and convex mirrors.
And how light travels in wavelengths.

Materials:

Spoons, ask the students to

bring in desert, table and tea
spoons from home.

Steps:
1. Look at the back of one of
the spoons, (the curved
side).
 What do you look like?
2. Now rotate the spoon so the handle is facing the roof.
 Has anything changed?
3. Next turn the spoon over and look at the inside of the spoon.
 What do you see?
4. Try this with all of the different sized spoons

CONCAVE – the light waves hit the mirror

and bounce off in the opposite direction
inverting the object. This is called diverging.

CONVEX – when the light

hits a convex mirror the waves
spread out and distort the image
by making it appear larger. This is
called converging.

12
What should happen?

When students look at the back of the spoon the reflection should be
distorted and look larger, the image should be right side up. This is a
convex mirror, when light waves hit they bounce back in different
directions distorting the image.

When they look into the inside of the spoon their reflection should be
upside down. This is a concave mirror, when light reflects off the
waves bend in the opposite direction inverting the image.

Discussion Questions:

What is the difference between the big spoons and the smaller
spoons? What is the difference between holding a spoon vertical or
horizontal?

- The wider the spoon the wider you look.

- When you hold the spoon side ways (horizontal) the reflection is
more wider.

What sort of things can this be used for?

- Car mirrors, street mirrors to see around the corner.

What do you think would have happened if the spoon wasn’t shiny?

- The spoons need to be shiny for a reflection to occur.

13
TO SHOW VISUALLY HOW LIGHT BENDS:

You will need 5 sticks and a foam base.

Place the sticks evenly across the foam
base

The Sticks represent the light waves

and the foam base represents a mirror
or spoon.

Bend the foam base inwards so it is concave.

You can see how the sticks cross over; this

means the light waves flip the image over.
So when you look at yourself from the
inside of a spoon you are upside down.

Bend the foam base outwards so it is convex.

When the mirror is convex the light rays spread out

and is why you look larger and distorted when you
look at yourself from the outside of a spoon.

14
 1. What is it called when light waves spread out?
2. What is the shape of the mirror called when you appear
inverted?
3. When the _ _ _ _ _ of light hit a _ _ _vex mirror you look _ _ _ _ _ _
4. When you look into a mirror your image _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ from it.
5. Light _ _ _ _ _ inwards with a concave mirror.

ANSWERS:
1. Converg 2. Concave 3. Waves, Con, Larger 4. Reflects 5. Bends

15
TRUE OR FALSE:

1. You look upside down in a convex mirror? T/F

2. The inside of the spoon is called a concave? T/F

3. The light converges in a convex mirror? T/F

4. The light converges in a concave mirror? T/F

5. Light does not change direction when it

hits a concave mirror? T/F

6. Light diverges in a concave mirror? T/F

7. The outside of a spoon is called concave? T/F

8. You look larger and distorted in a convex mirror? T/F

9. Our eyes are concave lenses? T/F

10. Car mirrors are convex? T/F

Answers:

FFTFFTFTTT

16
Aim: Teach the laws of refraction. How light slows and speeds up
when it travels through different mediums.

Material:
 Clear plastic cup
 Pencils or pens
Steps:
1. Fill the plastic cup up to half way
2. First look at your pencil and observe
how it is straight.
3. Now place it into the cup.
4. Observe the pencil from all angles
(top, bottom and different sides)
5. Is the pencil still straight?
6. Now take the pencil out to check if it is
straight or bent.
7. Try doing this with other objects
around the classroom (scissors,
rubbers)
8. Try filling the cup up more and then with less.

What should happen?

Light that travels through air much quicker than when it travels
through water. So our eyes see the top end of the pencil first before
we see the bottom end that is in the water, and our brain is tricked
into believing that we are seeing a bent pencil. When light passes
from a fast medium to a slow medium, the light bends towards the
normal, and when it goes from a slow to a fast medium it bends away
from the normal. The normal being where
the light would end up if it was straight.

Extension activity:
Use a protractor to find the angle that the
pencil bends.

17
The Reappearing Coin

Put a coin in a cup and move back until the coin is just out of sight.
Stand in this position while a friend pours water into the cup.

What happens?
The coin should reappear because of refraction!

Stand at different position and try again, observe how much water is
needed each time to see the coin at each position.

18
FILL IN THE GAP:

When _________ travels from one medium into another its speed

__________ , light __________ faster through air than through water or

glass. When light passes from a fast medium to a slow medium, the

light ____________ towards the normal, and when it goes from a slow

to a _________ medium it bends away from the normal. The normal

being where the light would end up if it was ____________.

ANSWERS:
When light travels from one medium into another its speed changes,
light travels faster through air than through water or glass. When
light passes from a fast medium to a slow medium, the light bends
towards the normal, and when it goes from a slow to a fast medium it
bends away from the normal. The normal being where the light would
end up if it was straight.

19
FIND THE WORDS TO REVEAL THE HIDDEN MESSAGE

BENDS REFRACTION NORMAL SPEED MEDIUM

SLOW LIGHT FAST WATER GLASS
TRAVELS UP DOWN BENT PEN
COIN ONE CUP QUICK GO
ANSWER: REFRACTION BENDS LIGHT

20
Why do we see colour, i.e Why is my shirt blue?
- Because every colour is being absorbed into your shirt and
blue is being reflected from it.
- White reflects all colours.
- Black absorbs all colours and reflects nothing.

How can light travel as a wave but appear to be traveling in a

straight line?
- Light has both wave and particle properties. So it does both.

Why if a mirror is dirty it is hard to see your reflection?

- Light is bouncing off in different directions when its dirty
instead of straight back at you this is called diffused reflection

Why do I look upside down in a spoon?

- It is a concave mirror so the light waves bounce off in the
opposite direction flipping the image over.

Why does a white object reflect all colours?

- White makes up all of the colours in the light spectrum so every
colour needs to be reflected to our eyes for us to see it.

Can we see light?

- There are many different types of light that we can’t see, ultra
violet, x-ray, radio and gamma to name a few, but we can see
visible colour light, which is why we see colour.

Why do we see something before we hear it?

- Light travels a lot quicker than sound. Light travels at
300000km/s

21
http://library.thinkquest.org/27356/p_index.htm

http://www.factmonster.com/dk/science/encyclopedia/colour.html

http://www.kids-science-experiments.com/rainbowsinadarkroom.html

http://www.tlsbooks.com/scienceworksheets.htm

http://monstersciences.com/pdfs/light/light-l01-spoon.pdf

Gary Simpson, Science links 3, Heinemann (Melbourne, 2003) pp. 80-89

22