Theories of Light

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Theories of light

Light is a form of energy. It satisfies law of conservation of energy. According to


this law, energy is neither created nor destroyed. It just converts from one format
to another format. Hence another format of energy can be converted into light and
the light also can be converted into other formats of energies.
Light exhibits a wide variety of properties. They are reflection, refraction,
dispersion, interference, diffraction, polarization, photo electric effect, Compton
Effect, Stark effect and Zeeman Effect. To explain all these properties of light, we
have different theories of light.
1) Newton's corpuscular theory
2) Huygens’s wave theory
3) Maxwell's electromagnetic wave theory
4) Planck's quantum theory

1)Newton's corpuscular theory

Among different theories, Newton’s corpuscular theory is first one. According to


this theory light is a stream of tiny particles called corpuscles.
This tiny particle carries energy by moving along straight lines.
There are different colors of the light. According to this theory, it is due to
different sizes of corpuscles.
It is assumed that this tiny particle travels with enormous velocity.
This theory is successful in explaining the concepts of reflection and refraction.
Merits of this theory
1)It explains the rectilinear propagation of light.
2) It could explain the reflection and refraction of light separately.

main drawbacks of this theory


1) This theory could not explain the phenomena of interference, diffraction, and
polarization of light etc.
2) According to this theory the velocity of light in denser medium is greater than

the velocity of light in rarer medium but this is proved wrong later
3) This theory assumes that the source of light looses the mass as it emits
corpuscles; but not such determent in mass of the source of light is detected.
4) This theory proposes that velocity of the corpuscles increases as the temperature

of the source increases as the temperature increases experiments have proved that
the velocity of light is independent of temperature.

2)Huygens’s wave theory


In 1678, Dutch scientist Christian Huygens suggested that light is not traveling like
a straight line but it travels like a wave. light travels in the form of longitudinal
waves just as sound propagates through air.
He assumed that light wave is mechanical in nature which demands a medium for
propagation.
Hence a invisible, highly elastic low-density medium is imagined all-around and it
is called ether medium.
He also proposed a principal called Huygens principle to explain the wave
propagation.
This theory is successful in explaining that velocity of the light is more in the rarer
medium than the denser medium and hence the problem is solved.
Later on, Fresnel and Young showed that light propagates as a transverse wave.
This successfully explained the reflection, refraction as well as interference,
diffraction and polarization of light waves.
Merits of this theory
1) Wave theory of light is helpful to explain phenomena such as reflection,
refraction, interference and diffraction.
2)The phenomenon of Partial reflection and refraction of light can be satisfactorily
explained using the wave theory of light.
3) As per the wave theory of light, velocity of light in optically denser medium is
less than the velocity of light in a rarer medium, which is correct (𝑣𝑎 > 𝑣𝑑).
Main drawbacks of this theory
1) There is no existence of a medium ‘ether'
2) It falls to explain polarization, photoelectric effect and Compton effect.
3) It fails to explain why light has no longitudinal component.
3) Maxwell's electromagnetic wave theory

In 1873, Maxwell suggested that light propagates as electric and magnetic field
oscillations. These are called electromagnetic waves which require no medium for
their propagation. Also, these waves are transverse in nature
A variable electric field generates a variable magnetic field around it and the
propagation of the wave is perpendicular to both of them.

Because it is a non-mechanical wave we don’t need any medium for propagation


itself.
The wave equations that we have written in waves and oscillations are valid in
explaining the propagation of electric and magnetic fields.
Basing on the permittivity and the permeability of the vacuum we can define the
velocity of the light.
It is proved that velocity of light is constant and is maximum in the vacuum.
According to this theory, velocity of light in any other is less than the velocity of
the light in vacuum.
This theory is successful in explaining the concepts like interference, diffraction
and polarization.
At the same time this theory is unable to explain how the photoelectric effect and
Compton Effect are happening.
4) Planck's Quantum theory
According to this theory, light energy is released from source discretely in the form
of energy packets of specific frequencies called photons or quanta. Photons are
propagated as waves and if necessary, interact with matter as particles.
This theory is successful in explaining the modern-day properties of the light like
photoelectric effect and Compton Effect. But simultaneously it is unable to explain
the concepts like interference, diffraction and polarization.
Hence, we do not have a unified theory which can explain all the properties of
light. So, it is assumed that light travels like a wave and exhibits certain set of
properties and when it interacts with someone, it interacts like a particle and
exhibits the modern-day properties. This concept is called dual nature of the light.
Huygens principle
 When you open the window of your room, the light enters through the window
and spreads throughout the room. Do you know the reason behind it on how or
why does it happen This is because light has got some kind of wave nature, which
when enters in your room, spreads in all the directions. This phenomenon is known
as Huygens Principle.
Huygens' principle states that:
Every point on a wave-front may be considered a source of secondary spherical
wavelets which spread out in the forward direction at the speed of light. The new

wave-front is the tangential surface to all of these secondary wavelets. each point
of the wavefront is the source of the secondary wavelets, it spreads out in all
directions with the speed of a wave.  every point the primary wave front behaves
like a secondary source and propagates the light in the forward direction.

Wave front is the locus of all the points that are in the same phase. The wave front
from a point source is spherical in nature where as the wave front from the
cylindrical source is cylindrical in nature. As we move far away from the point
source, the radius of the spherical wave front increases to a larger value so that it
appears like a plane wave front.
Let us consider a point source at a particular position. Light starts from the source
and it travels in all directions simultaneously with the same velocity. After a
specified time, the distance traveled by the light is same in all directions from the
source. The line joining of all the points is called a wave front. Every point on this
primary wave front behaves as if like it is a source. Thus each point again
propagates the light in the forward direction.

Basing on this concept reflection and refraction are explained successfully. When
the light is reflecting, angle of incidence is equal to angle of reflection. When the
light is refracting, it obeys a law called Snell’s law.
According to Snell’s law, the refractive index of the medium to where the light is
going with respect to refractive index of the medium from where it is coming is
equal to ratio of sin angle of incidence to the sin angle of refraction.
As the light Ray is moving from rarer medium to denser medium, it moves towards
the normal. The second light Ray travels more distance to reach the boundary that
is separating the two media.
Huygens’s principle proved the following concepts
1) Refraction: In addition to a constant relationship between the sine of the angle
of incidence and the sine of the angle of refraction, the refracted ray lies in the
plane which contains the incident rays and normal at the point of incidence.
2)Reflection: In the same plane as the incident ray, reflected ray and normal at the
point of incidence, the reflected ray must be shown to lie within the plane formed
by the incident ray and normal at the point of incidence.
A reflection’s angle of reflection will always equal its angle of incidence.
3)Diffraction and interference of light: All waves exhibit the phenomenon of
diffraction. Diffraction occurs when waves encounter obstacles and bend around
them. Additionally, waves may interfere both constructively and destructively,
producing different wave patterns.
Demerits of Huygens’s principle
Concepts like emission of light, absorption of light and polarization of light were
not explained by Huygens principle.
Huygens principle failed to explain the photoelectric effect.
A serious drawback is that the theory proposes an all-pervading medium required
to propagate light called luminiferous ether. This was proved to be false in the 20th
century.
Derivation of law of reflection
The law of reflection defines that upon reflection from a smooth surface, the angle
of the reflected ray is equal to the angle of the incident ray, with respect to the
normal to the surface that is to a line perpendicular to the surface at the point of
contact.

θr=θi

The reflected ray is always in the plane defined by the incident ray and the normal
to the surface at the point of contact of the incident ray.

Law of reflection is defined as:

The principle when the light rays fall on the smooth surface, the angle of reflection
is equal to the angle of incidence, also the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the
normal to the surface all lie in the same plane.
Regular Reflection:
The plane mirrors with a smooth surface produce this type of reflection. In this
case, the image is clear and very much visible.
Irregular Reflection:

Unlike mirrors, most natural surfaces are rough on the scale of the wavelength of
light, and, as a consequence, parallel incident light rays are reflected in many
different directions irregularly, or diffusely.

Derivation of law of reflection

AA’ is the wavefront that is incident on a reflecting surface XY having an angle of


incidence i. Following Huygens’s principle, every point on AA’ acts as a source of
secondary wavelets.

Time taken from A’ to D = time taken from B’ to C


A’D / v = B’C / v
A’D = B’C
A’C sin (i) = A’C sin (r)
Hence, i = r

Derivation of Snell’s law


It is also known as law of refraction.

The laws of refraction state that the angle of incidence is the angle between the
incident ray and the normal and the angle of refraction is the angle between
the refracted ray and the normal.

Snell’s law formula is derived from Fermat’s principle. Fermat’s principle states
that “light travels in the shortest path that takes the least time”.

Let the angle of incidence be i and the refraction is r.


From the ΔA1B’B1, we get
Sin∠B’A1B1 = Sin i = B’B/AB1
From the ΔA1CB1, we get
Sin∠A1B1C = Sin r = A1C/AB1
Sin i/Sin r = B’B/A1C
= v1t/v2t
Sin i/Sin r = v1/v2 = 1μ2(constant)
Newton’s Corpuscular Theory of Light
Sir Issac Newton proposed the corpuscular theory to explain the properties of light.
According to this theory, light is made from small and extremely light particles
called corpuscles. When these corpuscles travelling in straight line hit the retina of
the eye, it produces the sensation of vision.

According to the Newton’s corpuscular theory:


 Light is made up of tiny particles called ‘corpuscles’ having negligible mass.
 These particles (corpuscles) are perfectly elastic.
 The corpuscles are emitted from the luminous sources such as Sun, candle,
electric lamp etc.
 The tiny particles (corpuscles) always travel in a straight line in all
directions.
 Each particle (corpuscle) carries kinetic energy with it while moving.
 The corpuscles travel at high velocity.
 The corpuscles (light) would travel faster in the denser medium than in rarer
medium. But later this is proved wrong. We know that light travels faster in
the rarer medium than in denser medium.
 When the particles (corpuscles) fall on the retina of the eye, they produce an
image of the object or sensation of vision.
 The corpuscles can be of different sizes. The different colors of light are due
to the different sizes of the corpuscles.
Merits of Newton’s corpuscular theory of light
It explains the rectilinear propagation of light.
It could explain the reflection and refraction of light separately.
Why did Newton’s corpuscular theory fail?
Demerits of Newton’s corpuscular theory of light
 Newton assumed that light travels faster in the denser medium than in the
rarer medium which has been proved wrong.
 The assumption that the different colors of light are due to the differences in
the sizes of corpuscles has no justification.
 Newton assumed that reflection of light is due to the repulsion between the
corpuscles and reflecting surface while refraction of light is due to the
attraction between the corpuscles and refracting surface. Thus, a medium
could either attract or repel the corpuscles of light. But later this statement
was proved wrong. We all know that glass partially reflects and partially
refracts light. How could then glass attract and repel the corpuscles of light
simultaneously.
 Corpuscular theory cannot explain the phenomena of diffraction,
interference, and polarization of light.

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