Year 8 Light Notes

SIMPLIFIED YEAR 08 SCIENCE 0893 (PHYSICS) NOTES 2023 -EDITION 1
(Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint Science 0893 Stage 8)

TOPIC 6: LIGHT
Question: What is light?
 Light is a form of energy that enables us to see (it aids vision/ sight). Light
is a way of transferring energy.
Question: How do we see things? (Tr.Joshua S)
 We see things because light from them enters our eyes. The Sun is luminous. It gives out,
or emits, light. In the same way, you can see other stars at night because the light from
them enters your eyes.
 Objects that don’t give out light are non-luminous. You can see them because light is
reflected from them into your eyes. Sometimes people think that only mirrors reflect light,
but all objects reflect at least some light. This is how we see them
Question: What happens when light travels from a source?
You can think of light travelling on a journey from a source to a detector.
Here is an example of a light journey
 If light is given out by an object we say that the light is emitted.

 If light passes through an object we say that it is transmitted.
 If light is bounces off an object we say that it is reflected.
 If light is not transmitted or reflected but stays inside the object, we say that it is absorbed.
(Absorbing light makes the object heat up a bit.)
BEHAVIOURS OF LIGHT
1. Reflection: Light can be refracted when it strikes a surface. If light bounces off an object
we say that it is reflected.
2. Transmission: It happens when light passes straight through an objects. If light passes
through an object we say that it is transmitted.
3. Absorption: If light is not transmitted or reflected but stays inside the object, we say that it
is absorbed. (Absorbing light makes the object heat up a bit.)
4. If light is given out by an object we say that the light is emitted.
Illustration
SIMPLIFIED YEAR 08 SCIENCE 0893 (PHYSICS) NOTES 2023 -EDITION BY SAKAJJA JOSHUA SOKUTON
LIGHT EXPLAINED (DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS NU – VISION HIGH SCHOOL)
REFLECTION OF LIGHT
 Reflection is the bouncing back of light rays if light strikes a surface.
TYPES OF REFLECTION
There are two types of reflection of light.
1. Regular reflection.(Reflection on a smooth surface) – It Occurs on a plane /flat surface and

the rays of light bounce off the mirror uniformly without being scattered
2. Irregular / diffuse reflection (reflection on a rough surface) – It occurs on a rough surface
and the light rays are scattered non-uniformly in different directions.
Illustration
Regular reflection Irregular / diffuse reflection
Question: Mirrors reflect light. White paper reflects light. Why do we see a clear image in a
mirror but not in a sheet of paper?
Answer
This is because;
 A sheet of paper has a rough surface. When rays of light strike the paper (rough
surface), they are scattered in all directions.
 A mirror has a very flat, smooth surface. Rays of light bounce off the mirror uniformly
without being scattered.
Illustration
TERMS USED IN RELATION TO REFLECTION LIGHT
1. A light ray: A ray is the direction of the path taken by light. It can be represented by a
straight line with an arrow which shows the direction. It is represented by a straight line with
an arrow which shows the direction.
2. A Beam of light: A beam is a collection of light rays.
3. Incident ray: Is a ray of light arriving at a surface, such as a mirror (it is a ray coming into a
surface)
4. Normal: This is a line drawn 90o or perpendicular to the surface. In physics the word
‘normal ‘means perpendicular, 90o, or at right angles.
5. Reflected ray: Is the ray that leaves the mirror (goes out) after reflection.
6. Ray diagram: A ray diagram is a diagram that traces the path that light takes in order for a
person to view a point on the image of an object.
THE LAW OF REFLECTION OF LIGHT
 Law 1: The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

 Law 2: The incident ray, the normal ray and the reflected ray all at the point of incidence lie
on the same plane.
Illustrating the law of reflection
The law of reflection tells us about the direction in which the ray is reflected. The diagram on
the right shows this
Here is how to understand this diagram:
1. The mirror is represented by a straight line; the shading shows the back of the mirror.
2. The ray of light coming in is called the incident ray.
3. The ray of light going out is the reflected ray.
4. To predict the direction of the reflected ray, we need to draw the normal to the surface of
the mirror. The normal is a straight line drawn at right angles (90 °) to the mirror at the point
where the ray is reflected.
Expert tip: The law of reflection of light says that the two angles marked in the diagram are
equal. (Note that each of the angles is measured from the normal to the ray, not from the ray
to the mirror.)
DRAWING RAY DIAGRAMS
When drawing ray diagrams, always use a ruler and put an arrowhead on the ray to show
direction.
1. Draw the incident ray and the mirror. Sometimes this is done for you
2. Use a ruler to make the incident ray to meet the mirror
3. Use a protractor or a set square to draw the normal. The normal is perpendicular to the
mirror where the incident ray meets the surface. The normal is usually a dashed (dotted)
line so that it is not confused with the light ray.
4. Use a protractor to measure the angle between the incident ray and the normal ray. We call
this angle the angle of incidence or i.
5. Measure an angle equal to the angle of incidence on the other side of the normal. This
angle is called the angle of reflection or r. Draw a reflected light ray coming away from
the mirror at this angle. Remember to put an arrow head on the reflected ray.
MAKING MEASUREMENT
Experiment to investigate the reflection of light in a mirror.
Requirements
1. A ray box
2. plane mirror
3. ruler
4. Protractor
Procedure
 Draw a diagram of the normal ray and the mirror.

 Put the mirror on top of the diagram and shine the ray box at the mirror. Make sure the
ray hits the mirror where the normal is drawn.
 Draws two dots on the paper under each ray (incident & reflected rays) as shown below
 Take a ray box & joins up the dots to draw the rays.
 Now you can measure the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection
 Move the ray box to make different angles and each time, draw the angle of incidence
and the angle of reflection.
 Record your results in a suitable table
Table of results
 Compare your results and draw a conclusion

APPLICATIONS OF REFLECTION OF LIGHT
1. Image formation by a plane mirror

2. Periscopes
3. Light microscopes
FORMATION OF AN IMAGE BY A PLANE MIRROR
This can be done by drawing a ray diagram. The ray diagram below shows how the image is
formed.
 Light from an object such as a candle reflects off the mirror into your eyes. Your brain
knows that light travels in straight lines, so it assumes that the light has come from
where it sees the image
IMAGE CHARACTERISTICS
 The image formed is upright (erect)

 It is at the same distance as the object from the mirror
 It is left-right reversed
SIMPLE PERISCOPES
 A periscope is an instrument which is used to view objects hidden from direct view.
 It consists of two mirrors which one at the top and the other at the bottom inclined at 45 o
facing each other
Diagram of a simple periscope
 Two mirrors at an angle will produce lots and lots of images. You can use this to make a
kaleidoscope
REFRACTION OF LIGHT
Question: What is refraction?
 Refraction is a phenomena which is defined as the change in the direction of light when
light travels between to media of different optical densities.
 Slowing down is an analogy for refraction.
 Any transparent material that allows light to pass is called a medium
Question: What causes refraction?
 Refraction is caused by the change (reduction) in the speed of light.
REFRACTION AT THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN TWO MEDIUMS
1. Air to glass boundary

 When a ray of light is coming from a less dense medium e.g. air and enters a denser
medium (where its speed will be slowed down) e.g. glass, the ray is bended towards the
normal.
2. Glass to air boundary

 When a ray of light is coming from a more denser medium e.g. glass to a less denser
medium e.g. air (where it will speed up), the ray is bended away from the normal
3. Water – air boundary:
 Here the ray of incident light is bended away from the normal (perpendicular) after
refraction.
Question: Complete the sentences using either the word towards or the word away from
1. When light passes into a medium where it slows down, the lights bend ………….the
normal’
Answer
 towards
2. When light passes into a medium where it speeds up, the light bends ……….the normal.
Answer
 Away from
3. The table shows the speed of light in five different transparent substances.
Transparent substance Speed of light in km/s

air 300 000
water 225 000
Corn oil 204 000
glycerol 204 000
diamond 124 000
a. In which substance does light travels most slowly?
 Diamond
b. Between which two substances would there be the most refraction?
 Air and diamond
c. Between which two substances would there be no refraction
 Corn oil and glycerol.
4. A window id covered with raindrops. Explain why you cannot see clearly through the
window when it is covered with raindrops.
 This is because the raindrops refracts light and scatters (disperses) them.
REFRACTION RAY DIAGRAMS
DISPERSION OF WHITE LIGHT

 Dispersion is a phenomena associated with white light.
Question: What is dispersion of white light?
 Dispersion is the splitting (separation) of white light into component colours (the seven
colours of the rainbow) when light passes through a triangular prisms.
Dispersion can be demonstrated using a triangular glass prism in the laboratory. In nature
tiny droplets of water in the atmosphere disperses white light from the sun to form a
continuous band/range of colours called a spectrum. This explains how a rainbow is
formed.
The seven colours of the rainbow are;
1. Red 4. Green 7. Violet.
2. Orange 5. Blue
3. Yellow 6. Indigo
Illustrating dispersion using a triangular glass prism and a rainbow
a. A prism disperses white light b. Tiny droplets of water disperses light forming a rainbow
 Dispersion happens because different colours of light are refracted by different amounts.
 Red light is refracted the least, yellow light is refracted more than red, and so on. Violet
light is refracted the most.
Explaining dispersion
 A wave can be described by its frequency or wavelength. Light behaves like a wave.
 The different colours of light all have different wavelengths and different frequencies. Each
colour is refracted by a different amount depending on its frequency.
 Higher frequencies such as violet are refracted more than lower frequencies such as red.
 As the colours leave the prism they have all been refracted by different amounts. This
spreads the colours out to produce a continuous spectrum
PAST PAPER QUESTION & ANSWER

1. Oliver investigates light rays.
(a) (i) Complete the diagram to show what happens when a light ray hits a plane mirror. [1]
(Cambridge lower Secondary Checkpoint Science 1113 Qn. 8 April/May 2022)
Answer
(ii) Complete the diagram to show what happens when a light ray passes through a glass
block. Answer [2]
(b) When white light passes through a prism, it is split into the colours of the rainbow.
Write down the name of this process. [1]

Answer
 Dispersion of white light.
Exam tip:
1. A prism splits white light into the colours of the spectrum. This is called dispersion.
2. A spectrum is formed when different colours are refracted by different amounts.
3. The colours of the spectrum are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
4. Rainbows are formed when raindrops split sunlight into colours.
A RAINBOW
 About 700 years ago people didn’t know what caused a rainbow to form. An Iranian
scientist, Al-Farisi, correctly explained why the raindrops dispersed the white light. One of
his students demonstrated his idea by directing white light through a large spherical glass
container filled with water.
How we see a rainbow
 You see a rainbow when you are facing falling rain with the Sun behind you.
How a rainbow is formed
 Raindrops in the atmosphere behave like (act as) small prisms.

 The rays of light from the sun behind you is refracted, reflected, and dispersed by the tiny
water droplets to form a spectrum (band of colours), which we call a rainbow.
 The colours are in the order of Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Illustration
Recombining the spectrum
More than 350 years later, in 1666, Sir Isaac Newton demonstrated that light from the Sun
could be split into colours. He also showed that he could recombine all the colours back
into white light. He did this by using two prisms.
COLOUR
Objectives: You should be able to
1. Explain what happens when you mix light of different colours together
2. Explain how filters work
Introduction
 In 1937 Ardeshir Irani made the first colour film in Hindi. It was not until the 1950s that
colour film became popular. Now we are used to seeing films and television programmes in
colour
 You can make all the colours of light with just three primary colours
There are two types of colour
1. Primary colours: These are colours that cannot be made by mixing other colours of light -
that is, they exist naturally)
2. Secondary colours: These are colours which are obtained by mixing two primary colours.
PRIMARY COLOURS
The primary colours are;
1. Red 2. Green 3. Blue

 It is not possible to make red, green, or blue light using any combination of other colours.
It is the reason why they are called primary colours.
SECONDARY COLOURS
 If you combine any two of the three colours you get a secondary colour.
1. Red and green light make yellow light.
2. Green and blue light make cyan light.
3. Red and blue light make magenta light.
 If you mix all three primary colours of light you get white light.
The diagram shows what happens when three primary
colours overlap.
 Red + green = yellow
 Red + blue = magenta
 Blue +green = cyan
 Red +green + blue = white.
 Colour displays on mobile phones, televisions and

computers combine primary colours of light to produce
the range of colours that you see.
COLOUR SUBTRACTION – FILTERS
Coloured lights in a theatre can make a production very dramatic. But if a light bulb
produces white light, how can we produce coloured lights for the stage?
 Coloured filters are used to produce different colours from white light.
 A filter absorbs some colours of light and transmits others.
 A common example of a filter is traffic light. They use coloured filters.
An example of colour subtraction
If you shine white light through a red filter, the filter will only let red light through.
 Red light is transmitted and all the other colours are absorbed.
 The filter has taken away all the other colours except red.
 This means that the light you see through a filter will be dimmer than the light without the
filter because some light has been absorbed.
If you shine red light through a green filter, then no light will get through. If you look through
the red and green filter together you will see black. Your brain perceives no light as black.
Illustration
 Filters do not just come in primary colours – you can also have a secondary colour filter.
 A magenta filter will transmit red and blue light and absorb green light.
Conclusion: By choosing the right material for your filter you can produce a filter that will
transmit a particular colour (wavelength) of light.
Important points
1. The primary colours of light are red, green, and blue
2. The secondary colours of light are yellow, cyan, and magenta.
3. The primary colours add to give white light
4. Colour filters absorb all the colours of light except the colour that they transmit.
Coloured objects in coloured light

Here are some important points to note.
1. A coloured object absorbs all the colours of light except the colour that it appears to be
e.g. Red objects reflects red light, and blue objects only reflect blue light. They absorb all
other colours.
2. Coloured objects appear different colours in different coloured light because they absorb
certain colours and reflect others.
3. When you write a conclusion, you need to make sure that your data support it.
Coloured objects in coloured light (Thinking scientifically)
 Janita and Joella are using filters to produce light beams of different colours. Joella shines
coloured light on pieces of fabric of different
colours. Here are her data.
 Janita does some research on different coloured

objects in different coloured lights. Here are her
data.
 Janita writes this conclusion down.
 When you do an investigation and write your conclusion, you need to make sure that it
takes into account all of the data. You should also make sure that you write a conclusion
that your data support.
THE END

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SIMPLIFIED YEAR 08 SCIENCE 0893 (PHYSICS) NOTES 2023 -EDITION 1

(Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint Science 0893 Stage 8)

 If light is given out by an object we say that the light is emitted.

1. Regular reflection.(Reflection on a smooth surface) – It Occurs on a plane /flat surface and

Regular reflection Irregular / diffuse reflection

 Law 1: The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

Here is how to understand this diagram:

 Draw a diagram of the normal ray and the mirror.

 Compare your results and draw a conclusion

1. Image formation by a plane mirror

 The image formed is upright (erect)

1. Air to glass boundary

2. Glass to air boundary

Transparent substance Speed of light in km/s

DISPERSION OF WHITE LIGHT

PAST PAPER QUESTION & ANSWER

Write down the name of this process. [1]

 Dispersion of white light.

 Raindrops in the atmosphere behave like (act as) small prisms.

Recombining the spectrum

1. Red 2. Green 3. Blue

 Colour displays on mobile phones, televisions and

Coloured objects in coloured light

 Janita does some research on different coloured

 Janita writes this conclusion down.

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