《Light Rays》.doc

Light Rays (A) Light as rays The wavelength of light waves is extremely small, and so the effect of diffraction is negligible in daily life. Hence, light waves can be treated as straight rays. In the ray model of light, a ray shows the direction along which the light is travelling. It is represented in diagrams by a straight line with an arrow on it. A beam is a stream of light and is shown by a number of rays. It can be parallel, convergent or divergent. There are two types of light sources: luminous objects and non-luminous objects. A luminous object gives out light by itself. A non-luminous object does not give out light. It is visible only when it reflects light shining on it into our eyes. A cone of rays is a stream of light from a point on an object that enters the eye. Rays from a near point object Rays from a distant point object Rays from an object with size (B) Reflection of light The laws of reflection state that: The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal all lie in the same plane. The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence. Regular reflection is reflection from a flat, smooth surface such that light is reflected in one direction only. Diffuse reflection is reflection from a rough surface such that light is reflected in many different directions. It enables us to see objects which are rough from all directions. An image can be formed by a plane mirror. Properties of the image are: virtual, as far behind the mirror as the object is in front, of the same size as the object, the right way up but laterally inverted. (C) Refraction of light Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another. Refraction is due to light travelling at different speeds in the two media. The laws of refraction state that: The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal all lie in the same plane. The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is a constant (Snell's law). A us