Question

Light has many interesting properties. For example, light has reflection which can be understand by the image of an object in a mirror. Can you write down 5 other properties? Explain each property you listed.

Answer 1

Light has different properties,

1.Refraction- It is the change in direction of a light ray when it enters from one medium to another medium(rarer medium to denser medium).Image formation on the retina is an example.

2.Dispersion- It is the phenomenon of splitting up of white light in to its spectrum of colours (VIBGYOR) when it is passed through a glass prism.Formation of rainbow is an example.

3.Total internal reflection - It is the complete reflection of ray of light with in a medium from the surrounding surfaces back to the medium.It will happen when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle.Optical fibres works based on this principle.

4.Interference- When light waves from  two different coherant sources meet together then the distribution of energy due to one wave is distributed by other.This superposition of two light waves is called interference of light.Colour formation in the thin film of a soap bubble is an example for interference of light.

5.Diffraction- It is the slight bending of light when it passes around the edge of an object.Rainbow formation in CD and DVDs are examples of diffraction .Here the amount of bending depends on the relative size of wavelength of light to the size of opening.