Thursday 30 July 2015

Light 1 : Introduction

Light is an electromagnetic radiation that helps in the sensation of sight.The different properties of light can be understood only if we consider its dual character - wave and particle.
Many optical phenomena can be understood if we consider light as waves. Some characteristics of light waves are -
1. They are electromagnetic in nature. They consist of oscillating electric and magnetic fields at mutually perpendicular planes in same frequency.
2. They do not require any material medium for their propagation. Light from Sun reaches Earth travelling vast expanse of space where nothing exists.
3. Light waves travel with a speed of 30,00,00,000 m/s in vacuum or free space.
But, the speed of light decreases when it travels through a medium of higher density.
A light wave propagates from source to destination in one single straight line, which we generally refer to as a 'Ray'. A collection of such rays make a beam of light
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