Light rays travel in straight lines.

There are
two pieces of evidence that light travels in
such a way
You can see an object only if light from it enters your eyes.
Light is therefore a form of energy (or more specifically 1. Pinhole camera
an EM wave) that our eyes can respond to. Some objects The pinhole camera is a crude camera that
such as the sun, electric lamps and candles make their own produce real images but by today’s standards,
light. We call these luminous sources. these images are of low quality and so such a
Most things you see do not make their own light but camera is no longer in use. It however illustrate
reflect it from a luminous source. They are non-luminous the principle that light travels in straight lines
objects. This page, you and the moon are examples. quite well. If you stand under a galvanize shed
Luminous sources radiate light when their atoms that has some holes in it during a sunny day and
become excited as a result of receiving energy. In a light look on the floor you should see some circles of
bulb, for example the energy comes from electricity. The light. These circles of light are images of the
excited atoms give off their light haphazardly in most sun. The shed is behaving like a large pinhole
luminous sources. camera. Direct viewing of the sun can be
A light source that works differently is the laser invented dangerous to the eyes so pinhole cameras can be
in 1960. In the excited atoms act together and emit a used to view the sun, especially during eclipses
narrow, very bright beam of light which can cut a hole of the sun.
through a key 2 mm thick in a thousandth of a second.
Other uses are being found for the laser in industry,
telecommunications and medicine.

Rays and beams

Sunbeams streaming through trees and light from a
cinema projector on its way to the screen both suggest that
light travels in straight lines. The beams are visible
because dust particles in the air, reflect light into our eyes.
The direction of the path in which light is traveling
A simple pinhole camera can be made with
is called a ray and is represented in diagrams by a straight
an old shoebox. The box used must not let light
line with an arrow on it. A beam is a stream of light and is
into it except through the pinhole. A tiny hole
shown by a number of rays; It may be parallel,
with a pin is punched through one face of the
diverging(spreading out) or converging(getting narrower)
box and the opposite face replaced with a piece
of wax paper. The wax paper acts as a screen.

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 The way a pinhole camera forms an image is shown of the sun (that is, they can't see the sun at all).
below. Those in the penumbra, at A, see a partial
eclipse (part of the sun is still visible).
The image formed in the pinhole camera is an
inverted image. The only way an inverted image can be Sometimes the moon is farther from the earth
formed is if the light rays that form it travels in straight (it does not go round the earth in a perfect
lines as shown. The pinhole camera is proof that light circle), and then the tip of the umbra does not
travels in straight lines. reach the earth. When this happens people at A
Can you see three ways in which the image differs still see a partial eclipse, but those at B see an
from the object? What is the effect of moving the camera annular eclipse (the central region of the sun is
closer to the object? hidden but not its-
Make the pinhole larger. What happens to the (i) outer parts
brightness, (ii) sharpness, (iii) size of the image?

2. Shadows
Shadows are formed because light travels in straight
lines. A very small source of light called a point source,
gives a sharp shadow which is equally dark all over. This
may be shown as in the figure (a) below where the small
hole in the card acts as a point source. A total eclipse seen from one place may last
for up to 7 minutes. During this time, although
it is day, the sky is dark, stars are visible, the
temperature falls and birds stops singing.

Eclipse of Sun(above)

If the card is removed the lamp acts as a large or extended

source, Fig(b). The shadow is then larger and has a central
dark regions the umbra surrounded by a ring, of partial
shadow, the penumbra. You can see by the rays that some
light reaches the penumbra but none reaches the umbra.
The umbra is evenly dark but the penumbra is a region of
variable darkness. The penumbra varies from a region that
is bright like the area without a shadow to almost as dark
as the umbra.

Eclipses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHxcWSiD_4E The picture above shows a partial lunar eclipse as

There is an eclipse of the sun by the moon when the the moon moves into the shadow of the earth
sun, moon and earth are in a straight line. The sun is an
extended source (like the bulb in Fig. b). People in the
umbra of the moon's shadow, at B in see a total eclipse The position of the moon for a lunar eclipse
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to be seen on the earth is shown below.

If we know how light behaves when it is

reflected we can use a mirror to change the
direction in which it is travelling. This happens
when a mirror is placed at the entrance of a
concealed drive to give warning of approaching
traffic.
An ordinary mirror is made by depositing a
thin layer of silver on one side of apiece of glass
and protecting it with paint. The silver—at the
back of the glass—acts as the reflecting
surface.
Experiment: reflection by a plane (flat) mirror
Draw a line AOB on a sheet of paper and using
a protractor mark angles on it. Measure them
from the perpendicular ON, which is at right
angles to AOB. Set up a plane (flat) mirror with
its reflecting surface on AOB.

A shadow formed on Jupiter by one of its moons, this is

an eclipse of the sun on Jupiter.

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 (a) Ray method. Shine a narrow ray of light along say
the 30° line, on to the mirror.
Mark the position of the reflected ray, remove the
mirror and measure the angle between the reflected ray
and ON. Repeat for rays at other angles. What can you Note that the angle of incidence qi is the angle
conclude? between the incident ray and the normal:
similarly for the angle of reflection q2. There
(b) Pin method. Insert two pins P1 and P2 on the 30° are two laws of reflection.
line to indicate a `ray' of light falling at this angle on the 1. The angle of incidence equals the angle
mirror. Look into the mirror and insert two sighting of
pins P3 and P4 so that they are in line with the reflection.
reflections (images) of P1 and P2. P3P4 gives the'path of 2. The incident ray, the reflected ray and
`
ray' P1P2 after it is reflected. the normal all lie in the same plane. (This
Remove, P3 and P4 and mark their positions with means that they can all be drawn on a sheet
crosses (lettered P3 and P4). Remove the mirror and of paper.)
draw a straight line through P3 and P4 to meet the
mirror: this should be at O. Measure angle P4ON. Regular and diffuse reflection
Repeat for other angles. What do you conclude?
If a parallel beam of light falls on a plane
Laws of reflection mirror it is reflected as a parallel beam, Fig. (a),
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKiMGBT1JQc&NR=1 and regular reflection is said to occur. Most
surfaces however reflect light irregularly and
the rays in an incident parallel beam are
reflected in many directions Fig (b)

Irregular or diffuse reflection is due to the

surface of the object not being perfectly smooth
like a mirror. At each point on the surface the
laws of reflection are obeyed but the angle of
incidence and so the angle of reflection varies
from point to point. The reflected rays are
Terms used in connection with reflection are shown scattered haphazardly. Most objects, being
above. The perpendicular to the mirror at the point rough, are seen by diffuse reflection. The
where the incident ray strikes is called the normal. characteristic of diffuse reflection is that the
normals are not parallel to each other.
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 (a) Image formed in a plane mirror
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCgrQIPx_3E

That is, the image is the same distance behind

the mirror as the object is in front and the line
joining them is perpendicular to the mirror.
The image is located at I, no real rays intersect at I so if
a screen is placed behind the mirror, no image would be Lateral inversion. If you close your left eye your
seen. An image that if formed by projected or image in a plane mirror seems to close the right
extrapolated rays is called a virtual image. The location eye. In a mirror image left and right are
of the image is the point the rays seem to come as they interchanged and the image is said to be
are projected backwards. laterally inverted. The effect occurs whenever
an image is formed by one reflection and is very
evident if print is viewed in a mirror.
(b) Experiment: finding the image position. As an
object, stick a pin O about 10 cm in front of a mirror
standing on a sheet of paper with its reflecting surface Curved mirrors
(usually the back one) on a line AB, Fig. a. Look into the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQrKtiKfmMU&feature=related

mirror and place a second pin I behind the mirror so that Curved mirrors which curve inwards are called
the image of O (seen in the mirror) lines up with the top concave mirrors; there are two types—spherical
of I (seen above the mirror). and parabolic.
If a wide parallel beam of light falls on a large
Move your head to the right; if I and the image of O concave mirror having a surface that is part of a
stay in line, Fig. b, I is at the position of the image of O. sphere, all the reflected rays do not come to a
There is then no parallax (no apparent movement) focus at one point on its axis, as diagram below
between them. If they separate, Fig. c, alter the distance shows. Instead, they form a curve, called a
of I (or O) from the mirror until you get no parallax. caustic (burning)curve, an example of this can
Measure and compare the perpendicular distances of be seen when a single bulb in a room is focused
O and I from AB. Are they equal? on the contents of a teacup.

(c) Proof of image position. In Fig. below triangles

INA and ONA are congruent because
< q1 = < q2 (law of reflection)
< INA = < ONA = 90° (construction)
AN is common
\IN = ON

A parabolic concave mirror, on the other hand,

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does focus all the rays in a wide parallel beam to a point
F on its axis. This accounts for its use in solar reflectors
and as a wide dish aerial for collecting microwave signals
from a communications satellite.
Conversely, if a small lamp is placed at the focus F of a
parabolic reflector, an exactly parallel beam is obtained.