SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Lorna M. Enero
 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

HOW WE COME TO REALIZE THAT THE EARTH IS NOT THE CENTER OF

MODULE 1
THE UNIVERSE

Most Essential Learning Competency:

 Explain how the Greeks knew that the Earth is spherical (S11/12PS-IVa-38)
 Cite examples of astronomical phenomena known to astronomers before the advent of telescopes (S11/12PS-IVa-4)
 Explain how Brahe’s innovations and extensive collection of data in observational astronomy paved the way for
Kepler’s discovery of his laws of planetary motion (S11/12PS-IVb-44)

START UP
What do you regularly see when you observe the sky? Draw them on the box below.

LECTURE

MODELS OF THE UNIVERSE

The early human relied on the skies as their principal means of telling the time, of navigations, and of knowing when to start
planting crops. Some 3000 years ago, the Egyptians established a 365 day calendar based on the track of the star Sirius. This
track also coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile River. The Babylonians and the Assyrians also invented similar
calendars to aid them in determining when to sow and reap crops.
Astronomy also influenced architecture. Around 2560 BCE, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt were constructed in such a way
that each side faced north, south, east, or west of a compass to within a tenth of a degree. In addition, the three pyramids
represent the belt stars of the constellation Orion.
Constructed in 3000 BCE, Stonehenge in England was thought to have been an observatory used to predict solar and lunar
eclipses. It was constructed so that in the summer solstice, the sun would rise above one of the main stones. The windows
at the top and sides of the pyramid at the Mayan site in Palenque, Mexico were so arranged that the rooms they lead to are
illuminated by the rising sun. It was said that during equinoxes, the illumination of the sun on the stairs and the base of the
stepped pyramid creates the illusion of a crawling serpent, symbolizing a god closely related to planet Venus in Mayan
mythology.

The Early Universe

Humans have come up with several models in an effort to understand the universe. Before the invention of the telescope,
they had to rely on their senses for a picture of the universe with much philosophical and religious symbolism. Around 600
BCE, Thales of Miletus proposed that Earth is a disk floating on water. In 520 BCE, Anaximader, also from Miletus,
suggested that Earth is a cylinder and that its surface is curved.
As civilization flourished, several other models were proposed. These models can be grouped under two categories:
geocentric and heliocentric.
1. Geocentric Model - considers Earth as the center of the universe.
The following were some geocentric models of the universe proposed by the Greeks. In all these models, the Earth and the
other heavenly bodies were assumed to be spheres.

A. The Pythagorean Model

Pythagoras was acknowledge to be the first to assert that Earth is round and the heavenly bodies moves in a circle. In his
model, Earth is at rest at the center of the universe, and everything rotates around it. Pythagoras also considered that the
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

motions of the planets were mathematically related to musical sounds and numbers. These ideas are called “The Music of
the Spheres.” Anaxagoras, a follower of Pythagoras, was credited with having determined the relative positions of the sun,
the moon, and Earth during solar and lunar eclipses.

Plato’s “Saving the Appearances”

The Greek philosopher and teacher Plato adopted the Pythagorean view of the motion of the heavenly bodies as combinations
of circular motion about Earth. He assumed that all motions in the universe are perfectly circular and that all heavenly bodies
are ethereal or perfect.
Most of the time, planets move from west to east as predicted. But occasionally, they backtrack for a while; that is, they
move westward before resuming their eastward motion. This pattern is called retrograde motion.
The followers and students of Plato were called upon to explain the retrograde motion of the planets. In particular, Plato
challenged them with this problem: “What circular motions, uniform and perfectly regular, are to be admitted as hypotheses
so that it might be possible to save the appearances presented by the planets?” This challenge is known in the history of
astronomy as “Plato’s Saving the Appearances.”

B. Eudoxus’ Model
First to “save the appearances” that Plato referred to, using a series of 27 concentric spheres on which the sun, the moon,
and the planets moved in perfect circular motion. The breakdown of the 27 spheres is as follows: one sphere for fixed stars,
three spheres for the sun, three spheres for the moon, and four spheres for each of the five known planets at the time –
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter.

C. Aristotle’s Model
The Aristotelian model also used the 27 celestial spheres of Eudoxus. He used 27 “buffering” spheres between the celestial
spheres of Eudoxus and an outermost sphere that was the domain of what he called the Prime Mover.
Aristotle divided the universe into two realms – the terrestrial and the celestial – with the orbit of the moon as the boundary.
Below the moon’s orbit was the terrestrial realm. This realm was composed of four primordial elements in this sequence:
earth, water, air, and fire. Objects in the terrestrial realm moved naaturally according to their material composition. At or
above the moon’s orbit was the celestial realm, which consists of the fifth element called aether or ether. Aristotle considered
terrestrial matter to be ephemeral and undergoing decay, while ether was unchanging and perpetual.
According to Aristotle, Earth is sphere. He based this proposition on several observations. First, it is only at the surface of a
sphere that all objects fall straight down. Second, the view of the constellations changes as one travels from north to south.
Finally, the shadow of Earth on the moon during a lunar eclipse was round.
Aristotle’s model was based on the three types of terrestrial motion: natural, violent, and alteration.
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

 Natural motion – tendency of an object to seek its natural place in the universe. Heavy elements move toward
Earth, while lighter ones move up.
 Violent motion – tendency of an object to move in unnatural ways by the application of force. Aristotle considered
vertical motion as natural, and horizontal motion as violent.
 Alteration – ability of an object to change. This change can be generation, corruption, or alteration in quality.

D. Ptolemy’s Model
The Greek mathematician Apollonius “The Great Geometer”, introduced the idea of an epicycle to explain planetary motion.
Epicycle is a circle on which a planet moves. The center of this small circle in turn moves around Earth along a bigger
circular path called the deferent.

2. Heliocentric Model
Before the heliocentric model came about, Greek astronomer Philolaus initially proposed a purocentric model of the
universe. According to him, neither Earth nor the sun was the center of the universe. Planets and heavenly bodies were
supposed to move around a “fire” located at the center of the universe. In 300 BCE, another Greek astronomer Aristarchus
proposed the first heliocentric model of the universe by considering Philolaus’s “central fire” as the center of the cosmos.
In this model, the sun and the other known planets revolve around this “central fire.” Aristarchus also placed the other known
planets at that time based on their distances from the sun. However, his theory did not last because of the general acceptance
of the Ptolemaic model.

A. Copernicus’s Model
Nicolaus Copernicus Asserted that Earth spins on its axis every day and revolves around the sun just like the other planets;
only the moon orbits Earth. He gave reasonable explanations for the variation of brightness of planets and their retrograde
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

motions. However, his model had two major scientific flaws: (1) the absence of stellar parallax and (2) the lack of perceived
motion of Earth. Stellar parallax is the apparent displacement of a star because of a change in the observer’s point of view.
The Copernican model was not initially accepted because of its inconsistencies with Aristotelian mechanics and inability to
explain stellar parallax. Copernicus’s book Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of Celestial Orbs)
contained his heliocentric theory and was published in 1543.

The Birth of Modern Astronomy

After the death of Copernicus, three astronomers – Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, and Johannes Kepler – made significant
contributions in modern astronomy. Each of them had a different approach. Tycho Brahe was a good collector of
astronomical data. Kepler was a mathematician and pure theorist, while Galileo was an experimentalist. Their contributions
helped prove that Earth is indeed not the center of the universe.

A. Tycho Brahe’s Universe

Tycho Brahe was considered the last and the greatest astronomer prior to the invention of the telescope. At the age of 30, he
was able to establish his own astronomical observatory in Hven, located between Denmark and Sweden, under the patrionage
of Danish King Frederick II. In his observatory, he accurately measured and recorded the positions of the sun, the moon,
and the planets for 20 years. Realizing that his data did not fit into the models of Ptolemy and Copernicus, he proposed his
own model of the universe. In his universe, the sun orbited Earth, while the other planets orbited the sun.

B. Galileo’s Astronomical Observations

SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

History had claimed that a refracting telescope was accidentally invented by Dutch lens maker Hans Lippershey in 1608.
Galileo, upon hearing of this invention without having seen it, made his own telescope and aimed it at the skies. The
following are some of the things he saw with his telescope, all of which greatly contradicted the models of Ptolemy and
Aristotle and provided new data that supported the Copernican model. These findings were published in 1610.

 The moon has mountains, valleys, and craters. This suggested that the moon is not so different from Earth, implying
that something in the celestial realm is barely distinguishable from objects that belong to the terrestrial realm.
 The surface of the sun has some blemishes, which are now called sunspots. This observation contradicted the Greek
concept of the sun as being a perfect celestial body.
 Jupiter has four moons revolving around it. This showed that not all heavenly bodies revolve around Earth. There
are other centers of revolution that are themselves revolving.
 Venus has phases similar to those of the moon. This suggested that Venus is merely illuminated by the light from
the sun, and that it revolves around the sun. The Ptolemaic model can account only for the crescent phase of Venus,
not the full range of phases he observed.
 Many stars too faint to be seen by the naked eye became visible with his telescope. He observed that the Milky Way
was simply made of individual stars. Even when viewed through the telescope, the star still appeared to be points of
light. This provided evidence that the stars were extremely far away and that observing stellar parallax is extremely
difficult.

C. Kepler’s Law of Planetary Motion

Johannes Kepler served as an assistant to Tycho Brahe. He inherited the numerous observational data on planetary motion
when Brahe died. Using Brahe’s extensive data on Mars, Kepler was able to formulate his three laws of planetary motion.

Laws of Planetary Motion

1. Law of ellipses – states that the planets move in ellipses having a common focus situated at the sun. The other focus is
empty. The closest point to the sun in a planet’s orbit is the perihelion; the farthest point is called the aphelion.
2. Law of equal areas – according to this law, the planets move around the sun in such a way that a line drawn from the
sun to the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time. For this to be true, the planet moves fastest at the
perihelion and slowest at the aphelion.
3. Law of harmonies – it states that the squares of the periods of the planets are proportional to the cubes of their mean
distances from the sun. Period is the time it takes to make one complete revolution around the sun.
 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

ACTIVITY 1: Critical Thinking

Answer the following. Use additional sheets of paper if necessary.

1. How did Plato’s problem of “saving the appearances” constrain the Greek models of the universe?

2. Differentiate the geocentric model of the universe from the heliocentric and pyrocentric models.

3. How did Galileo’s invention of the telescope support Copernican theory?

4. How would dark energy affect the possible end of the universe?

ACTIVITY 2
Directions: Accomplish the table below by illustrating the model in the second column. Provide the description in the last
column. (20 points)

PROPONENT MODEL DESCRIPTION

Eudoxus
Aristotle
Ptolemy
Copernicus
Tycho Brahe

ASSESSMENT 1
Multiple Choice: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

1. How many spheres were used by Eudoxus to model the universe?

a. 25 b. 26 c. 27 d. 28
2. According to Aristotle, the celestial realm consisted of .
a. air b. ether c. fire d. water
3. What term did Apollonius use to denote the circular path on which the planet moves?
a. aphelion b. deferent c. epicycle d. equant
4. Who among the following is not a proponent of the geocentric model of the universe?
a. Aristotle b. Copernicus c. Hipparchus d. Ptolemy
5. Who proposed the pyrocentric model of the universe?
a. Philolaus b. Plato c. Ptolemy d. Pythagoras
6. According to Kepler, the path of a planet as it revolves around the sun is a/an .
a. circle b. cone c. ellipse d. sphere
7. The closest point to the sun in a planet’s orbit is called the . .
a. Aphelion b. equant c. focus d. perihelion
8. Which type of terrestrial motion according to Aristotle is illustrated when dry leaves fall from the tree to the ground?
a. alteration b. natural motion c. corruption d. violent motion
 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

9. According to Aristotle, applying a force to move an object from its natural place is an example of
a. alteration b. natural motion c. corruption d. violent motion
10. The following are Galileo’s astronomical observations, which supported the Copernican theory except
.
a. Jupiter’s moons b. lunar craters c. phases of Venus d. stellar parallax
11. Why did the ancient Greeks reject Aristarchus’s heliocentric model of the solar system?
a. It did not account for the retrograde motion of the planets.
b. It could not detect stellar parallax.
c. It could not explain the phases of Venus.
d. It could not account for the Coriolis effect
12. Which of the following statements is true about Galileo Galilei?
a. He invented the telescope.
b. He believed the Sun was the center of the universe.
c. He was the first astronomer to observe moons around Jupiter.
d. He proposed that Earth rotates on its own axis.
13. A planet moves in its orbit about the Sun. which of the following statements is true?
a. Its speed is constant.
b. It moves faster when it is when it is closer to the Sun.
c. Its distance from the Sun is constant.
d. It moves slower when it is closer to the Sun.
14. A shift in the direction of an object caused by a change in the position of an observer is called
a. parallax b. precession c. Coriolis effect d. epicycle motion
15. Which of these evidence supported the Copernican model of the solar system?
a. solar eclipses b. phases of Venus c. retrograde motion d. all of the above

Modified TRUE or FALSE: Write the word TRUE if the statement is correct. If the statement is FALSE, change the
underlined word to make the statement correct.

_______________16. Eudoxus was the first to propose that the Sun is the center of the solar system.
_______________17. The most perfect shape of the Earth and universe according to Plato is cylindrical.
_______________18. Galileo’s observation of the planets supported the geocentric theory.
_______________19. In the proposed model by Copernicus, the Earth was at the center of the universe.
_______________20. The Second Law of Planetary Motion implies that the product of the velocity and the distance from the
Sun remain the same as a planet moves about the Sun.

REFERENCES

Santiago, K. S., & Silverio, A. A. (2016). Rate of Reaction. In Exploring Life Through Science (pp. 134-143). Phoenix
Publishing House Inc.

MODULE 2 WHY WE BELIEVE THAT THE LAWS OF PHYSICS ARE UNIVERSAL?

Most Essential Learning Competency:

 Compare and contrast the Aristotelian and Galilean conceptions of vertical motion, horizontal motion, and projectile
motion (S11/12PS-IVc-46)
 Explain how Galileo inferred that objects in vacuum fall with uniform acceleration, and that force is not necessary to
sustain horizontal motion (S11/12PS-IVc-47)
 Explain the subtle distinction between Newton’s 1st Law of Motion (or Law of Inertia) and Galileo’s assertion that
force is not necessary to sustain horizontal motion (S11/12PS-IVd-51)
 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

START UP: Find Me!

Directions: Encircle five words which are relate to motion. The words can be read horizontally, vertically and diagonally.
F E C A M N T R S T L O A C
P R O J E C T I L E M S S R
O A E T H C A V O J Y B R E
E S N E E C C E E V E S T H
F R D F F L C L F I C A U G
S T U T H A E V S C F R I I
T U H A U T L E T P I Y O C
B I O D E L E L B E E O M R
G O N W D E R O G H Y E G R
H M E V E R A C H G N J D V
R G S Q S F T I N J R T I Z
E R R O S T I T E C V S C O
G F Y M E N O Y G R F C N W
T C G M I S N T T R I B E V

LECTURE

THE CONCEPT OF MOTION

There are several physical quantities that helps described motion of objects.
 Distance – total path length traveled between two points. It is a scalar quantity that has magnitude but with no
direction.
 Displacement – change in position of a body relative to some reference point. It is a vector quantity that has both
magnitude and direction.

Example: a girl walks 3.5 m away from a lamp post

The total distance traveled by the girl is 3.5 m and the total displacement is 3.5 m to the east.

 Speed – is the rate of motion

 Average speed – total distance an object travels divided by the time it takes to travel that distance,

In equation,
distance traveled d
average speed = ; ⊽=
time of travel t

The instantaneous speed tells how fast the car is moving at a given instant. The speedometer is a device that
measures instantaneous speed. The instantaneous speed is determined by computing the average speed for a very
short time interval in which the speed does not change significantly.
An object moving at a constant speed in a single direction shows uniform motion.
 Velocity – refers to the speed of an object in a particular direction.
 Average velocity – is the change in displacement divided by the time interval required for the change.

In equation,
change in displacement d
average velocity = ; ⊽=
elapsed time t
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Sample Problem: A traveler covers a distance of 1.5 km in 20 minutes. What is the average speed of the traveler
in km/h?

Given: d = 1.5 km
1h
t = 20 min
/x = 0.33h
/
60 min
Required: ⊽ = ?
d
Equation: ⊽=
t
1.5 km
Solution: ⊽=
0.33 h
Answer: ⊽ = 4.55 km/h

 Acceleration – refers to the change in velocity of a moving object per unit of time. The change in velocity can be
achieved in three ways:
a. By increasing its speed while traveling in a straight line
b. By decreasing its speed while traveling in a straight line; and
c. By changing its direction even while traveling at a constant speed.

In equation,
change in velocity Δv vf − vi
acceleration = ; a= ; a=
elapsed time t t

where: vf is the final velocity and vi is the initial velocity

Negative acceleration is known as deceleration.

Since the velocity is increasing or decreasing uniformly with time, we can express the average velocity as the
arithmetic average of the initial and final velocity.
vi + vf
⊽=
2

Sample Problem: A car starts from rest and accelerates at a constant rate of 2.5 m/s2 for 5 s. What is the velocity
of the car after 5 s?

Given: vi = 0
a = 2.5 m/s2
t=5s
Required: vf = ?
Equation: vf = vi + at
Solution: vf = vi + at
vf = 0 + (2.5 m/s2 ) (5s)
Answer: vf = 12.5 m/s

MOTION ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE AND GALILEO

Similarities and differences in the ideas of Galileo and Aristotle on motion are shown in this table.
Aristotle Galileo
Vertical Motion  Any object not in its natural place  Any two objects that are dropped
will strive to get there. together will fall together regardless
Ex: a stone falls, smoke rises
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

 Object fall at a rate proportional to of their weight if air resistance is

their weight. Heavier objects fall negligible.
much faster than lighter objects.  Objects fall at the same rate.
Horizontal Motion  Force is needed to start and sustain  Force is not needed to sustain the
the motion of an object. motion of an object.
 Force is required to change motion
(to accelerate).

Projectile Motion  Force is needed to start an object to  A projectile is influenced by vertical

move through air until its natural motion due to the force of gravity
motion eventually brings it to earth. and horizontal motion that is
uniform.

UNIFORM ACCELERATION

Objects in Vacuum Fall with Uniform Acceleration

Galileo was interested by the behavior of falling objects. He knew that as falling objects go down, they increase their speed
as they go down. This change in speed is acceleration. Although he did not have any tool to measure this change, so he used
inclined planes to reduce the acceleration of the moving bodies. He was then able to take a close look at the moving bodies
carefully.
With his experiments, Galileo proved that regardless of their masses and air resistance two objects dropped simultaneously
will reach the ground at the same time. He also discovered that objects fall with uniform acceleration.
On his experiment, he had observed the following:
 After every second, a ball rolling down an inclined plane increases its speed by the same value.
 The acceleration of the rolling ball increases as the inclined plane becomes steeper.
 When the inclined plane was positioned vertically, the rolling ball has maximum acceleration.

Force is Not Necessary to Sustain Horizontal Motion

Aristotle believed that forces are necessary to keep objects in motion. Although a force is needed to start an object moving,
Galileo believed that force was not necessary to sustain motion and did this experiment:

Galileo rolled balls down inclined planes and observed and recorded the gain in speed as the rolling continued. On
downward-sloping planes, the force of gravity increases a ball’s speed while on an upward slope, the force of gravity
decreases a ball’s speed. If smoother planes were used, the ball rolled up the opposite plane closer to the initial height. The
difference between initial and final heights was because friction. He postulated the ball would reach exactly the same height
if friction could be eliminated.
With regards to the ball rolling on a level surface, the ball neither rolls with nor against the vertical force of gravity. It neither
slows down or speeds up. It maintains a constant speed. Galileo reasoned that a ball would move forever if it is in horizontal
motion. If friction were entirely absent once it is moving, no force is needed to keep it moving except for the force needed
 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

to overcome friction. A moving object needs no force to keep it moving. when friction is absent. Such ball would remain in
motion all by itself of its own inertia.

CAUSE OF MOTION
For nearly 2000 years, the accepted opinion was Aristotle’s concept that moving objects would stop because the natural state
of objects was to be at ‘rest’. However, as for Galileo, once the ball is in motion, no force is needed to keep it moving except
for the force needed to overcome friction. Friction is an opposing external force that prevents its continued motion. A moving
object needs no force to keep it moving when friction is absent. It will remain in motion all by itself.
In 1665, Sir Isaac Newton made great revolution in the growth of Science primarily in Physics with his famous Laws of
Motion. He established a new set of ideas with His three (3) Laws of Motion that includes the 1st Law of Motion more
popularly known as the Law of Inertia. In his original manuscript the Law of Inertia was stated as:
“An object at rest is inclined to stay at rest. And an object in motion tends to continue to move in a straight line with a
constant speed unless an external force acts on it.”
This means that things tend to keep on doing what they are already doing. Notebooks on top of the table are in a rest state,
they tend to stay at rest even when you quickly snap the tablecloth or paper underneath.
“Everybody tends to preserve in its state of rest, or in state of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to
change that state by some forces impressed thereon.”
If you slide a coin along the road, the coin soon comes to rest. If you let it slide along an ice rink, it slides for a longer time
and distance. If you let it slide along a table which it constantly emits air, it continuous to moves. This is because the table
offers no friction. A moving object tends to move in a straight line indefinitely in the absence of a force.
We can say that Sir Isaac Newton concept was built on Galileo’s. All objects resist changes of motion. This means they all
have inertia.
Inertia is the natural inclination of any object to maintain state of rest or to remain in uniform motion in a straight line.
Resisting changes in its state depends upon its mass. It is the fundamental property of matter for an object to be accelerated
or decelerated where it is being opposed. The more mass the object has, the greater is the tendency to resist changes in
motion.
Newton’s First Law of Motion (Law of Inertia says that if the net force on an object is zero, then the object will have zero
acceleration implying that the object is either at rest or moving with uniform velocity.

ACTIVITY 3
Directions: Show how the Aristotle’s concepts of vertical motion, horizontal motion and projectile motion is similar and
different from Galileo through a Venn diagram.Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper. (10 points)

Aristotelian Concept Galilean Concept

 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

ASSESSMENT 2
Read and analyze the given statements below. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Galileo’s concepts on motion ultimately replaced those of Aristotle because of which central factor?
a. Galileo challenged Aristotle’s authority
b. Galileo based his concepts upon experiments, measurements, and calculations.
c. Galileo was given the freedom to publish and circulate his works.
d. None of the above
2. How did Galileo’s concept of motion differ from Aristotle’s?
a. Aristotle claimed motion could only occur downhill.
b. Galileo considered motion just as natural as rest.
c. Aristotle considered both rest and motion to be natural.
d. Galileo’s description of motion did not consider all causes.
3. Which of the following best describes inertia?
a. A heavier object has more inertia.
b. An object with little inertia tends to have its rest or motion changed easily.
c. An object with little inertia tends to have its rest or motion changed difficulty.
d. Inertia keeps objects moving.
4. Why do some objects remain at rest or stationary?
a. There are no forces acting on it.
b. There are forces acting on it, but these forces are balanced.
c. There is just one force acting on it, which is gravity.
d. There is just one force acting on it, which is normal force.
5. A book is sitting on adashboard of a car that has stopped at a traffic light. As the car starts to move forward, the
books slides off the dashboard. What is the best explanation for this?
a. There is a grease on the dashboard.
b. The object has inertia.
c. A supernatural force has taken over.
d. Air resistance has made the book move backward.
6. Acceleration is the rate of change of . .
a. displacement b. position c. velocity d. time
7. Which of the following happens when a driver steps on the accelerator?
a. No fuel is consumed. c. The car covers less distance
b. The car has a negative acceleration d. The car speeds up.
8. A ferryboat travels 9 km in 45 minutes. What is the average speed of the boat?
a. 5 km/min b. 12 km/h c. 10 m/s d. 405 cm/s
9. Neglecting air resistance, an object falling toward the surface of the earth has an acceleration that is
.
a. increasing c. constant
b. decreasing d. dependent on the weight of the object
10. A freely falling body is one that is acted upon by no forces other than .
a. air resistance b. its own speed c. gravity d. speed of the wind

REFERENCES
Santiago, K. S., & Silverio, A. A. (2016). Sources of Energy. In Exploring Life Through Science (pp. 155-172). Phoenix
Publishing House Inc.
Note: Some of the activities are adopted from Self-Learning Module in Physical Science of Department of Education –
Division of Cagayan de Oro City
 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

MODULE 3 HOW LIGHT ACTS AS A WAVE AND A PARTICLE?

Most Essential Learning Competency:

 Describe how the propagation of light, reflection, and refraction are explained by the wave model and the particle
model of light (S11/12PS-IVf-59)
 Explain how the photon concept and the fact that the energy of a photon is directly proportional to its frequency can
be used to explain why red light is used in photographic dark rooms, why we get easily sunburned in ultraviolet light
but not in visible light, and how we see colors (S11/12PS-IVf-61)
 Differentiate dispersion, scattering, interference, and diffraction (S11/12PS-IVh-65)

START UP
Directions: Match the following colored objects in column A to the way light has produced their colors.

A B
_______1. yellow banana a. interference
_______2. blue sky b. diffraction
_______3. Rainbow c. selective reflection
_______4. peacock feathers d. refraction
_______5. soap bubble e. scattering

LECTURE

THE DUAL NATURE OF LIGHT

From the sun and stars, to colors and fireworks, light has always been a source of warmth and wonder. But what is
light? Is it a wave or a particle? Since ancient times, scientists have debated whether light consists of particles or manifests
itself as a wave. Some scientists have argued that light is a wave because of the way it behaves when propagating or traveling
through various materials. Other scientists, on the other hand, have proposed that light is a particle because of the way it
transfers energy to other materials. Since studies have been able to prove that light exhibits both wave-like and particle-like
properties, it has become widely accepted that light has a dual nature: part particle and part wave.

Theories on the Nature of Light

Greek philosophers are generally credited with the first speculations about the nature of light. These assumptions about light
were presented by the lack of knowledge about how the eye works.
Here are some of these assumptions:
 Pythagoras (500 BC) – proposed that vision is caused by visual rays coming from the eye and striking objects.
 Empedocles (450 BC) – developed a model of vision which shows that light was emitted both by the objects and
the eye. He also believed that light travels with finite speed.
 Epicurus (300 BC) – light is emitted by sources other than the eye and vision is produced when light reflects off
objects and enters the eye.
 Euclid (300 BC) – discussed the propagation of light rays in straight lines.
 Ptolemy (100 AD) – believed that vision emanates from the eye. He was the first one to collect and record
experimented data on optics.

The earliest scientific theories were proposed since the end of 17 th century onwards.
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 Isaac Newton (1668) – in his Corpuscular Theory stated that light emitted by luminous objects consists of tiny
particles of matter called corpuscles. When these particles fall on the retina of the eye, each particle is reflected and
they produce the sensation of vision.
 Christian Huygens (1690) – proposed the Wave Theory of Light. He considered that light was propagated in
longitudinal waves through a material called the ether. He compared the behavior of light wave with that of sound.
Unlike sound, light can travel through a vacuum.
 Thomas Young (1801) – proved the wave nature of light by shining light through a screen with two slits equally
separated. The light emerging from the two slits spread out. Young’s experiment supported Huygen’s Wave Theory
and completely disposed the Corpuscular Theory by showing that light waves can interfere with each other.
 James Clerk Maxwell (1860) – in his Electromagnetic Theory of light proposed that light waves do not require a
medium for transmission. He explained that light waves possess electrical and magnetic properties and can travel
through a vacuum. Maxwell stated in his theory that light consists of fluctuating electric and magnetic fields
propagating in the form of electromagnetic waves. This theory led to its application to blackbody radiation.
 Max Planck (1900) – introduced his postulates to explain blackbody radiation. A blackbody is a surface or object
that is capable of absorbing all radiation falling on it. He proposed that energy comes in discrete units called quanta.
This was the beginning of quantum theory.
 Albert Einstein (1905) – suggested that light is composed of tiny particles called photon and each photon has
energy.

QUANTIZATION OF LIGHT ENERGY

Max Planck introduced in 1900 his idea on quantization of light energy and this was strengthen later by Albert
Einstein. This idea originated from the study of the spectrum produced by the blackbody. A good representation of a
blackbody is a hole leading to the inside of a hollow object that can be heated to high temperature. At room temperature,
the hole appears to be black. The nature of the spectrum emitted depends only on the temperature and not on the material
of which the walls of the hollow objects are made. As the temperature increases, the average wavelength emitted decreases.
The short wavelengths become short enough to be visible.
At low temperature, the wavelengths are mainly in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum and so
radiation is not visible. As the temperature of the object increases, the wavelengths are somewhere at the infrared region to
the visible spectrum. And so the radiation is visible enough as glowing red to glowing white.
Planck came up with a formula to explain the distribution of wavelengths that are emitted from a heated blackbody.
The formula predicts proper distribution and dependence on temperature. Moreover, the formula led Planck to conclude that
light could not be absorbed or emitted from a surface of the blackbody in continuously varying energies but only in discrete
chunks or quanta whose energy depended on frequency .
It is given as:
E = hf
where E is the enegy (in joule, J)
h is Planck’s constant (6.626 x 10 -34 Js
f is the frequency (in hertz, Hz)
The relationship between energy and frequency explains the following.
 Red light is used in photographics dark rooms because red light has the longest wavelength and the lowest frequency
among the region of the visible spectrum. Since the frequency is low, the energy of red light is also low. Threfore,
the red light will not affect the photo developing process in the dark room.
People will get easily sunburned by ultraviolet light (UV) but not by visible light because UV has shorter wavelength and
higher frequency than visible light. Since the violet light has higher frequency, the energy is also high. Therefore, this high
energy can cause sunburn and even skin cancers.

INTERACTION OF LIGHT WITH MATTER

SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Ideas about the nature of light led to two different theories of light. Christian Huygens proposed the Wave Theory
while Isaac Newton, the Particle (Corpuscular) Theory.

Table 1 shows the properties of light according to these two theories.

PARTICLE (CORPUSCULAR)
PROPERTY WAVE THEORY
THEORY
 Propagation Light travels as a shower of particles in a Light travels as wavelets similar to the
Light travels in straight line. ripples spreading across a surface of a
straight lines pond distributed by a stone dropped
on it.

 Reflection Light emitted by a source whether far or Light emitted by a source spreads in
Light bounces as it near strikes a smooth surface as a stream of all directions as it strikes a smooth
strikes a surface particles. The particles bounce from surface. The wave bounce according
different points and their order in the light to the incident angles and turn back
beam is reversed producing a reversed producing a reversed image. Light
image. from a far source will spread more.

 Refraction Proponent of Particle Theory has difficulty When a beam of light travels between
Light bends as it explaining why particles of light change two different media, a small portion of
passes from one direction when they travel from one each angled wave front impact to the
medium to another medium to another. They suggest that a second medium while the rest of the
special force directed perpendicular to the wave is still traveling in the first
first medium changes the speed of the medium at different speed, thus
particles as they enter the second medium changing the angle of propagation.
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

 Diffraction When light particles traveling in straight When a wavefront from a point source
Light spreads out as it lines encounter the edge of a barrier, they reaches the edge of a corner, a
passes a barrier or a cast a shadow because the unblocked secondary wave is formed at that point
slit. paarticles continue in a straight line and and makes another wavefront. Thus,
cannot spread out behind the edge. the light is able to extend to the area
where there would be a point source.

ISPERSION, SCATTERING and INTERFERENCE

 Dispersion

As light enters into a prism, or an object that may act as a prism, it separates into different band of colors.
This separation of white light into different colors as it passes through a prism is called dispersion. The separated
band of colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, ranges from 400 nanometer to 700 nano meter
wavelength. Dispersion occurs due to the slight difference in the refractive index of each color.
A rainbow is formed after a rainshower when droplets of falling water acts as a prism that separates the rays
of the sun hitting the water droplets into band of different colors.

 Scattering of Light

It is responsible for the blue-colored sky and beautiful horizon. Tiny dust particles, and atoms of oxygen
and nitrogen in the atmosphere which are far apart from each other acts as scatterers. They scatter sunlight in all
directions. Of the band of colors of light, violet has the shortest wavelength of 400 nanometer. It is scattered the
most, followed by indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red which is scattered the least. But our eyes is not
sensitive to indigo and violet, and blue is most predominant to our sight, so we see the blue sky.
In the late afternoon where the sun is in the horizon, the loner wavelength red light reaches our eyes more
than the blue light which are scattered the most. Red being scattered the least is transmitted and passed through
more of the atmosphere than any other color. Thus, it is the red color together with some orange that reaches our
eyes in the late afternoon and we see the beautiful red-orange sunset.
Clouds are made of water droplets of varying sizes. Smaller droplets scatter blue, green, and yellow and
even red color. A combination of these color results in white clouds.
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Rain clouds appear dark because the water droplets become bigger and denser and it can absorb more light
than scatter it. It almost all colors are absorb, the resulting color is dark or even black.

 Inteference of Light

The beautiful spectrum of colors reflected on the soap bubbles are produced by the interference of light. It
occurs when 2 waves meet while travelling on the same medium. It may be constructive interference producing
bright fringes or destructive interference producing dark bands. In the case of soap bubbles, the incident ray of white
light constructively interfere in the different regions of the bubbles producing the rainbow-colored appearance.
Interference of light clearly demonstrates the wave nature of light.

ACTIVITY 4
Directions: Complete the chart to describe how the propagation of light, reflection and refraction are explained by the wave
theory and the particle theory of light.

DESCRIPTION
PHENOMENA
By Wave Theory of Light By Particle Theory of Light
Propagation
Reflection
Refraction

ACTIVITY 5: Let Me Be A Collector!

Directions: Take and collect at least 3 pictures of different optical phenomena. Post it on your paper and briefly describe the
properties of light behind the pictures. (15 points)

Example:

Rainbow – is a nature’s spectacular display of dispersion of light. It is

formed when sunlight passes through water droplets suspended in air after a
rain shower.

ASSESSMENT 3
Multiple Choice: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Why does a blue t-shirt appear blue?

a. Blue is absorbed by the t-shirt c. . Blue is reflected by the t-shirt
b. Blue is emitted by the t-shirt d. . Blue is refracted by the t-shirt
2. E=hf is an equation that describes the relationship between energy (E) and frequency of light (f). What will happen
to the energy of light as the frequency goes higher? It
a. goes higher b. goes lower c. remains the same d. undetermined
3. Under which type of light do we easily get sunburned?
a. infrared b. microwave light c. ultraviolet light d. white light
4. Which property of light is responsible for white clouds, blue sky and red sunset?
a. Dispersion b. Interference c. Scattering d. Diffraction
5. Which of the following situations exemplifies the dispersion property of light?
a. The image of the flower in a mirror c. The swaying movement of coin under water
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b. The sparkling glow of the diamond ring d. The rainbow in the sky after the rain shower
6. Explain when can diffraction of light occur?
a. When photons oscillate in certain directions are absorbed, while others that oscillate in line with the filter
pass through.
b. when light strikes the boundary between substances at an angle greater than the critical angle.
c. when waves spread and bend as they pass through small openings or around barriers.
d. when two or more waves overlap or intersect.
7. What effect does interference of light waves have on soap bubbles?
a. They become larger c. They produced different colors at the surface.
b. They become heavier d. They produced images of objects like a mirror.
8. After a rainstorm, a rainbow may appear in the sky. Which statement explains this observation?
a. . The colors of the rainbow come from raindrops spread in the atmosphere
b. The raindrops act as prisms separating sunlight into spectrum of colors.
c. The white clouds are like prisms which are composed of different colors of the rainbow
d. When the incident light is reflected by the ground towards the clouds, it separates them into different colors.
9. Suppose you are wearing a blue shirt. When you look at the mirror, you observe that the color of your shirt in the
image is also blue. What does this tell you about the frequency of the incident ray compared to the frequency of the reflected
ray?
a. The frequency of light remains the same.
b. The frequency of the incident ray is greater than that of the reflected ray.
c. The frequency of the reflected ray is greater than that of the incident ray.
d. It cannot be determined.
10. What happens to the speed of a light ray when it moves from water into air?
a. it slows down c. it remains the same
b. it speeds up d. it cannot be determined
11. Yellow light has a longer wavelength than green light. Which color of light has the higher frequency?
a. yellow b. green c. It is the same for both. d. It cannot be determined.
12. Which statement is not true about light?
a. It is an electromagnetic wave.
b. It travels in vacuum at 3x108 m/s.
c. It has a dual nature: as a particle and a wave.
d. It travels the path that requires the longest time.
13. A quantum of light energy is called a/an .
a. index of refraction b. intensity c. photon d. wave packet
14. The splitting of white light into its constituent colors is called .
a. diffraction b. dispersion c. reflection d. refraction
15. Who proposed the electromagnetic theory of light?
a. Albert Einstein c. Isaac Newton
b. James Clerk Maxwell d. Thomas Young

REFERENCES
Padua, A. L. etal. (2016). Light as Wave and Particle. In Physical Science (pp. 156-161). Vibal Group Inc.
Self-Learning Module in Physical Science of Department of Education – Division of Cagayan de Oro City
 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

MODULE 4 HOW LIGHT ACTS AS A WAVE AND A PARTICLE?

Most Essential Learning Competency:

Explain various phenomena such as:
 Your reflection on the concave and convex sides of a spoon looks different
 Mirages
 Light from a red laser passes more easily though red cellophane than green cellophane
 Clothing of certain colours appear different in artificial light and in sunlight
 Haloes, sundogs, primary rainbows, secondary rainbows, and supernumerary bows
 Why clouds are usually white and rainclouds dark
 Why the sky is blue and sunsets are reddish (S11/12PS-IVh-66)

START UP: Let There Be Light!

Imagine there is no light. What would the world be without light? On a separate sheet of paper, list down five (5) reasons why
light is important to us.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

LECTURE

LIGHT PHENOMENA
Various natural phenomena can be explained by properties of light.
 Images on a Shiny Spoon
When you look into a shiny spoon, you will see your face in it. However, the front and the back of the spoon show different
images.
The front and the back of the spoon will work like two curved mirrors. The front is a concave mirror and the back is a convex
mirror.
Curved mirrors are usually spherical mirrors. The reflected surface of a spherical mirror is a part of a large sphere. A concave
mirror curves inward like a cave. A convex mirror curves outward.
A curved mirror has a vertex (V), a center of curvature (C), and a principal focus or focal point (F). The center of curvature
is the center of the sphere from which the mirror is formed. The distance from V to C is the radius of curvature (R). The
distance from V to F is called the focal length (f). The line passing through the center of curvature and perpendicular to the
line AB is the principal axis. Line AB is tangent to the curve at the vertex.
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

 Mirages
One of the interesting effects caused by refraction of light is a mirage. A mirage is an apparent shift in the position of objects
caused by refraction of light in different densities. During hot days, the layer of hot air is in contact with the ground and its
molecules are farther apart. Hence, light travels faster through the hot air, causing light rays near the ground to bend upward.
This makes the images appear upside down, as if it were reflected from the surface of water.

 Colored Filters
Colorless materials like glass and plastics are transparent which allows light to pass through easily. Cellophane and colored
glasses are translucent that filters the light that passes through it. Green cellophane will only allow green light to pass
through it and absorbs all the other colors of light. Each color filter will only allow lightof its own color to pass through.
This is why light from a red laser passes more easily through red cellophane than through green cellophane.

 Colors in Natural and Artificial Light

The color that we see is the light reflected by the object which is affected by the atmosphere and the quality of light passing
through it. Sunlight gives the true color because it is the purest light. It has the ability to maintain the balance between warm
and cool colors. Direct sunlight will give the truest color. Northern light is cooler but more consistent while southern light
tends to be warmer and stronger. Artificial light sources have varying effects on colors. Halogen lights are the closest to
natural light which gives almost white light in tone. Fluorescent light is slightly bluish while incandescent light provides
yellow tone. This is the reason why clothing appear different in artificial light and in sunlight.
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

 Blue Sky and Red Sunset

At sunset or sunrise when the sun is near the horizon or low in the sky, sunlight travels a longer distance through the
atmosphere before it gets to your eyes. However, the blue light is unable to pass. It becomes scattered in the atmosphere
before it even reaches your eyes. Hence, only the longer wavelengths such as orange and red are left, making the sun and
the sky around it appear red or orange.
The blue appearance of the sky is also a scattering phenomenon. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer
wavelength pass straight through. However, much of the shorter wavelengths, like blue, interact with the gas molecules and
become scattered in the atmosphere. The atmosphere scatters violet light more effectively, but our eyes are more sensitive
to blue. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

 Halos and Sundogs

The refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere produce halos and other effects such as sundogs.
As the sunlight passes through the ice crystals, it is bent 22̊ before reaching our eyes resulting to the formation of a sundog.
Ice crystals which have vertically oriented axis produce sundogs. Light can only be refracted into our eyes by these ice
crystals when they are located along or just outside the halo’s circle as the same altitude as the sun.
SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

 Rainbows
The rainbow is formed by the dispersion of sunlight in drops of water. When sunlight passes through each spherical raindrop,
it is refracted and dispersed and then internally reflected one or more times before it finally emerges out of the raindrop. The
sunlight is again reflected and refracted at different angle as it passes through other drops. You will usually see a rainbow
in the morning or toward late afternoon when the rays of the sun fall obliquely on Earth, or during a shower when the sun is
low in the sky. Each water droplet disperses the whole range of colors, arranged according to frequency.
The primary rainbow has red on the outside and violet on the inside. Violet light is bent more and comes out higher from
the droplet. It appears at the bottom of the rainbow since violet light from lower droplets strikes the eye and the red from
droplets higher in the sky reaches the eye.
The secondary rainbow, sometimes visible, has the colors reversed, violet on the outside and red on the inside.
The sun must be reasonably low in the sky for either the primary or secondary rainbow to be observed.
Supernumerary bows are narrow arcs inside the primary bows formed when raindrops are very small and of uniform size.

 Cloud

The water droplets and ice crystals that join together to form clouds equally scatter all colors of light which together make
up white light. Rainclouds are grey instead of white because they get thicker and denser as they gather more water droplets
and ice crystals. The thicker the clouds get, the more light they scatter which results to less light penetrating all the way
through it. The rainclouds are more efficient at absorbing light than scattering it. Thus, the particles on the rainclouds do not
have a lot of light to scatter to the eyes.
 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

ACTIVITY 6: Picture Analysis

Directions: Analyze the photographs of different optical phenomena and answer the guide questions below on the separate
sheet of paper. (15 points)

A. B.

C. D.

E.

Guide Questions:

1. On a very sunny day, have you observe the apparent pool of water on a straight highway? What do you call this
phenomena and what causes this? Which photo is this?

2. Which photo shows a halo? What causes the formation of haloes?

3. Which photo depicts sundogs? What property of light causes sundogs?

4. Rainbows are spectacular view in the sky. What is the difference between a primary rainbow and secondary rainbow?

5. Which among the pictures is a supernumerary bow? How is it form?

 SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

ASSESSMENT 4

Directions: Answer the questions briefly. Write your answers on the separate sheet of paper.

1. Compare and contrast the images form in front side and the in the back side of a shiny spoon. What does the front side
of the spoon represent? The back side?

2. Why does red light passes through easily in red cellophane? What happens to the green light as it passes through the
red cellophane?

3. The color of the dress when artificial light is shone upon it is different compared to the color of the dress when natural
sunlight is shone upon it. Why?

4. Why clouds are usually white and rainclouds dark?

5. Why the sky is blue and sunsets are reddish?

REFERENCES
Padua, A. L. etal. (2016). Light as Wave and Particle. In Physical Science (pp. 165-169). Vibal Group Inc.
Self-Learning Module in Physical Science of Department of Education – Division of Cagayan de Oro City