ALAMINOS CITY NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL – SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

DEPARTMENT

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

WEEK 3 | QUARTER 4 | MARCH 3-7, 2025

I. TITLE: Propagation of light

II. LEARNING COMPETENCIES WITH CODE:
1. Describe how the propagation of light, reflection, and refraction are
explained by the wave model and the particle model of light Week
3 S11/12PS-IVf-59
III. BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR LEARNERS:

Propagation of Light (Reflection and Refraction) as Explained by the Wave

and Particle Models

What is true of light, is it a wave or a flow of extremely small particles? This has
been the debate of scientists for so long. Newton concluded in 1700 that light was a
group of particles (corpuscular theory) but at the same time others thought that it
was a wave (wave theory). Light travels in a straight line so Newton believed that it
was a flow of particles coming from a light source.
However, it cannot explain wave-like phenomenon such as diffraction and
interference. On the other hand, the wave theory cannot explain why photons fly
out of metal that is exposed to light (known as the photoelectric effect) which was
discovered at the end of the 19th century. In this manner, the great physicists have
continued to debate and demonstrate the true nature of light over the centuries. In
this lesson, you will learn the different evidence that proved light can propagate
either as a wave or a particle. This lesson will help you understand how light
behaves as a wave and as a particle. A better understanding of reflection and
refraction of light will be gained after going through this module.
Rene Descartes
was the first who studied and explained the concept of refraction. He used a
spherical glass filled with water and sunlight to produce a rainbow. He explained
that refraction brought about the formation of rainbows. He then used a prism
to observe the emergence of colors of light. He also explained the emergence of
colors of light through the concept of the plenum,
the invisible substance that permeated the universe. He visualizedthat the plenum
was made of
tiny rotating balls with the same speed.
Light travelled through this plenum. As the plenum reached the edge ofa prism, the
balls changed their rotational speeds resulting in the emergence of colors.
Sir Isaac Newton
also studied the emergence of colors of light through a prism. He stated that the
difference in refraction was due to the differences in the mass of the colors of light.
Particles of matter also exert equal force to the particles of light. The colorsof light
with different mass and inertia will be deflected at varying degrees. When they
passed through an interface of matter, light particles with great mass and inertia
are deflected less when acted upon by the same force of matter.
ACTIVITY 1: Dual Property of Light (A Wave and a Particle)
Analyze the pictures about an experiment showing a beam of monochromatic
(single color) light being focused on a screen with two slits. Describe what happens
to light rays in Fig. A and Fig. B. Complete the table with your observations.

1. Describe what happens to the beam of light as it passes through the slits in both
figures.
- Figure A shows how light splits in two when it passes through two slits or holes,
producing two lights of equal intensity at the same time. However, the second
image represents how a light spreads out after passing through the slits,
disseminating the brightest light from the center and progressively dimming as it
expands, allowing people to evaluate possible constructive points. This was
supported from Thomas Young's Two-Slit Experimen.
2. Describe the kind of images formed by light after passing through the two slits.
- The first illustration shows a straight line with two beams of light, but the latter
portrays the waves of a light when it enters a hole, resulting in the production of
constructive intersections within the point of light.
3. How does the beam of light behave in both cases?
- The light in Figure A illustrates the corpuscular theory, which states that the light
moves in a straight line as if it were a flow of particles emanating from a light
source. Meanwhile, Figure B depicts the wave theory offered by Young's two-slit
experiment.
4. What can be concluded about the nature of light as described in the two pictures?
- The figure B (wave theory) is far more accurate since it highlights the interference,
diffraction and polarization
Activity 2: Reflection and Refraction of Light
Refer to the figures to explain how reflection and refraction are explained by the
wave and particle models of light. Fill up with the appropriate word/s to give
meaning to the paragraphs that follow. Choose from among the words inside the
box to complete each sentence.
refraction force spread changes bend
bounce off reversed slower wavefront
interface particles smooth

Reflection and refraction are phenomena that are well-explained by the behaviors of
light. When a source emits light, its dual property can be observed in different
circumstances.
Light, as waves, 1) Spread in all directions when emitted. Upon impacting a
smooth, specular surface, such as a mirror, these waves 2) Bounce off or reflect
according to the arrival angles. The waves turn back to front as they reflect
producing a 3). Reversed image.
On the other hand, light can also arrive at the mirror surface as a stream of
4)Particles. Since these are very tiny, a huge number are involved in a propagating
light beam. Upon arriving a 5) Smooth surface, the particles bounce off in different
points so their order in the beam is reversed resulting to a reversed image.
A beam of light undergoes 6.) refraction when it travels between two media
with different refractive indices.
 Light, as waves, 7).changes direction upon passing from first medium to
should impact the This part will second medium. A small portion of each angled 8).
Wavefront second medium before the rest of the front reaches the 9) Interface
travel along the second medium while the rest of the waves is still travelling in the
first medium. Movement will be 10). Slower through the second medium due to
higher refractive index. Since the wavefronts are travelling at different speeds, light
into the second medium, thus, changing the angle of will11). Bend propagation.

Dual Property of Light (A Wave and a Particle)

Light can behave both as a wave and as a particle. As particles, they travel in
straight lines, thus, producing shadows when they hit an obstruction. It is also the
reason why light bounces off or reflects off of mirrors. Refraction is also brought
about by light particles when they traverse through media or materials of different
refractive indices. It is thought that opposing forces pull the particles of light from
and into the medium resulting to changes of their direction. The photo-electric
effect is also evidence that light behaves as particles. When light with enough
energy falls or hits a metal, electrons are dislodged or knocked off from it to
produce a positive (+) metal surface. The amount of light energy (known as photon)
contains a fixed amount of energy or quantum that depends on the frequency of the
light.
Light also acts as a wave. It has the ability to diffract or bend around an
object. Diffraction involves a change in direction of waves when they pass from an
opening or around obstacles along their path. Refraction happens when light waves
change direction as they travel through materials of different refractive indices, say
water and air. Light waves also undergo interference, the phenomenon that occurs
when two waves meet while traveling along the same medium.
Reflection and Refraction of Light
Reflection and refraction are phenomena that are well-explained by the
behaviors of light. When a source emits light, its dual property can be observed in
different circumstances.
Light, as waves, spread in all directions when emitted. Upon impacting a
smooth, specular surface, such as a mirror, these waves bounce off or reflect
according to the arrival angles. The waves turn back to front as they reflect
producing a reversed image.
On the other hand, light can also arrive at the mirror surface as a stream of
particles. Since these are very tiny, a huge number are involved in a propagating
light beam. Upon arriving a smooth surface, the particles bounce off in different
points so their order in the beam is reversed resulting to a reversed image.
A beam of light undergoes refraction when it travels between two media with
different refractive indices.
 Light, as waves, changes direction upon passing from first medium to second
medium. A small portion of each angled wavefront should impact the second
medium before the rest of the front reaches the interface. This part will travel along
the second medium while the rest of the waves is still travelling in the first medium.
Movement will be slower through the second medium due to higher refractive index.
Since the wavefronts are travelling at different speeds, light will bend into the
second medium, thus, changing the angle of propagation.
Refracting particles of light should also change direction upon passing
between two media. It is suggested in this theory that a special force directed
perpendicular to the interface acts to change the speed of the particles as they
enter the second medium, resulting to bending of light particles.
Reflection produces different types of images depending on what kind of
surface light strikes on. Usually, the study on images is carried out using mirrors as
the reflecting surface. Mirrors can be planar, concave, or convex.
Plane mirrors consist of perfectly flat surface with no distortions and reflect
100% of the light that strikes them back at a predictable angle.
Concave and convex mirrors have reflective surfaces that curve inward and
outward, respectively.
Concave mirrors are known as converging mirrors because light is focused at
a point as it strikes and reflects back from the reflecting surface.
Convex mirrors are diverging mirrors because as light strikes and bounces
back it spreads over a required region.
Plane mirrors produce images that are same size as the object, laterally
inverted (left becomes right and right becomes left), upright, virtual, and as far
behind the mirror as the object is in front. Virtual images are formed due to
imaginary intersection of light rays and cannot be formed on the screen.

Concave and convex mirrors are parts of spherical mirrors with reflecting
surfaces going inward and outward, respectively.
Convex mirrors always produce images that are located behind the mirror,
virtual, upright, and reduced in size.
 As the object distance from the mirror is decreased, the image distance is
also decreased, and the image size is increased.
Concave mirrors produce images that depend on the location of the object. At
several locations different characteristics of images can be observed. The images
formed can be located somewhere between the center of curvature (C) and the
focal point (F), at C, beyond C, and somewhere on the opposite side of the mirror. At
times, no images are formed by the mirror. Images can be inverted or upright,
smaller, bigger, or the same size as the object, and real or virtual.
Propagation of Light
Light is an electromagnetic radiation that travels through space as vibrating
or oscillating waves. It is composed of alternating electric and magnetic fields that
oscillate perpendicular to each other to the direction of propagation. It travels at a
8 m
speed of 3.0 x 10 through a vacuum.
s
The electromagnetic spectrum (EM) is composed of waves with varying
frequencies, thus, carrying different amounts of energy. The figure below shows the
EM spectrum and the corresponding wavelengths of each wave.
 The wavelength is inversely proportional to the amount of energy or
frequency it carries. Longer wavelengths have lower frequencies than those with
shorter wavelengths. The frequency is directly proportional to the amount of energy
carried by a particular wave. Part of this EM is the visible light (known as white light)
8 m
which is seen by our naked eye. Light wave travels at a speed of 3.0 x 10 through
s
a vacuum. The speed of light varies when it passes and refracts through different
media. The index of refraction of a material can be determined by the ratio where c
is the speed of light in a vacuum while v is the speed of light in a particular medium.
When light passes through a material with higher index of refraction, its speed is
slower. There are more matter that scatters light in this material making light moves
slower. Water scatters more light than air, so light energy moves slower in water
than in air.
Once propagated, the colors of white light vibrate at different frequencies and
can be dispersed when they strike water droplets suspended in the air or through a
prism. White light is then split into the colors ROY-G-BIV (red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, indigo, and violet).
The speed of each color of white light depends on the wavelength of each
wave. The waves with longer wavelengths such as red, orange, and yellow
propagate faster than blue, indigo, and violet which have shorter wavelengths. Due
to their speed, refraction and dispersion are affected when they enter into a prism
or droplet of water in the air. Red is refracted the least and blue is refracted the
most. This is the reason why red is always seen on top of a rainbow while blue is
always at the bottom.
When light is incident on a surface, it can be reflected, absorbed, or
transmitted. Light rays that fall on smooth surfaces bounce off with equal angles of
incidence and reflection, producing images that our eyes can perceive. Absorption
of light depends on the frequency of the electrons of atoms present in the objects. If
the frequency of a light wave is the same as the frequency of the electrons in the
object, light energy will be set in vibrating motion and eventually be absorbed.
During vibration, the electrons interact with neighboring atoms converting the
vibrational energy into heat (thermal) energy, never again to be released as light
energy. This happens during photosynthesis where light energy is absorbed by the
leaves and converted into heat energy.
Selective absorption of light by a certain material happens because the
frequency of the light wave matches the frequency at which electrons in the atoms
of that material vibrate.
Reflection and transmission happens when the frequencies of the light waves
do not match the natural frequencies of vibration of objects. Upon light incidence,
the electrons of the atoms vibrate for a short period of time with small amplitudes
of vibration. Light energy is then reemitted as a light wave.
 If the object is transparent, then vibration of the electrons are passed on to
neighboring atoms through the material and reemitted on the opposite side of the
object. The light frequencies are then said to be transmitted through the object.
Light rays are selectively absorbed by materials and the reflected rays reach
our eyes as the color of the object. The object appears black when all the colors of
the visible light are absorbed. On the other hand, white is seen when all the colors
of light are reflected.
Light waves also experience scattering when they bump mixtures of particles
along the path of propagation. The component wavelengths of light vary in sizes.
The size of the particles suspended in the air also varies. If the size of atmospheric
particles are small, only light with smaller wavelengths are scattered while light with
longer wavelengths are scattered by bigger particles in the air. Since the
particulates are small, then blue light is scattered more than red or orange due to
its shorter wavelength. This is the reason why the sky is blue during daytime.
At sunrise and sunset, the sun is low at the horizon. Light travels through
more molecules in the air. The dense atmosphere scatters more blue or violet light
out of our line of sight. The rest of the colors travel and reach our eyes as yellow,
orange, and red.

ACTIVITY 3: Answer the following questions:

1. Explain how light behaves as a wave and as a particle.
2. How are reflection and refraction explained by the wave and particle models
of light?
3. How do objects appear when all of the colors of light are absorbed?
Reflected? Selectively absorbed?