6.1 What is light?

LO: Explain how shadows and eclipses form

Light is a way of transferring energy.
Light sources光源 give out light.
We say they are luminous发光的.
light waves光波
Light can reach us from the Sun and other stars as light
waves. It can travel through empty space because unlike
sound, light does not need a medium介质 to travel through.
Infrared radiation红外辐射,
called heat or thermal energy,
is very similar to light and is
another method by which energy
reaches us from the Sun.
How shadows are formed?
Shadows are dark areas where something blocks out light.
They are formed because light travels in straight lines
and does not bend round corners.
The light from the Sun cannot
pass through you because you
are opaque不透明 and block
out the light.
umbra and penumbra本影和半影
If the light source is small, there is a full shadow called an umbra
and the edges of the shadow are sharp. If the light source is large
or spread out, there is a partial shadow called a penumbra.
How to prove that light travels in straight lines?
Cameras
If you take a picture of a friend with a camera, light is
reflected from your friend and goes into the camera. Your
friend is the object, and an image is formed at the back of
the camera. The image is formed because light travels in
straight lines.
Objectives
• To investigate how shadows are formed
You will need(Apparatus)
A ball on a string
A light source
A piece of card
Safety
Do not look directly at the light source.
Procedure(Steps)
1. Put the torch or ray box on top of a few books on the desk.
2. One student holds the ball up by the string and another
student holds up the card so that a shadow is formed.
3. Move the ball towards the light source. Observe what
happens to the shadow.
4. Move the ball away from the light source. Observe what
happens to the shadow.
5. Next hold the ball still and move the piece of card towards
and away from the ball. Observe what happens to the
shadow.
Observation:
Conclusion:

A and D have big shadows with fuzzy edges,

because they are penumbra.
B and C have small shadows with sharp edges
because they are umbra.
Homework:
● Quizlet Physics 6.1&6.2(10mins)
● Finish shadow lab report(5mins)
● Physics Workbook 6.1(20mins)
Match the words with meaning
reflect the area that light gets blocked

transparent gives out light

luminous let some light go through

non-luminous the object that gives out light

translucent can see through it

source bounce off

opaque does not give out light

shadow light cannot pass through

Can you make a pinhole camera using these?

Translucent plastic bag

Procedure
1. Make a hole in the front of the pinhole camera with the pin.
2. Darken the room and point the side of the pinhole camera
with the hole at the candle.
3. You should see an image of the candle on the screen at
the back of the camera.
4. Move the camera towards and away from the lamp and
observe the image.
5. Make another pinhole next to the first pinhole. What
happens?
6. (optional) Put the lens in front of the pencil hole. What
happens?
 6.2 How do we see things?
LO: Describe what happens when light travels from
a source into our eyes
You can think of light travelling on a journey from a source
to a detector探测器.
● If light is given out by an object we say that the light is emitted发射.

● If light passes through an object we say that it is transmitted传输.

● If light is bounces off an object we say that it is reflected反射.

● If light is not transmitted or reflected but stays inside the object, we say that it
is absorbed吸收. (Absorbing light makes the object heat up a bit.)
 入射光

100

50

20

How much light has been absorbed?

light intensity光照强度 can be measured using a lightmeter.
Light intensity is measured in units called lux勒(克斯).
The light spreads out as it moves away from the source. This
means that the light hitting a certain area will be less, so
the light intensity will be less.
Seeing things

Objects that don’t give out

light are non-luminous.
You can see them because
light is reflected from
them into your eyes.
Sometimes people think that only mirrors reflect light, but all objects
reflect at least some light. This is how we see them.
Why bananas are yellow?
Homework:
● Draw and label an eye structure(10mins)
● Physics Workbook 6.2(20mins)
 The eye

The eye is the human body’s camera.

The light enters your eye
through the pupil瞳孔. It
passes the cornea眼角膜
(the transparent outer
layer of the eye) and the
lens晶状体 (a small sack
of jelly-like material).
cornea眼角膜

pupil瞳孔 iris虹膜
The image is formed at the
back of your eye on the
retina视网膜, where
light-sensitive cells called
rods视杆细胞 and cones视
锥细胞 absorb the light.
Rods are mainly around the edge
of the retina and are sensitive to
dim light.

Cones are mainly found in the

centre of the retina and they are
sensitive to bright light and
colour.
The rods and cones convert the light
into a signal that is sent to the brain
along the optic nerve视神经.
Now it’s your
turn to
measure the
height of our
flagpole and
JH building!
Object Shadow (m) Real height (m)
Student
Flagpole ?
Building ?
Tree ？
 6.4 Reflection
LO: Describe how an image in a plane mirror is
formed
We often see
reflections. Water
can behave like a
mirror and reflect
animals or the sky.
She is looking in a flat mirror,
or plane mirror平面镜. We
call her reflection an image.
Plane Mirror
The image is the right way up, the same size, and the same
colour as the object.

The image always appears to be the same distance behind

the mirror as the object is in front of it.
There is nothing behind
the mirror – no light can
get through it. We say that
the image is virtual虚拟的.

virtual image
虚像
If you go to watch a movie, the pictures are projected onto a
screen. These are real images实像. The image in a pinhole
camera is also real.
If he holds up his
right hand, the
image he sees in the
mirror appears to
be holding up his
left hand. This is
laterally inverted 横
向倒置.
Mirror
Writing
Challenge!
● Find three words that look the same when you look at
them in a mirror as when you do not.

● Write your name so that it appears the right way

round when you look in the mirror.

How Mirrors Are Made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtUof0EH3-E
Homework:
● Quizlet 6.4&6.5 (10mins)
● Practise Mirror Writing (10mins)
Types of reflection
All surfaces, rough or smooth, reflect some light. The image that you see in a
mirror is very clear. An image on water will only be clear if the water is flat.
Diffuse
扩散（光的散射）
Homework:
● Copy and finish Review Q2 (10 mins)
● Workbook 6.4 (20mins)
 6.5 Making measurements:
the law of reflection
LO: Use the law of reflection
A ray of light, called the incident ray入射光, hits a mirror
at a particular angle.
You can measure
this angle. First you
draw a line at right
angles to the mirror
at the point where
the ray hits it. This
line is called the
normal法线(标准线).
The angle of incidence is the angle between the normal and
the incident ray, and is usually labelled i. (It is not the angle
between the mirror and the ray.)

Label the i in the pictures

 The ray reflects off the mirror. The angle between the normal and
the reflected ray is the angle of reflection, labelled r.

The angle of incidence = the angle of reflection. This is the law of reflection.
Mirrors in periscopes
Periscopes潜望镜 can be useful
things. A periscope enables you to
look over the top of a wall, or over
other people if you are at the back of
a crowd.
Kaleidoscope万花筒
Two mirrors at an angle
will produce lots and lots of
images. You can use this to
make a kaleidoscope.
Homework:
● Workbook 6.5 (20mins)
● www.lumosity.com (10mins)
6.6 Refraction: air and water
LO: Explain what we see when light is refracted as
it goes into water
When light travels from one
substance to another, such
as from air to water, it can
change direction. This
‘bending’ of light is called
refraction折射.
If light goes from a less
dense medium to a more
dense medium, like from
air to water, the direction of
the ray will move towards
the normal.
i>r
If light goes from
a more dense
medium to a less
dense medium,
like from water to
air, then it will
move away from
the normal.

i<r
The apparent depth
is shallower than the
real depth.
Why does refraction happen?
How much the speed changes in different materials
depends on the density密度 of the material. A more dense
material will slow light down more, so the light will be
refracted more.
Refractive index
折射率
The refractive index of diamond is 2.4, and the
refractive index of glass is 1.5.
Homework:
● Workbook 6.6 (20mins)
 6.7 Refraction: air and glass
LO: Describe what happens when light goes
through a glass block
When a ray of light goes from air into glass, it is refracted.
● As the ray goes from the air into the glass it slows down. The ray bends towards
the normal. The angle of refraction is smaller than the angle of incidence.
● As the ray goes from the glass into the air it speeds up. The ray bends away
from the normal. The angle of refraction is bigger than the angle of incidence.
The ray going into the
block is parallel平行的
with the ray coming out
of the block.
Total internal reflection
全内反射
When light travels from a
more dense substance into a
less dense substance, such
as from glass or water into
air, the angle of refraction is
bigger than the angle of
incidence.
As the angle of incidence increases, so does the angle of refraction.
Eventually the angle of refraction reaches 90°.
The angle of incidence at this point is called the critical angle.
When the angle of incidence increases further
to be larger than this critical angle, then all
the light is reflected back into the glass or
water. This is called total internal reflection.
Using total internal
reflection
An optical fibre光导纤维
is a very thin fibre made
of glass or plastic.
All of the light stays inside the fibre.
An endoscope内窥镜 is used to see inside the human body.
Light is sent down one bundle of optical
fibres, and shines on a structure inside
the body.

Another bundle of optical fibres

transmits the light reflected from the
inside of the body to a camera.
1. Angle of reflection is not the same as the angle of incidence.
2. Angle of incidence is smaller than 50 degree so it is not total
internal reflection.
Homework:
● Quizlet 6.6&6.7 (10mins)
● Workbook 6.7 (20mins)
● *IGCSE Physics Workbook 8.1, 2.1
 6.8 Dispersion

LO: Explain how a spectrum of light is produced

 When you look at a normal light
bulb it looks white. This ‘white’
light is really a mixture of colours.
We see those colours when we
look at rainbows.
When the incident ray hits the side of the prism
at a particular angle, the light emerging from
the prism is split into colours, called a
spectrum.
 spectrum光谱

glass prism
Dispersion happens because different colours of light are
refracted by different amounts.色散会发生是因为不同颜色
的光波折射的程度不同。

Red light is refracted the least.

Violet light is refracted the most.
How rainbows Raindrops behave like small prisms. The
form sunlight from behind you is refracted,
reflected, and dispersed so that you see a
spectrum, which we call a rainbow.
Recombining the spectrum
In 1666, Sir Isaac Newton demonstrated that
light from the Sun could be split into colours.
He also showed that he could recombine all the
colours back into white light. He did this by
using two prisms.
Homework:
● Quizlet 6.8&6.9 (10mins)
● Workbook 6.8 (20mins)
 6.9 Colour
LO: Explain what happens when you mix light of
different colours together
Primary and secondary colours
You can make all the colours of
light with just three primary
colours. The primary colours are
red, green, and blue.
If you combine any two of
the three colours you get a
secondary colour.
Colour displays on televisions and computers combine
primary colours of light to produce the range of colours that
you see.
Other
colors
 Colour subtraction – filters滤光片
A filter absorbs some colours of light and transmits others.
If you shine white light through a red filter, the filter will
only let red light through.
About 1 in 20 people (usually men) have a form of
colour blindness. They find it hard to tell the
difference between red and green.
Homework:
● Workbook 6.9 (20mins)
● Textbook Unit Review 6.13:Q1-8
1. Download the final PPT from Teams and check
notes using it.
2. Check all the Quizlet sets have been learned and
review each one by doing a test.
3. Check your workbook (6.1-6.9 except 6.3) and
correct all the mistakes.
4. Finish Textbook Unit Review 6.13