Work and energy

10-8-99

Sections 6.1 - 6.4

Energy gives us one more tool to use to analyze physical situations. When forces and accelerations are used,
you usually freeze the action at a particular instant in time, draw a free-body diagram, set up force equations,
figure out accelerations, etc. With energy the approach is usually a little different. Often you can look at the
starting conditions (initial speed and height, for instance) and the final conditions (final speed and height), and
not have to worry about what happens in between. The initial and final information can often tell you all you
need to know.

Work and energy

Whenever a force is applied to an object, causing the object to move, work is done by the force. If a force is
applied but the object doesn't move, no work is done; if a force is applied and the object moves a distance d in a
direction other than the direction of the force, less work is done than if the object moves a distance d in the
direction of the applied force.

The physics definition of "work" is:

The unit of work is the unit of energy, the joule (J). 1 J = 1 N m.

Work can be either positive or negative: if the force has a component in the same direction as the displacement
of the object, the force is doing positive work. If the force has a component in the direction opposite to the
displacement, the force does negative work.

If you pick a book off the floor and put it on a table, for example, you're doing positive work on the book,
because you supplied an upward force and the book went up. If you pick the book up and place it gently back
on the floor again, though, you're doing negative work, because the book is going down but you're exerting an
upward force, acting against gravity. If you move the book at constant speed horizontally, you don't do any
work on it, despite the fact that you have to exert an upward force to counter-act gravity.

Kinetic energy

An object has kinetic energy if it has mass and if it is moving. It is energy associated with a moving object, in
other words. For an object traveling at a speed v and with a mass m, the kinetic energy is given by:

The work-energy principle

There is a strong connection between work and energy, in a sense that when there is a net force doing work on
an object, the object's kinetic energy will change by an amount equal to the work done:

Note that the work in this equation is the work done by the net force, rather than the work done by an individual
force.

Gravitational potential energy

Let's say you're dropping a ball from a certain height, and you'd like to know how fast it's traveling the instant it
hits the ground. You could apply the projectile motion equations, or you could think of the situation in terms of
energy (actually, one of the projectile motion equations is really an energy equation in disguise).

If you drop an object it falls down, picking up speed along the way. This means there must be a net force on the
object, doing work. This force is the force of gravity, with a magnitude equal to mg, the weight of the object.
The work done by the force of gravity is the force multiplied by the distance, so if the object drops a distance h,
gravity does work on the object equal to the force multiplied by the height lost, which is:

work done by gravity = W = mgh (h = height lost by the object)

An alternate way of looking at this is to call this the gravitational potential energy. An object with potential
energy has the potential to do work. In the case of gravitational potential energy, the object has the potential to
do work because of where it is, at a certain height above the ground, or at least above something.

Spring potential energy

Energy can also be stored in a stretched or compressed spring. An ideal spring is one in which the amount the
spring stretches or compresses is proportional to the applied force. This linear relationship between the force
and the displacement is known as Hooke's law. For a spring this can be written:

F = kx, where k is known as the spring constant.

k is a measure of how difficult it is to stretch a spring. The larger k is, the stiffer the spring is and the harder the
spring is to stretch.

If an object applies a force to a spring, the spring applies an equal and opposite force to the object. Therefore:

force applied by a spring : F = - kx

where x is the amount the spring is stretched. This is a restoring force, because when the spring is stretched, the
force exerted by by the spring is opposite to the direction it is stretched. This accounts for the oscillating motion
of a mass on a spring. If a mass hanging down from a spring is pulled down and let go, the spring exerts an
upward force on the mass, moving it back to the equilibrium position, and then beyond. This compresses the
spring, so the spring exerts a downward force on the mass, stopping it, and then moving it back to the
equilibrium and beyond, at which point the cycle repeats. This kind of motion is known as simple harmonic
motion, which we'll come back to later in the course.

The potential energy stored in a spring is given by:

where x is the difference between the spring's length and its unstrained length.

In a perfect spring, no energy is lost; the energy is simply transferred back and forth between the kinetic energy
of the mass on the spring and the potential energy of the spring (gravitational PE might be involved, too).

Conservation of energy

We'll take all of the different kinds of energy we know about, and even all the other ones we don't, and relate
them through one of the fundamental laws of the universe.

The law of conservation of energy states that energy can not be created or destroyed, it can merely be changed
from one form of energy to another. Energy often ends up as heat, which is thermal energy (kinetic energy,
really) of atoms and molecules. Kinetic friction, for example, generally turns energy into heat, and although we
associate kinetic friction with energy loss, it really is just a way of transforming kinetic energy into thermal
energy.

The law of conservation of energy applies always, everywhere, in any situation. There is another conservation
idea associated with energy which does not apply as generally, and is therefore called a principle rather than a
law. This is the principle of the conservation of mechanical energy
Temperature

Temperature, measure of hotness or coldness expressed in terms of any of several arbitrary scales and
indicating the direction in which heat energy will spontaneously flow—i.e., from a hotter body (one at a higher
temperature) to a colder body (one at a lower temperature). Temperature is not the equivalent of the energy of
a thermodynamic system; e.g., a burning match is at a much higher temperature than an iceberg, but the total
heat energy contained in an iceberg is much greater than the energy contained in a match. Temperature,
similar to pressure or density, is called an intensive property—one that is independent of the quantity of matter
being considered—as distinguished from extensive properties, such as mass or volume.
Three temperature scales are in general use today. The Fahrenheit (°F) temperature scale is used in
the United States and a few other English-speaking countries. The Celsius (°C) tem

perature scale is standard in virtually all countries that have adopted

the metric system of measurement, and it is widely used in the sciences. The Kelvin (K) scale, an absolute
temperature scale (obtained by shifting the Celsius scale by −273.15° so that absolute zerocoincides with 0 K),
is recognized as the international standard for scientific temperature measurement.

temperature scalesStandard and absolute temperature scales.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O'Neill

Riley

In certain fields of engineering, another absolute temperature scale, the Rankine scale (seeWilliam Rankine),
is preferred over the Kelvin scale. Its unit of measure—the degree Rankine (°R)—equals the Fahrenheit
degree, as the kelvin equals one Celsius degree.

The Réaumur (°Re) temperature scale (or octogesimal division) was widely used in parts of Europe in the 18th
and 19th centuries; it later was used primarily to measure the temperature of mixtures during brewing, of
syrups in the production of certain food products, and of milkduring cheese making.
Sound

A drum produces sound via a vibrating membrane.

In physics, sound is a vibration that typically propagates as an audible wave of pressure, through a transmission
medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the reception of such waves and their perception by the brain.[1] Humans
can only hear sound waves as distinct pitches when the frequency lies between about 20 Hz and 20 kHz. Sound waves
above 20 kHz are known as ultrasound and is not perceptible by humans. Sound waves below 20 Hz are known
as infrasound. Different animal species have varying hearing ranges.

Acoustics
Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids
including vibration, sound, ultrasound, and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician,
while someone working in the field of acoustical engineering may be called an acoustical engineer.[2] An audio engineer,
on the other hand, is concerned with the recording, manipulation, mixing, and reproduction of sound.
Applications of acoustics are found in almost all aspects of modern society, subdisciplines include aeroacoustics, audio
signal processing, architectural acoustics, bioacoustics, electro-acoustics, environmental noise, musical acoustics, noise
control, psychoacoustics, speech, ultrasound, underwater acoustics, and vibration.[3]

Definition
Sound is defined as "(a) Oscillation in pressure, stress, particle displacement, particle velocity, etc., propagated in a
medium with internal forces (e.g., elastic or viscous), or the superposition of such propagated oscillation. (b) Auditory
sensation evoked by the oscillation described in (a)."[4] Sound can be viewed as a wave motion in air or other elastic
media. In this case, sound is a stimulus. Sound can also be viewed as an excitation of the hearing mechanism that results
in the perception of sound. In this case, sound is a sensation.

Physics of sound

Experiment using two tuning forks oscillatingusually at the same frequency. One

of the forks is being hit with a rubberized mallet. Although only the first tuning fork

has been hit, the second fork is visibly excited due to the oscillation caused by the

periodic change in the pressure and density of the air by hitting the other fork,

creating an acoustic resonance between the forks. However, if we place a piece

of metal on a prong, we see that the effect dampens, and the excitations become

less and less pronounced as resonance isn't achieved as effectively.

Sound can propagate through a medium such as air, water and solids as longitudinal waves and also as a transverse
wave in solids(see Longitudinal and transverse waves, below). The sound waves are generated by a sound source, such
as the vibrating diaphragmof a stereo speaker. The sound source creates vibrations in the surrounding medium. As the
source continues to vibrate the medium, the vibrations propagate away from the source at the speed of sound, thus
forming the sound wave. At a fixed distance from the source, the pressure, velocity, and displacement of the medium vary
in time. At an instant in time, the pressure, velocity, and displacement vary in space. Note that the particles of the medium
do not travel with the sound wave. This is intuitively obvious for a solid, and the same is true for liquids and gases (that is,
the vibrations of particles in the gas or liquid transport the vibrations, while the average position of the particles over time
does not change). During propagation, waves can be reflected, refracted, or attenuated by the medium.[5]
The behavior of sound propagation is generally affected by three things:
 A complex relationship between the density and pressure of the medium. This relationship, affected by temperature,
determines the speed of sound within the medium.
 Motion of the medium itself. If the medium is moving, this movement may increase or decrease the absolute speed of
the sound wave depending on the direction of the movement. For example, sound moving through wind will have its
speed of propagation increased by the speed of the wind if the sound and wind are moving in the same direction. If
the sound and wind are moving in opposite directions, the speed of the sound wave will be decreased by the speed of
the wind.
 The viscosity of the medium. Medium viscosity determines the rate at which sound is attenuated. For many media,
such as air or water, attenuation due to viscosity is negligible.
When sound is moving through a medium that does not have constant physical properties, it may be refracted (either
dispersed or focused).[5]

Spherical compression (longitudinal) waves

The mechanical vibrations that can be interpreted as sound can travel through all forms of matter: gases, liquids, solids,
and plasmas. The matter that supports the sound is called the medium. Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.[6][7]
Longitudinal and transverse waves
Sound is transmitted through gases, plasma, and liquids as longitudinal waves, also called compression waves. It requires
a medium to propagate. Through solids, however, it can be transmitted as both longitudinal waves and transverse waves.
Longitudinal sound waves are waves of alternating pressure deviations from the equilibrium pressure, causing local
regions of compression and rarefaction, while transverse waves (in solids) are waves of alternating shear stress at right
angle to the direction of propagation.
Sound waves may be "viewed" using parabolic mirrors and objects that produce sound. [8]
The energy carried by an oscillating sound wave converts back and forth between the potential energy of the
extra compression (in case of longitudinal waves) or lateral displacement strain (in case of transverse waves) of the
matter, and the kinetic energy of the displacement velocity of particles of the medium.

Longitudinal plane wave.

Transverse plane wave.

Longitudinal and transverse plane wave.

Sound wave properties and characteristics

A 'pressure over time' graph of a 20 ms recording of a clarinet tone demonstrates the two fundamental elements of sound:
Pressure and Time.

Sounds can be represented as a mixture of their component Sinusoidal waves of different frequencies. The bottom waves
have higher frequencies than those above. The horizontal axis represents time.

Although there are many complexities relating to the transmission of sounds, at the point of reception (i.e. the ears),
sound is readily dividable into two simple elements: pressure and time. These fundamental elements form the basis of all
sound waves. They can be used to describe, in absolute terms, every sound we hear.
In order to understand the sound more fully, a complex wave such as the one shown in a blue background on the right of
this text, is usually separated into its component parts, which are a combination of various sound wave frequencies (and
noise).[9][10][11]
Sound waves are often simplified to a description in terms of sinusoidal plane waves, which are characterized by these
generic properties:

 Frequency, or its inverse, wavelength

 Amplitude, sound pressure or Intensity
 Speed of sound
 Direction
Sound that is perceptible by humans has frequencies from about 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. In air at standard temperature and
pressure, the corresponding wavelengths of sound waves range from 17 m (56 ft) to 17 mm (0.67 in). Sometimes speed
and direction are combined as a velocity vector; wave number and direction are combined as a wave vector.
Transverse waves, also known as shear waves, have the additional property, polarization, and are not a characteristic of
sound waves.
Speed of sound

U.S. Navy F/A-18 approaching the speed of sound. The white halo is formed by condensed water droplets thought to
result from a drop in air pressure around the aircraft (see Prandtl–Glauert singularity).[12]

The speed of sound depends on the medium the waves pass through, and is a fundamental property of the material. The
first significant effort towards measurement of the speed of sound was made by Isaac Newton. He believed the speed of
sound in a particular substance was equal to the square root of the pressure acting on it divided by its density:

This was later proven wrong when found to incorrectly derive the speed. The French
mathematician Laplace corrected the formula by deducing that the phenomenon of sound travelling is not isothermal,
as believed by Newton, but adiabatic. He added another factor to the equation—gamma—and

multiplied by , thus coming up with the equation . Since , the final equation came up to be
, which is also known as the Newton–Laplace equation. In this equation, K is the elastic bulk modulus, c is the
velocity of sound, and is the density. Thus, the speed of sound is proportional to the square root of the ratio of
the bulk modulus of the medium to its density.
Those physical properties and the speed of sound change with ambient conditions. For example, the speed of sound
in gases depends on temperature. In 20 °C (68 °F) air at sea level, the speed of sound is approximately 343 m/s
(1,230 km/h; 767 mph) using the formula v [m/s] = 331 + 0.6 T [°C]. In fresh water, also at 20 °C, the speed of sound
is approximately 1,482 m/s (5,335 km/h; 3,315 mph). In steel, the speed of sound is about 5,960 m/s (21,460 km/h;
13,330 mph). The speed of sound is also slightly sensitive, being subject to a second-order anharmonic effect, to the
sound amplitude, which means there are non-linear propagation effects, such as the production of harmonics and
mixed tones not present in the original sound (see parametric array).
If relativistic effects are important, the speed of sound is calculated from the relativistic Euler equations.

Perception of sound
A distinct use of the term sound from its use in physics is that in physiology and psychology, where the term refers to
the subject of perception by the brain. The field of psychoacoustics is dedicated to such studies. Webster's 1936
dictionary defined sound as: "1. The sensation of hearing, that which is heard; specif.: a. Psychophysics. Sensation
due to stimulation of the auditory nerves and auditory centers of the brain, usually by vibrations transmitted in a
material medium, commonly air, affecting the organ of hearing. b. Physics. Vibrational energy which occasions such a
sensation. Sound is propagated by progressive longitudinal vibratory disturbances (sound waves)." [13] This means
that the correct response to the question: "if a tree falls in the forest with no one to hear it fall, does it make a sound?"
is "yes", and "no", dependent on whether being answered using the physical, or the psychophysical definition,
respectively.
The physical reception of sound in any hearing organism is limited to a range of frequencies. Humans normally hear
sound frequencies between approximately 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (20 kHz),[14]:382 The upper limit decreases with
age.[14]:249 Sometimes sound refers to only those vibrations with frequencies that are within the hearing range for
humans[15] or sometimes it relates to a particular animal. Other species have different ranges of hearing. For example,
dogs can perceive vibrations higher than 20 kHz.
As a signal perceived by one of the major senses, sound is used by many species for detecting
danger, navigation, predation, and communication. Earth's atmosphere, water, and virtually any physical
phenomenon, such as fire, rain, wind, surf, or earthquake, produces (and is characterized by) its unique sounds.
Many species, such as frogs, birds, marine and terrestrial mammals, have also developed special organs to produce
sound. In some species, these produce song and speech. Furthermore, humans have developed culture and
technology (such as music, telephone and radio) that allows them to generate, record, transmit, and broadcast sound.
Noise is a term often used to refer to an unwanted sound. In science and engineering, noise is an undesirable
component that obscures a wanted signal. However, in sound perception it can often be used to identify the source of
a sound and is an important component of timbre perception (see above).
Soundscape is the component of the acoustic environment that can be perceived by humans. The acoustic
environment is the combination of all sounds (whether audible to humans or not) within a given area as modified by
the environment and understood by people, in context of the surrounding environment.
There are, historically, six experimentally separable ways in which sound waves are analysed. They
are: pitch, duration, loudness, timbre, sonic texture and spatial location.[16] Some of these terms have a standardised
definition (for instance in the ANSI Acoustical Terminology ANSI/ASA S1.1-2013). More recent approaches have also
considered temporal envelope and temporal fine structure as perceptually relevant analyses.[17][18][19]
Pitch

Figure 1. Pitch perception

Pitch is perceived as how "low" or "high" a sound is and represents the cyclic, repetitive nature of the vibrations that
make up sound. For simple sounds, pitch relates to the frequency of the slowest vibration in the sound (called the
fundamental harmonic). In the case of complex sounds, pitch perception can vary. Sometimes individuals identify
different pitches for the same sound, based on their personal experience of particular sound patterns. Selection of a
particular pitch is determined by pre-conscious examination of vibrations, including their frequencies and the balance
between them. Specific attention is given to recognising potential harmonics. [20][21] Every sound is placed on a pitch
continuum from low to high. For example: white noise (random noise spread evenly across all frequencies) sounds
higher in pitch than pink noise (random noise spread evenly across octaves) as white noise has more high frequency
content. Figure 1 shows an example of pitch recognition. During the listening process, each sound is analysed for a
repeating pattern (See Figure 1: orange arrows) and the results forwarded to the auditory cortex as a single pitch of a
certain height (octave) and chroma (note name).
Duration

Figure 2. Duration perception

Duration is perceived as how "long" or "short" a sound is and relates to onset and offset signals created by nerve
responses to sounds. The duration of a sound usually lasts from the time the sound is first noticed until the sound is
identified as having changed or ceased.[22]Sometimes this is not directly related to the physical duration of a sound.
For example; in a noisy environment, gapped sounds (sounds that stop and start) can sound as if they are continuous
because the offset messages are missed owing to disruptions from noises in the same general bandwidth.[23] This can
be of great benefit in understanding distorted messages such as radio signals that suffer from interference, as (owing
to this effect) the message is heard as if it was continuous. Figure 2 gives an example of duration identification. When
a new sound is noticed (see Figure 2, Green arrows), a sound onset message is sent to the auditory cortex. When
the repeating pattern is missed, a sound offset messages is sent.
Loudness

Figure 3. Loudness perception

Loudness is perceived as how "loud" or "soft" a sound is and relates to the totalled number of auditory nerve
stimulations over short cyclic time periods, most likely over the duration of theta wave cycles. [24][25][26] This means that
at short durations, a very short sound can sound softer than a longer sound even though they are presented at the
same intensity level. Past around 200 ms this is no longer the case and the duration of the sound no longer affects
the apparent loudness of the sound. Figure 3 gives an impression of how loudness information is summed over a
period of about 200 ms before being sent to the auditory cortex. Louder signals create a greater 'push' on the Basilar
membrane and thus stimulate more nerves, creating a stronger loudness signal. A more complex signal also creates
more nerve firings and so sounds louder (for the same wave amplitude) than a simpler sound, such as a sine wave.
Timbre

Figure 4. Timbre perception

Timbre is perceived as the quality of different sounds (e.g. the thud of a fallen rock, the whir of a drill, the tone of a
musical instrument or the quality of a voice) and represents the pre-conscious allocation of a sonic identity to a sound
(e.g. “it’s an oboe!"). This identity is based on information gained from frequency transients, noisiness, unsteadiness,
perceived pitch and the spread and intensity of overtones in the sound over an extended time frame.[9][10][11] The way
a sound changes over time (see figure 4) provides most of the information for timbre identification. Even though a
small section of the wave form from each instrument looks very similar (see the expanded sections indicated by the
orange arrows in figure 4), differences in changes over time between the clarinet and the piano are evident in both
loudness and harmonic content. Less noticeable are the different noises heard, such as air hisses for the clarinet and
hammer strikes for the piano.
Sonic texture
Sonic texture relates to the number of sound sources and the interaction between them.[27][28] The word 'texture', in
this context, relates to the cognitive separation of auditory objects. [29] In music, texture is often referred to as the
difference between unison, polyphony and homophony, but it can also relate (for example) to a busy cafe; a sound
which might be referred to as 'cacophony'. However texture refers to more than this. The texture of an orchestral
piece is very different to the texture of a brass quintet because of the different numbers of players. The texture of a
market place is very different to a school hall because of the differences in the various sound sources.
Spatial location
Spatial location (see: Sound localization) represents the cognitive placement of a sound in an environmental context;
including the placement of a sound on both the horizontal and vertical plane, the distance from the sound source and
the characteristics of the sonic environment.[29][30] In a thick texture, it is possible to identify multiple sound sources
using a combination of spatial location and timbre identification. This is the main reason why we can pick the sound of
an oboe in an orchestra and the words of a single person at a cocktail party.

Sound pressure level

Sound measurements

Characteristic Symbols

Sound pressure p, SPL,LPA

Particle velocity v, SVL

Particle displacement δ

Sound intensity I, SIL

Sound power P, SWL, LWA

Sound energy W

Sound energy density w

Sound exposure E, SEL

Acoustic impedance Z

Speed of sound c

Audio frequency AF

Transmission loss TL

 v
 t
 e

Sound pressure is the difference, in a given medium, between average local pressure and the pressure in the sound
wave. A square of this difference (i.e., a square of the deviation from the equilibrium pressure) is usually averaged
over time and/or space, and a square root of this average provides a root mean square (RMS) value. For example,
1 Pa RMS sound pressure (94 dBSPL) in atmospheric air implies that the actual pressure in the sound wave

oscillates between (1 atm Pa) and (1 atm Pa), that is between 101323.6 and 101326.4 Pa. As the human
ear can detect sounds with a wide range of amplitudes, sound pressure is often measured as a level on a
logarithmic decibelscale. The sound pressure level (SPL) or Lp is defined as
where p is the root-mean-square sound pressure and is a reference sound pressure. Commonly used
reference sound pressures, defined in the standard ANSI S1.1-1994, are 20 µPa in air and 1 µPa in water.
Without a specified reference sound pressure, a value expressed in decibels cannot represent a sound pressure
level.
Since the human ear does not have a flat spectral response, sound pressures are often frequency weighted
so that the measured level matches perceived levels more closely. The International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) has defined several weighting schemes. A-weighting attempts to match the response of
the human ear to noise and A-weighted sound pressure levels are labeled dBA. C-weighting is used to
measure peak levels.

Ultrasound

Approximate frequency ranges corresponding to ultrasound, with rough guide of some applications

Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz (or 20 kHz) . Ultrasound is not different
from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except in that humans cannot hear it. Ultrasound
devices operate with frequencies from 20 kHz up to several gigahertz.
Ultrasound is commonly used for medical diagnostics such as sonograms.

Infrasound
Infrasound is sound waves with frequencies lower than 20 Hz. Although sounds of such low frequency are
too low for humans to hear, whales, elephants and other animals can detect infrasound and use it to
communicate. It can be used to detect volcanic eruptions and is used in some types of music.
Light, electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation occurs over
an extremely wide range of wavelengths, from gamma rays with wavelengths less than about 1 × 10−11metre
to radio waves measured in metres. Within that broad spectrum the wavelengths visible to humans occupy a
very narrow band, from about 700 nanometres (nm; billionths of a metre) for red light down to about 400 nm
for violet light. The spectral regions adjacent to the visible band are often referred to as light also, infrared at
the one end and ultraviolet at the other. The speed of light in a vacuum is a fundamental physical constant, the
currently accepted value of which is exactly 299,792,458 metres per second, or about 186,282 miles per
second.
No single answer to the question “What is light?” satisfies the many contexts in which light is experienced,
explored, and exploited. The physicist is interested in the physical properties of light, the artist in
an aesthetic appreciation of the visual world. Through the sense of sight, light is a primary tool for perceiving
the world and communicating within it. Light from the Sun warms the Earth, drives global weather patterns, and
initiates the life-sustaining process of photosynthesis. On the grandest scale, light’s interactions
with matter have helped shape the structure of the universe. Indeed, light provides a window on the universe,
from cosmological to atomic scales. Almost all of the information about the rest of the universe reaches Earth
in the form of electromagnetic radiation. By interpreting that radiation, astronomers can glimpse the earliest
epochs of the universe, measure the general expansion of the universe, and determine the
chemical composition of stars and the interstellar medium. Just as the invention of the telescope dramatically
broadened exploration of the universe, so too the invention of the microscope opened the intricate world of
the cell. The analysis of the frequencies of light emitted and absorbed by atoms was a principal impetus for the
development of quantum mechanics. Atomic and molecular spectroscopies continue to be primary tools for
probing the structure of matter, providing ultrasensitive tests of atomic and molecular models and contributing
to studies of fundamental photochemical reactions.

The Sun shining from behind clouds.© Matthew Bowden/Fotolia

Light transmits spatial and temporal information. This property forms the basis of the fields of optics and optical
communications and a myriad of related technologies, both mature and emerging. Technological applications
based on the manipulations of light include lasers, holography, and fibre-optic telecommunications systems.

In most everyday circumstances, the properties of light can be derived from the theory of
classical electromagnetism, in which light is described as coupled electric and magnetic
fields propagating through space as a traveling wave. However, this wave theory, developed in the mid-19th
century, is not sufficient to explain the properties of light at very low intensities. At that level a quantum theory
is needed to explain the characteristics of light and to explain the interactions of light with atoms
and molecules. In its simplest form, quantum theory describes light as consisting of discrete packets of energy,
called photons. However, neither a classical wave model nor a classical particle model correctly describes
light; light has a dual nature that is revealed only in quantum mechanics. This surprising wave-particle duality is
shared by all of the primary constituentsof nature (e.g., electrons have both particle-like and wavelike aspects).
Since the mid-20th century, a more comprehensive theory of light, known as quantum electrodynamics (QED),
has been regarded by physicists as complete. QED combines the ideas of classical electromagnetism,
quantum mechanics, and the special theory of relativity.

This article focuses on the physical characteristics of light and the theoretical models that describe the nature
of light. Its major themes include introductions to the fundamentals of geometrical optics, classical
electromagnetic waves and the interference effects associated with those waves, and the foundational ideas of
the quantum theory of light. More detailed and technical presentations of these topics can be found in the
articles optics, electromagnetic radiation, quantum mechanics, and quantum electrodynamics. See
also relativity for details of how contemplation of the speed of light as measured in different reference frames
was pivotal to the development of Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity in 1905.

Theories Of Light Through History

Ray theories in the ancient world

While there is clear evidence that simple optical instruments such as plane and curved mirrors and
convex lenses were used by a number of early civilizations, ancient Greek philosophers are generally credited
with the first formal speculations about the nature of light. The conceptual hurdle of distinguishing the human
perception of visual effects from the physical nature of light hampered the development of theories of light.
Contemplation of the mechanism of vision dominated these early studies. Pythagoras (c. 500 BCE) proposed
that sight is caused by visual rays emanating from the eye and striking objects,
whereas Empedocles (c. 450 BCE) seems to have developed a model of vision in which light was emitted both
by objects and the eye. Epicurus (c. 300 BCE) believed that light is emitted by sources other than the eye and
that vision is produced when light reflects off objects and enters the eye. Euclid (c. 300 BCE), in his Optics,
presented a law of reflection and discussed the propagation of light rays in straight lines. Ptolemy (c. 100 CE)
undertook one of the first quantitative studies of the refraction of light as it passes from one transparent
medium to another, tabulating pairs of angles of incidence and transmission for combinations of several media.

Pythagoras, portrait bust.© Photos.com/Jupiterimages

With the decline of the Greco-Roman realm, scientific progress shifted to the Islamic world. In particular, al-
Maʾmūn, the seventh ʿAbbāsid caliph of Baghdad, founded the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) in 830 CE to
translate, study, and improve upon Hellenistic works of science and philosophy. Among the initial scholars
were al-Khwārizmī and al-Kindī. Known as the “philosopher of the Arabs,” al-Kindī extended the concept of
rectilinearly propagating light rays and discussed the mechanism of vision. By 1000, the Pythagorean model of
light had been abandoned, and a ray model, containing the basic conceptual elements of what is now known
as geometrical optics, had emerged. In particular, Ibn al-Haytham (Latinized as Alhazen), in Kitab al-
manazir (c. 1038; “Optics”), correctly attributed vision to the passive reception of light rays reflected from
objects rather than an active emanation of light rays from the eyes. He also studied the mathematical
properties of the reflection of light from spherical and parabolic mirrors and drew detailed pictures of the optical
components of the human eye. Ibn al-Haytham’s work was translated into Latin in the 13th century and was a
motivating influence on the Franciscan friar and natural philosopher Roger Bacon. Bacon studied the
propagation of light through simple lenses and is credited as one of the first to have described the use of
lenses to correct vision.
 Bacon, RogerEnglish Franciscan philosopher and educational reformer Roger Bacon shown in his
observatory at the Franciscan monastery, Oxford, England (engraving c. 1867).© Photos.com/Thinkstock

Light

QUICK FACTS

KEY PEOPLE

 Isaac Newton
 Albert Einstein
 James Clerk Maxwell
 Ptolemy
 Roger Bacon
 Robert Hooke
 Augustin-Jean Fresnel
 Edwin Herbert Land
 Thomas Young
 François Arago
RELATED TOPICS

 Electromagnetic radiation
 Optics
 Physical science
 Colour
 Matter
 Optical interferometer
 Sunlight
 Tristimulus system
 Albedo
 Yellow
Early particle and wave theories

With the dawn of the 17th century, significant progress was reawakened in Europe. Compound
microscopes were first constructed in the Netherlands between 1590 and 1608 (probably by Hans and
Zacharias Jansen), and most sources credit another Dutchman, Hans Lippershey, with the invention of the
telescope in 1608. The Italian astronomer Galileo quickly improved upon the design of the refracting
telescope and used it in his discoveries of the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn in 1610. (Refraction
refers to the passage of light from one medium into another—in this case, from air into a glass lens.) The
German astronomer Johannes Kepler presented an approximate mathematical analysis of the focusing
properties of lenses in Dioptrice (1611). An empirical advance was made by the Dutch astronomer Willebrord
Snell in 1621 with his discovery of the mathematical relation (Snell’s law) between the angles of incidence and
transmission for a light ray refracting through an interface between two media. In 1657 the French
mathematician Pierre de Fermat presented an intriguing derivation of Snell’s law based on his principle of least
time, which asserted that light follows the path of minimum time in traveling from one point to another. The
posthumous publication of the Jesuit mathematician Francesco Grimaldi’s studies in 1665 first described what
are now called diffractioneffects, in which light passing an obstacle is seen to penetrate into the geometrical
shadow. In 1676 the Danish astronomer Ole Rømer used his measurements of the changes in the apparent
orbital periods of the moons of Jupiter over the course of a year to deduce an approximate value for the speed
of light. The significance of Rømer’s work was the realization that the speed of light is not infinite.

Galileo: telescopeTwo of Galileo's first telescopes; in the Museo Galileo, Florence.SuperStock

Seminal physical models of the nature of light were developed in parallel with the many empirical discoveries
of the 17th century. Two competing models of light, as a collection of fast-moving particles and as
a propagating wave, were advanced. In La Dioptrique (1637), French philosopher-mathematician René
Descartes described light as a pressure wave transmitted at infinite speed through a pervasive elastic medium.
The prominent English physicist Robert Hooke studied diffraction effects and thin-film interference and
concluded in Micrographia (1665) that light is a rapid vibration of any medium through which it propagates. In
his Traité de la Lumière (1690; “Treatise on Light”), the Dutch mathematician-astronomer Christiaan
Huygens formulated the first detailed wave theory of light, in the context of which he was also able to derive
the laws of reflection and refraction.

The most prominent advocate of a particle theory of light was Isaac Newton. Newton’s careful investigations
into the properties of light in the 1660s led to his discovery that white light consists of a mixture of colours. He
struggled with a formulation of the nature of light, ultimately asserting in Opticks (1704) that light consists of a
stream of corpuscles, or particles. To reconcile his particle model with the known law of refraction, Newton
speculated that transparent objects (such as glass) exert attractive forces on the particles, with the
consequence that the speed of light in a transparent medium is always greater than the speed of light in
a vacuum. He also postulated that particles of different colours of light have slightly different masses, leading
to different speeds in transparent media and hence different angles of refraction. Newton presented his
speculations in Opticks in the form of a series of queries rather than as a set of postulates, possibly conveying
an ambivalence regarding the ultimate nature of light. Because of his immense authority in the
 scientific community, there were few challenges to his particle model of light in the century after his death in
1727.
Newton’s corpuscular model survived into the early years of the 19th century, at which time evidence for the
wave nature of light became overwhelming. Theoretical and experimental work in the mid to late 19th century
convincingly established light as an electromagnetic wave, and the issue seemed to be resolved by 1900. With
the arrival of quantum mechanics in the early decades of the 20th century, however, the controversy over the
nature of light resurfaced. As will be seen in the following sections, this scientific conflict between particle and
wave models of light permeates the history of the subject.
Geometrical Optics: Light As Rays
A detailed understanding of the nature of light was not needed for the development, beginning in the 1600s, of
a practical science of optics and optical instrument design. Rather, a set of empirical rules describing the
behaviour of light as it traverses transparent materials and reflects off smooth surfaces was adequate to
support practical advances in optics. Known collectively today as geometrical optics, the rules constitute an
extremely useful, though very approximate, model of light. Their primary applications are the analysis of optical
systems—cameras, microscopes, telescopes—and the explanation of simple optical phenomena in nature.

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Light rays

The basic element in geometrical optics is the light ray, a hypothetical construct that indicates the direction of
the propagation of light at any point in space. The origin of this concept dates back to early speculations
regarding the nature of light. By the 17th century the Pythagorean notion of visual rays had long been
abandoned, but the observation that light travels in straight lines led naturally to the development of the ray
concept. It is easy to imagine representing a narrow beam of light by a collection of parallel arrows—a bundle
of rays. As the beam of light moves from one medium to another, reflects off surfaces, disperses, or comes to
a focus, the bundle of rays traces the beam’s progress in a simple geometrical manner.

Geometrical optics consists of a set of rules that determine the paths followed by light rays. In any uniform
medium the rays travel in straight lines. The light emitted by a small localized source is represented by a
collection of rays pointing radially outward from an idealized “point source.” A collection of parallel rays is used
to represent light flowing with uniform intensity through space; examples include the light from a
distant star and the light from a laser. The formation of a sharp shadow when an object is illuminated by a
parallel beam of light is easily explained by tracing the paths of the rays that are not blocked by the object.