SCIENCE 7

STUDY NOTE: WEEK 5

MELC: Explain color and intensity of light in terms of its wave characteristics.
Specifically, you are also expected to:
1. explain the characteristics of light; and
2. create a color spectrum wheel.
TOPIC: Characteristics of Light

A rainbow is a multicolored arc made by light striking water droplets. It is the result of the
refraction and reflection of light. Both refraction and reflection are phenomena that involve a
change in a wave's direction. A refracted wave may appear "bent", while a reflected wave might
seem to "bounce back" from a surface or other wave front. The appearance of a rainbow depends
on where you're standing and where the sun (or other source of light) is shining. The colors on a
primary rainbow are always in order of their wavelength, from longest to shortest: red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (ROYGBIV). This is also known as visible light which is one
of the regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is the term used by scientists to illustrate the entire
range of light that exists from radio waves to gamma rays. Visible light is one of the regions of
electromagnetic spectrum. It plays a vital role in our daily lives. It is the only region of the
electromagnetic spectrum the human eye can perceive thus, we can see the beautiful things
around us.
 When white light strikes into a prism, it splits into visible light colors in the electromagnetic
spectrum. When the different wavelengths of the visible light enter a medium of different density;
the colors bend differently and split or dispersed to form a rainbow pattern. For example, when
white light travels through air and enters into either glass (such as a prism) or water (such as rain
drops), the violet component bends more than the rest of the colors and the red bends the least,
thus, splitting or dispersion of light into seven colors of the rainbow. Although white light can be
split or dispersed into seven colors, only three colors of light are required to combine and give
white light. These colors are red, blue and green which are also known as the primary colors of
light.

Light is one form of energy that travels in electromagnetic waves. It behaves like a wave,
thus, it also has a wavelength, frequency, and amplitude.

Characteristics of a Wave
1. Frequency (Symbol: f Unit: Hertz, Hz)
- number of complete waves passing at a point every one second.
2. Amplitude (Symbol: A Unit: meter, m)
- the maximum distance of a wave from its rest position.
3. Wavelength (Symbol: λ Unit: meter, m)
- distance between two successive crests or troughs.
 4. Speed of Light (Unit: meter per second, m/s)
- distance travelled by light per unit time
- all forms of electromagnetic radiation moves at exactly the same speed in
vacuum
- speed of light = 3.0 x 108 m/s (in vacuum)
- formula: speed of light = wavelength x frequency
- symbol: c = λ f

Characteristics of Light
A. Color
Visible light has wavelengths of 400 nanometer (nm) and 750 nanometer (nm). These
wavelengths are represented by colors. Moreover, each color corresponds to a specific range of
frequency.

From a wavelength of around 750 nm and frequency of 400 Terrahertz (THz), humans
perceived the red color. As the wavelength decreases, the frequency increases. Thus, the color
we perceived gradually changes from red to orange, yellow to green, then blue to violet. Other
colors like cyan and magenta are just combinations of other wavelengths. On the other hand,
color white represents the combination of all the wavelengths of the visible light while black is the
absence of the wavelengths.
B. Intensity or Brightness is related to the wave’s amplitude.

The height of the amplitude tells the brightness of light. Thus, the higher amplitude
corresponds to a brighter light while lower amplitude corresponds to a dull light.

utral object.