Grade 8 Unit C Notes

Light and Optical Systems

1.0 Our knowledge about light and vision comes from explanations, inventions, and
investigations.

- Human eyes can only see an object if light is emitted or bounces off an object.
- Since light travels in straight lines there must be a direct path for the light to strike
your eyes to make vision possible.

1.1 The Challenge of Light

Early Light Ideas

1st – Pythagoras (Greek) [6th BC]
- Human produced straight beams of light from our eyes, when they hit an
object they could see it.
- Problem – We can not see in the _________.

2nd – Euclid (Greek)

- Discovered that light travels in straight lines
- Discovered the Law of _____________

Angle between Incident ray & Normal = Angle of Reflected ray & Normal

3rd – Ptolemy (Greek) [1st AD]

- Discovered that light bends as it passes from air to glass.

4th – al-Haytham (Arab) [1000 AD]

- First to accurately describe how __________ worked.
o Light bounces off objects and then travels to the eyes.

5th – Newton (English)

- By shining a light through a prism he demonstrated that white light is actually
a mixture of different colours of light.

6th – Ole Romer (U.S.A.) [1676]

- First reasonably accurate measurement of the __________ of light.

7th – Albert A. Michelson (USA) [1920]

- Refined Romer’s experiment by using the tops of two ______________.
- 299 798 km/s

4 Basic Properties of Light

1) Light travels in ___________ lines.
2) Light can be reflected.
3) Light can bend
4) Light is a form of energy.
1.2 Optical Devices
 Optical Device – any device that uses __________
Ex) mirrors, lenses, microscopes, and telescopes

Microscopes
- First invented by Hans and Zacharias Jansen in Netherlands (1595)
- Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
o Created a more powerful and useful design.
o First one to identify micro-organisms.
Microscopes – optical device used for viewing very small objects; has at least
two lenses: the _____________ lens and the eyepiece lens.

Telescopes
Telescopes – optical device for viewing distant objects; there are two types:
reflecting and refracting telescopes.
- Galileo did not invent the first one but created many stronger telescopes.
- Galileo made many important astronomical discoveries.
- Telescopes use mirrors and lenses to do two things:
1) ___________
2) Collect Light
Types of Telescopes
(i) Refracting Telescope – telescope that uses two ___________ to from an
enlarged image.
(ii) Reflecting Telescope – telescope that uses a curved mirror and a lens to
form an enlarged image.

Binoculars
Binoculars – device for viewing distant objects made up of two short refracting
telescopes fitted together.
- Smaller, easier to move, and more convenient than ______________.

2.0 Light behaves in predictable ways

2.1 Light Travels in Rays and Interacts with Materials

Ray Diagrams
Rays Diagrams – diagram used to represent how light travels; each ray has a
straight arrow to show the direction of travel.
Intensity – __________ of light; amount of light arriving per unit area at a place.
- Further the light source the lower the intensity = fewer rays reach your eyes.
- Explains how shadows are places where light rays are blocked.

Light Interacts with Materials

Transparent – describes materials that allow light to _________ through with
little or no reflection; Ex) glass.
Translucent – describes materials that allow __________ light to pass through;
Ex) frosted window.
Opaque – describes materials that do not allow light to pass through; Ex) wood.
 Non-luminous – describes objects that do not produce light but may reflect it;
most objects on earth are non-luminous Ex) wood.
Luminous – describes objects that ____________ light; Ex) sun & fire.

Types of Reflection
Regular Reflection – reflection that happens when parallel rays hit a __________
surface; all rays reflect at the same angle.
- Your eyes must be in line with the reflected rays to get a clear image.
Diffuse Reflection – reflection that happens when parallel rays hit a rough
surface; all rays reflect at different angles.
- Object can be seen from any position.

2.2 The Law of Reflection

Incident (incoming) Rays – ray of light that arrives at a mirror or other
substance.
- The shinier and smoother the surface the better the reflection.
Plane Mirrors – flat mirror; reflecting surface that has no curvature.

The Law of Reflection

- When a ray of light hits a plane mirror at an angle it bounces off the mirror
surface at exactly the same angle.
Normal – line perpendicular to a ____________ (90º angle to the surface)
Angle of Incidence – angle between the incident ray and the normal.
Angle of Reflection – angle between the reflected ray and the __________.
Law of Reflection – angle of incidence of a wave hitting a surface equals the
angle of reflection. All surfaces obeys this law.

Angle of Angle of
Incidence = Reflection

2.3 Reflecting Light with Curved Mirrors

Concave Mirrors
Concave Mirror – reflecting surface that is curved _____ward like the inside of a
bowl or a spoon; light rays reflected from it converge (come together).
- Useful to collect light and direct it to a single point.
- Ex) reflecting telescope or car headlights
Focal Point – point at which light rays _________, or appear to meet, after being
reflected by a mirror, or refracted by a lens.

Concave Mirror Images

 - Image from a concave mirror depends on the distance from the focal point.

Position of Object Image

(I) Object far from the focal point Upside-down image
Smaller Size

(II) Object closer to the focal point Upside-down image

Larger Size

(III) Object on the focal point No Image

(IV) Object between the focal point & mirror Upright image
Enlarged

Convex Mirrors
Convex Mirrors – reflecting surface that bulges out like the back of a spoon;
light rays reflected from it ____________ (spread out).
- The image appears like it is originating from a smaller point behind the mirror;
useful for side mirrors.

2.4 Transparent Substances Refract Light

- When a light ray strikes a boundary where two different substances meet
(interface) at an angle, it will change direction.
- Human eyes assume the light rays move through the interface in a straight line
so we incorrectly identify where an object is in the other substance.
How Light Refracts
Refraction – ________ of light as it travels from one material to another material.
- Refraction occurs because the speed of light changes in different substances.
o In space (vacuum) = Light travels at 300 000 km/s
- There are no particles in space, what happens when light strikes particles?
SLOWS DOWN : Bends towards the normal.
- The ________ the new medium = the more the light slows down and refracts.

2.5 Lenses Refract and Focus Light

- Lens ability depends on:

1) __________ of lens
2) Material of the lens
Lens – curved piece of glass or other transparent material that refracts light in a
predictable way, useful because the light rays that refract can form images.

Concave Lenses
Concave Lens – piece of transparent material that is thinner in the ____________
than at the edges; light rays passing through it diverge or spread out.

Convex Lenses
Convex Lens – piece of transparent material that is thicker in the middle than at
the edges; light rays passing through it _____________ or come together.
- Technical name for a lens that curves out on both side = double convex lens.
REMEMBER – Light rays refracted through a lens meets at the focal point.

Useful for two reasons:

1) Good light collector Ex) refracting telescope
2) Forms a __________ Image
- Real Image is an image that looks like a real object.
- Size of an image depends on the distance of the object from the lens.
 - Main Drawback is that the image produced is _____________.

Image Formation with a Convex Lens

- Image formed depends on how far the object is from the lens.

Position of Object Image

(I) Object far from the focal point Upside-down image
Smaller Size
 Real Image

(II) Object closer to the focal point Upside-down image

Larger Size
Real Image

(III) Object on the focal point No Image

(IV) Object between the focal point & mirror Upright image
Enlarged
Same side as object

3.0 Light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum and travels in waves.

This topic is optional in grade 8, it will be covered in grade 9.

4.0 Eyes and cameras capture images using the properties of light.

- One of the earliest paintings on Earth is in Spain; it was painted about

12 000 B.C.

4.1 Image formation in eyes and cameras

- On a separate sheet, draw the structure of an eye. [Fig. 4.1 (p 231)]

How Light Gets In

- Both ____ (natural) and cameras (artificial) are image producing technologies.
- There are some similarities between an eye and a camera:

Similarities Eye Camera

How does light enter? Pupil Aperture
What controls the amount of light? __________ Diaphragm
What interprets the image? Retina _________
How is the light focused? Lens Lens

- The pupil is the opening; the amount of light that enters is controlled by the iris.
- The iris is made up of a _____________ band of muscles.
- In bright light the iris constricts, becoming smaller, and reduces the light.
- In dim light the iris dilates, becoming larger, and increases the light.

Shutter - is like a set of ___________ that opens when you take a picture, the
longer it is open the more light that strikes the film.
When Light Gets Inside
- To see, the light must hit the sensitive retina at the back of the eye, which has 2
types of light sensitive ______________.
1) Rods - highly sensitive to small amounts of light (dim light).
2) Cones - sensitive to bright lights, and they detect ___________.
 - Cones can’t function in low light, so we only see shades of grey in low light.
- When photoreceptors are stimulated they send a message to the optic nerve,
which then sends the message to the __________, where it is translated and interpreted.

Focussing the Light

- In order to form a clear & sharp image the focal point must land on the retina.
o In the eye there are muscles that control the __________ of the lens.
o In a camera the lens is moved forward and backward.
- The upside-down image produced by the lens is not a problem because the
brain interprets the world right side up, and film can be developed either way.

Correcting Vision Problems with Lenses

Nearsightedness - the eye cannot make the lens _______ enough to focus the light
on the retina, so a concave lens is used to converge the light onto the retina.
Nearsightedness - can see ________, but cannot see far.

Farsightedness - the eye cannot make the lens fat enough to focus light on the
retina, so a convex lens is used to diverge the light onto the lens.
Farsightedness - can see _______, but cannot see near.

Laser Eye Surgery

Laser eye surgery – the lens is reshaped by a laser (helps focus light).

Night Vision Goggles

- Night vision goggles - the low light is intensified by phosphor-coated screen
(looks green).

4.2 Other eyes in the animal kingdom

- Humans, like most vertebrates have a rounded cornea, lens, and retina, which
are referred to as ____________ eyes.
- Differences:
Fish - have a perfectly round lens sticking out of the pupil, which allows them to
detect danger from all directions since they do not have ________.
Birds - have ______, instead of, ______ cone receptors which helps because they
must see from further distances because they fly.
Nocturnal animals - are usually awake at night, they have many more rods to
capture more dim light, and they have very large pupils, to capture more light. They also
have a layer called the tapetum lucidum, which reflects the low light to the retina.
Octopus - an invertebrate with camera eyes, but lens is moved instead of shaped.

Insects and Crustaceans have ________________ eyes, which are make up of

many individual units called ommatidium, these eyes are great for detecting movement,
but not for creating a single coherent image.

4.3 Image storage and transmission

 - The brain sends and receives signals as electrical impulses traveling across
neurons, but scientists still don’t understand how the images are __________.
- If you take any form of information and convert it into numbers, that’s digital.

Stadium Images
- The process of creating a big picture out of small pieces, like ones created in a
stadium is similar to the process of digital ____________.

Digital Images
- When a computer receives an image, it divides the picture up into small
elements called ____________ (picture elements), like the individual seats in
a stadium.

Colouring a Digital Images

- To colour a digital image, the computer assigns a value to each pixel which
corresponds to a certain ___________.

Digital Image Quality

- The quality of a digital image depends on the ______________.
- A picture with lots of small pixels has a better resolution than a picture with a
smaller number of large pixels.

Capturing Digital Images

- In a digital camera, the light falls onto a charge-coupled device (CCD), which
is a _________ similar to a piece of graph paper.

Transmitting Digital Images

- The first major advantage of digital imaging is that it can easily be sent great
_____________, the second is that it can collect others parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum.