This is the same way a ball bounces off the rail in billiards. You may have heard the phrase, “the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.” What this means is that the angle of the incident ray, measured from a line perpendicular to the surface, will always be the same angle as the reflected ray, measured from that perpendicular line. Reflection occurs when a ray of light of a particular frequency hits a surface and bounces back off. You are probably already familiar with this concept. Let’s dive into the interactions between light and matter, starting with reflection. Keep in mind that frequencies of light may interact differently with the same matter, so it is often simplest to consider one frequency, or a small range of frequencies, at a time. Generally, a given frequency of light interacts with matter in one of three ways: reflection, transmission, or absorption. The whole electromagnetic spectrum contains far more than just the visible light range the light we see is only a small portion of this spectrum.
This is why depictions of the electromagnetic spectrum show frequencies paired with wavelengths. In other words, every frequency of light corresponds to a particular wavelength.
One of the most important properties of light is that its speed in a vacuum is one of the universal constants. The speed of any wave is the product of frequency and the wavelength and, as such, frequency and wavelength have an inverse relationship for any given speed. The amplitude describes the height of the wave, which is related to the energy of the wave. The wavelength is the distance from trough to trough or crest to crest of the wave, where the trough is the lowest part of the wave and the crest is the highest. The frequency can be thought of as the number of oscillations per second or the number of crests or troughs that pass a certain point per second. The wave properties of light include its frequency, wavelength, and amplitude.
When we talk about reflection, transmission, and absorption, the wave-like properties of light are important. Light can be thought of as either a particle called a photon or as a wave. Hi, and welcome to this review of how light interacts with matter! In this video, we’ll talk about what light is and how it interacts with physical substances through either reflection, transmission, or absorption.īefore we discuss the interaction of light and matter, let’s quickly review the properties of light.
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