MODULE: Light

Student Sheet 2: Background Reading

Here is some information about light as part of the electromagnetic spectrum; its
adapted from A Family of Waves, published in Science Journal:

COLOURS
There are colours in the world all around us. From the blues of the sea to the
amazing display of a sunset, our eyes are able to identify thousands of hues.
Light forms part of the electromagnetic spectrum a family of waves which have
many properties in common.
This family of waves is arranged in this order, from the shortest wavelength to the
longest:

What does nm
stand for?

Theres just one part of the spectrum that our eyes can
detect, and we call this part light, or visible light.
Its wavelengths range from 380nm to 750nm (which is
approximately the same as 4.0 x 10-7m to 8.0 x 10-7m).

are in
These numbers
rm standard index fo
ow
make sure you kn
.
what that means

The visible part of

the spectrum can be
created by splitting
white light into
different wavelengths
using a prism.

ule
Later in this mod
to
you may be able
t for
try this experimen
yourself.

After rain or a storm we

often see a rainbow.
This is formed when
light passes through
raindrops, creating the
same effect as a prism.
This article comes
from a human biology
textbook. It explains how
different living things
detect colours of light.

List the colours

that Newton said
are in a rainbow.

How do we see colour?

We see objects because light reflects from them and enters
our eyes. This light hits the light-sensitive cells at the back
of the eye called the retina.
There are two types of cell in the retina one of these are
cone cells. These are specialist cells which respond to
different wavelengths of light. There are about 67 million
cone cells concentrated in a small area of the retina known
as the fovea centralis.
Some respond most strongly to red light, others to green
light and others to blue light.
Light stimulates the cones to varying degrees. This sends
a nerve impulse along the optic nerve to the brain which
processes the information and creates a coloured image.

This article comes

ology
from a human bi
ns
textbook. It explai
g
how different livin
urs
lo
things detect co
of light.

Humans have good colour vision (three types of cone cells)

but some birds and insects have four types of cone cells
and so can also detect ultra-violet light.

These are two im

ages
of the same flow
er - the
first in normal lig
ht, the
second in ultra-vi
olet.
Which is better fo
ra
flying insect?

Images to be replaced

How do televisions work?

The first television sets were developed in the
1920s. Commercial production began in the 1940s.
Colour TV was first introduced in the 1960s.
Before 2009, television sets had cathode ray
tubes; the development of flat-screen televisions
has seen LCD (liquid crystal display) and plasma
screens developed. There has also been a change
in transmission, from analogue to digital signals.

ation
I jotted this inform
tening
down as I was lis
ith the
to an interview w
LG
chief developer at
t known
televisions. I hadn
re!
about pixels befo

A TV set produces a series of tiny dots on a screen which combine to form

an image. Plasma and LCD televisions use a thin grid of pixels to create an
image. Each pixel contains red, blue and green filters. The signal received by
the television causes the pixels on the screen to flash according to the pattern
in the signal, which changes hundreds of times each second. Your eyes
transmit the pixel patterns to your brain, which processes the information to
create a moving image.
Computer monitors work in the same way. A typical screen might be 800 600
pixels or 1024 768 pixels. The most common choice for mobile phones is
320339 pixels per inch.

Not enough pixe

ls to
make a good imag
e!

Making different colours

There are two ways to make different coloured light.
The first is colour addition. This will form the first part
of your investigation, and will help you answer the task
you have been given.
Colour addition is when two different colours of light
are shone onto the same area of space to create a
mixture. Red, green and blue are the primary colours
of light.

I have adapted th
is
information from
a copy
of Star and Stage
, a
monthly magazin
e for
technicians worki
ng in
theatres. It might
be very
useful to you.

The second is colour subtraction; this is where a single

source of light shines through a coloured filter.

lours
These are the co
ing
ix
you should try m
all
first, in pairs, then
ther.
three colours toge

Making green lig

ht by
passing white lig
ht
through a green
filter
is easy, but could
you make green
light
another way?