RIVAL THEORIES OF LIGHT

compare the rival theories of light held by scientists: For many centuries much speculation existed about the true nature of light. The debate became particularly lively in the 17th centurv when Descartes a French scientist, formulated two opposing theories to explain the nature of light. The two theories are the particle theory and the wave theory. Some of the leading scientists of the time became actively involved in the debate either supporting Descartes' particle theory or his wave theory. The Particle Theorv Descartes' particle theory described light as being made up of small particles moving linearly. He used this assumption to explain refraction and reflection of light. His explanation for refraction was that when light particles were incident on the surface of separation between two media, their velocity component in the direction perpendicular to the surface increased as the particles went from the less dense to the more dense transparent material while that parallel to the surface remained constant. This resulted in an increase in the resultant velocity and the bending of the light. He theorized that reflection was due to the rebounding of the particles of light when incident on a barrier. Descartes' particulate theory was supported and further developed by Sir Isaac Newton in his OPTICKS, published in 1704. Newton believed that light was made up of a stream of tiny particles. travelling at very high speeds, in straight lines. The motions of these particles produced vibrations in the surrounding fluid, called ether (ether), that was thought to fill all of space. The vibrations were believed to be capable of reinforcing or hindering the motion of the light particles. He explained partial reflection at a boundary by saying that the particles which were reinforced could pass through and those which were hindered rebounded. The Wave Theory Descartes also proposed that light could be due to pressure or action transmitted from the object seen to the eye through the matter or a surrounding space. Huygens was another supporter of the wave theory. He thought of light as luminous energy due to a vibrating source which produced longitudinal waves in all directions in the space around the source. As the wave touches points in its paths it causes them to vibrate longitudinally sending out secondary wavelets. The sum of the wavefronts of these secondary wavelets form an envelope that is the new wavefront of the wave. Comparison of the Particle and Wave Theories Descartes used his particle theory to explain refraction and reflection. but it could not be used to explain diffraction. In the 18th century the debate centred on the more developed theories of Newton and Huygens. The central issue was that the particle and wave theories predicted opposite effects on the speed of light going from air to water. Newton predicted that the speed should be greater in the more dense medium while Huygens predicted it should be less. Support for Huygens theory came form Foucault who actually measured the speed of light in air and water and found that it was less in water. As a result of Foucault's experiment, Newton's theory was discarded in favour of Huygens'. 'For further reading see 1Historv of Physics - Teacher Resource Material - The CXC/ USAID Secondary Curriculum Development Project.

WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY OF LIGHT

recall that in the twentieth century, experiments have provided the evidence that light has both a particle and a wave nature, Prior to the 20th century, scientists regarded particles and waves as having mutually exclusive properties. Particles were thought to have mass and to occupy definite volumes, while waves were a means of transferring energy and were spread out in space. Earlier experiments, like Young's double slit experiment had shown without doubt that light had wave nature. Light exhibited the known properties of waves. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the idea of light having BOTH wave and particle properties was considered. In 1888 the PHOTOELECTRIC effect was discovered. When light was shone on some metal surfaces, free electrons near the surface were emitted. These electrons were emitted almost instantaneously and the number of electrons emitted increased with the intensity of the light, but electrons were NOT emitted for all wavelengths of light. In 1900 Planck introduced the idea that energy is not emitted from a body continuously but in discrete units called QUANTA (That is, it has a particle nature). In 1905 Einstein applied the "Quantum theory" to light and used it to explain the photoelectric effect. In 1916 this theory was supported by experiments done by Millikan. The wave-particle duality of light was further supported by the fact that spectral lines of gaseous elements have discrete wavelengths and are caused by quanta or photons of light being emitted or absorbed by movement of electrons among discrete energy levels. With conclusive evidence that light has both particle and wave properties, the dual nature of light is now accepted.