The Energy of Light
Rainbows are natural phenomena that illustrate refraction—a property of light.Copyright 2012 smartworker, Pixabay CC0 public domain https://pixabay.com/en/rainbow-refraction-171113/
In this introduction to light energy, students learn about reflection and refraction as they learn that light travels in wave form. Through hands-on activities, they see how prisms, magnifying glasses and polarized lenses work. They also gain an understanding of the colors of the rainbow as the visible spectrum, each color corresponding to a different wavelength.
Engineers use the properties of light to create many things that benefit society. To reduce our energy use, lighting engineers take advantage of natural light, sometimes reflecting sunlight off room surfaces to bring light to locations at a distance from windows. Engineers create lasers that are so bright that they can burn through metal. Lasers are used in industry, medicine and surgery, to make holograms, read bar codes and compact disks, and send messages along fiber-optic cables. The properties of light are also exploited in the design of medical equipment, cameras and microscopes.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Explain that light is a form of energy and that it can be characterized as a wave.
- Explain that different colors of the spectrum represent light waves vibrating at different frequencies.
- Describe reflection and refraction of light waves.
- Explain how engineers use light waves.