Light is a form of energy which is affected by the material it meets. 

What will happen to the light beam when you put a smooth material in its path? 

Try it; change the angle to see how it affects the light beam. 

What will happen to the light beam of you put a plastic block in its path? 

Try it with different shapes. 

Can you make a spectrum or ‘rainbow’ of colours? 

Why does this happen?

 

 

Light will travel in a straight line if passing through a transparent substance. If the light travels from one transparent substance to another the light will bend where the two meet. This is known as refraction. The light refraction occurs because light travels at different speeds in different substances. If a prism is put into the path of light it will split white light into a spectrum. This is due to each colour having a different speed within the prism. The splitting of white light within the prism, creating a spectrum is called dispersion.

Light and Shadows

How we see things