PHYS 142 Lecture Notes - Lecture 33: Electromagnetic Spectrum, Wind Wave, Photon

• School: McGill University
• Department: Physics
• Course: PHYS 142
• Professor: Guillaume Gervais

Document Summary

Phys 142: electromagnetism and optics - lecture 33 : wave optics part 1. The sharp edges of light rays show that light is, in fact, a particle. According to newton, these particles are called corpuscles. Light is an electromagnetic wave; oscillation of the electromagnetic field requires no material medium to travel in; it is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. A photon is a wave having certain particle-like characteristics. The wave model proves that light is a wave; it has similar properties to sounds and water waves. The ray model shows a straight-line path of light rays; it explains the properties of prisms, mirrors, and lenses. The photon model shows that photons have both wave-like and particle-like properties. Young was the first to conduct the double-slit experiment. When light is passed through a small slit; it spreads out beyond the width of that slit; this is called diffraction.