Wave Nature of Light from "summary" of NCERT Solutions Physics Class 11th by Nipendra Bhatnagar
Light is made up of tiny packets of energy called photons which behave like waves. This wave-like nature of light is responsible for its many properties such as diffraction, interference and polarization.- Also the diffraction and polarization can be most satisfactorily understood on the basis of wave nature of light or Electromagnetic Radiation.
- Light exhibits all the characteristic features of wave such as frequency, amplitude etc., which are needed to explain some physical phenomena.
- Throughout the 19th century, light showed wave-particle duality i.e it showed both wave-like behavior and also has particles called photons.
- The interaction between the EM radiations and the matter was explained on basis of this wave-like behaviour of light predicted by James Clark Maxwell.
- Wave Nature of Light is the phenomenon that light has wave like properties along with its nature of being a particle.
- Thomas Young successfully demonstrated interference caused by double slit experiment on light in 1801, confirming the wave-like behaviour of light.
- Electromagnetic radiation provides a good explanation for the photoelectric effect because energy of each photon(light particles. is related to its frequency.
- This wave concept also states that light possess both Electric field and Magnetic field associated with it and hence named as Electromagnetic radiation.
- It behaves as a transverse wave propagating through the empty space at the speed of 3 x 10^8 meters per second approximately.
- This was first proposed by none other than French mathematician, physicist and philosopher, René Descartes in 1637.
