Question

Scientific explanation of light in detail.

Answer 1

Light is electromagnetic radiation within a certain portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The word usually refers to visible light, which is visible to the human eye and is responsible for the sense of sight. The main source of light on Earth is the Sun.

Light is everywhere in our world. We need it to see: it carries information from the world to our eyes and brains. Seeing colors and shapes is second nature to us, yet light is a perplexing phenomenon when we study it more closely.

• Our brains and eyes act together to make extraordinary things happen in perception. Movies are sequences of still pictures. Magazine pictures are arrays of dots.
• Light acts like particles—little light bullets—that stream from the source. This explains how shadows work.
• Light also acts like waves—ripples in space—instead of bullets. This explains how rainbows work. In fact, light is both. This "wave-particle duality" is one of the most confusing—and wonderful—principles of physics.