LIGHT AND VISION

René Descartes (1596 - 1650)

We know that in the absence of light, so light, the human eye finds it very hard
to distinguish objects. This means that they exist independently of our ability
to see them. Moreover, a visual impairment can prevent vision of objects, even
with the presence of light. Physicists understand today that the phenomenon of v
ision results from the combination of these two elements: the light and the eye.
In other words, we can say that the eye reacts to light and this enables the br
ain to trigger a series of processes such as memory, knowledge, recognition, etc
.. To see the objects clearly, distinguishing color, shape, volume, it is necess
ary that they are enlightened, that is, there must be a source of light as the s
un or lamps. Furthermore, it is also necessary that our receiver "of light (the
eye) and our" decoder device "(the brain) are working perfectly. There are still
, the object must be inside the field of vision of our eyes and your size influe
nces the maximum distance at which we can recognize it.
COLORS OF OBJECTS
Christian J. Doppler (1803 - 1853)
In the late seventeenth century, Newton conducted experiments that proved the wh
ite light a mixture of all colors. When illuminated by white light, an object ma
y fail to reflect all colors, in contrast, can absorb some. Thus, a green body,
for example, reflects mainly the green and absorbs other colors. A body is white
if it reflects all colors and a black body has when it absorbs all light fallin
g on it, that is, when does not reflect any electromagnetic waves of the visible
spectrum. White light is also called polychromatic light, while a light of pure
color, like green, for example, is called monochromatic light. Color is not a c
haracteristic of the object, but depends on the light that illuminates it. A red
body, when illuminated by white light, it absorbs all colors except red radiati
on that is reflected. If this body is illuminated by monochromatic light yellow,
for example, it will be seen as a black object, because the yellow is absorbed
and no red to be reflected.
DARK CHAMBER
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)
A very simple phenomenon, which is due to the rectilinear propagation of light c
an be observed with the aid of a camera obscura, a device first described by Leo
nardo da Vinci. The darkroom is a closed box, and one of its walls made of frost
ed glass. In the center of the opposite wall, a small hole. When we put before h
im at a distance, a luminous or brightly lit object, we formed on the frosted gl
ass a mirror image of that object. Let us see why this phenomenon: One point of
the object sends light in all directions. A wall of frosted glass, however, is a
ttained only by the radius, which, through the hole reaches the bottom of the ch
amber. Applying the same reasoning to other parts of the object, we can see that
the image formed on the frosted glass has to be inverted. The camera Somehow, t
he camera is a camera obscura orifice enhanced with lenses and photographic film
. The converging lens, called the objective, is responsible for image formation
at the bottom of the machine, where is the photographic film which records the i
mage.
MIRROR PLANS
Hendrik A. Lorentz (1853 - 1928)
Reflection of light An object that does not emit their own light, like a chair o
r a book, can only be seen if illuminated, that is, if you get light from any so
urce. Only when the light reflected from the object reaches our eyes it becomes
visible. But the reflection of light can have different effects depending on the
type of object. See the difference between the reflection of light on a sheet o
f paper and a mirror. Looking for the paper, we see the leaf itself, but looking
in the mirror, we see only the image of other objects. This difference is due t
o the reflective surface of light: the leaf, the surface is irregular, while the
mirror is very smooth. In leaves, diffuse reflection occurs, and in the mirror,
regular reflection. A plane mirror plane mirrors is a glass plate whose surface
later received a thin film of silver. When light falls on a surface of this typ
e, it is reflected regularly. This regularity is the reflection that allows the
formation of images. How this happens in bodies whose surfaces are rough, they d
o not produce. Rough surfaces, when illuminated, reveal only their own shape, te
xture and color. When we drive a car, we need to adjust the position of the mirr
ors to see what's behind it.€Any change in the position of the mirror or the he
ad of the driver can prevent this view, because the beams of light incident on t
he plane mirror are reflected in certain directions. That is, the light beams em
itted by a car that is behind only be seen by the driver are reflected in the mi
rror and relate to your eyes. Images in plane mirrors in a common plane mirror,
we see our image with the same shape and size, but seems to lie behind the mirro
r, inverted (left in right and vice versa), the same distance as we meet him. Th
e rays leaving an object in front of a plane mirror, are reflected in the mirror
and reach our eyes. So, we get light rays that described a trajectory angle and
have the impression that they are coming from an object behind the mirror, stra
ight, ie mentally prolong the reflected rays in the opposite direction, behind t
he mirror.
Curved mirror
Leon Foucault (1819 -1868)
It is called the spherical mirror that is shaped like a spherical cap, ie, when
its reflecting surface is part of a spherical surface. Can be concave or convex,
depending on the reflective surface is the inner (toward the center of the sphe
re) or external. Spherical mirrors act as lenses and may increase or decrease th
e size of the images. The rays of sunlight are parallel, making the focus sunlig
ht on a concave mirror, the reflected rays are concentrated on one point, and th
e point where these rays are focused is called the focus of the mirror. If, conv
ersely, put the focus a small light source, eg a candle or a small electric lamp
, the rays transmitted and reflected in the mirror, form a parallel beam. We use
this property in the headlights of cars, or even the lanterns, to obtain a beam
visible from great distances. The concave mirrors are also used in telescopes,
allowing us to observe (or shooting) stars and galaxies. A spoon is a curved mir
ror rudimentary. Although not smooth and polished as a true mirror, she sends us
pictures of objects that are reflected on its surface. Let us, for example, wat
ch our face reflected in a spoon. If we look at the convex side (the outside) of
the spoon, the reflected image appears right, but reduced. The convex mirrors c
an concentrate on just one scene space broad. They are therefore used as mirrors
in cars. Sometimes they are also installed in very narrow and curved streets, w
here there is poor visibility.
REFRACTIVE
Thomas Young (1773 - 1829)
When a beam of light falls on the surface of a water tank, vertically, some ligh
t enters the water and spreads down along the same direction. If the light is fo
cused on the water obliquely, the beam will be tilted toward you down. This chan
ge of direction of propagation of light, passing from one substance to another,
called refraction. The angle between the refracted ray and normal to the surface
 is the angle of refraction. You can demonstrate the refraction causing a beam o
f light entering the water contained in a container equipped with side walls of
glass, like an aquarium. Add a little coloring to water or milk in order to spre
ad the light to the sides, so you can see the trail of the beam. Dip a piece of
pencil in a container with water. The light rays coming from this part of the pe
ncil will change direction when crossing the water surface. The pencil looks bro
ken and the water seem less profound than it really is. A boy, to hook a fish, s
hould point the harpoon down from its apparent position. The refraction also all
ows us to see the sun below the horizon line. This occurs because the air densit
y is greater at low altitude and decreases gradually as we move away from Earth.
Thus, the incident light will undergo refraction and gradual way, dodging and c
ausing the rising and setting of the sun to be seen when the sun is below the ho
rizon line.
TOTAL REFLECTION OF LIGHT
Wolfgang Pauli (1900 - 1958)
A beam of light that propagates in the water, for example, reaches the boundary
with air. Part of the light back into the water, generating a reflected beam. Th
e rest goes into the air, creating a refracted beam. The reflected beam and the
incident beam equal angles with the normal direction. The refracted beam makes a
n angle greater. If we increase the angle of incidence, the refracted beam will
turn away more than normal. Greatly increasing the incidence angle will reach a
situation where the refracted beam will be almost parallel to the surface. In th
is situation, almost all light is reflected. Increasing a little more angle of i
ncidence, the refracted beam disappears and all the light becomes reflected.€Th
is phenomenon is called total reflection. For the total reflection occurs, you n
eed the following conditions: - The light should come from among more refringgen
te (more dense) to a less refractile (less dense). - The angle of incidence Devv
o be greater than a given value, called ângulolimite refraction. This angle dep
ends on the pair of media considered in the case of water and air, is about 49.
An example of application of total reflection is the fiber optics, widely used i
n telecommunications, endoscopy (medicine) etc.. In fiber optics a ray of light
enters one end and emerge the other end, after suffering several total reflectio
ns.
Spherical Lens
Albert Michelson (1852 - 1931)
The laws of reflection and refraction to determine the path of light in transpar
ent media. These laws are the foundation of knowledge for the construction of op
tical instruments. In such instruments (lenses, eyeglasses, microscopes, telesco
pes, cameras, ...) is brought to light a path well-determined. The essential par
ts of optical instruments consist of spherical lens, ie, refractile bodies delim
ited by curved surfaces. They have the property to produce magnified images of e
xternal objects or reduced without large deformations. There are lenses in very
different ways, but from the standpoint of the effect they produce, they can be
classified in two groups: (1) converging lenses. Are thicker in the center than
the edges. They are so called because they are converging to a point parallel li
ght rays that pass through. Converge the magnifying lenses and glasses for farsi
ghtedness. (2) diverging lenses. The edges are thicker than the center. When hit
by parallel rays, they make them diverge, ie open up like a fan. The lenses of
eyeglasses for nearsightedness, and eye-magic installed on the doors, lenses are
diverging. A ray of light that reaches the surface of a lens is refracted twice
: first, when passing from air to glass, then passing from glass to air. In gene
ral, the emerging ray shows a deviation from the direction of incident ray. This
deviation is toward the thickest part of the lens, ie the radius is shifted to
the axis if the lens is converging, and distances itself from the shaft if it is
 divergent.
HUMAN EYE
Christian Huygens (1629 - 1695)
In a simplified way, we can consider the human eye and consists of a converging
lens, called the crystalline lens, located in the anterior of the eyeball. At th
e bottom of this globe is located in the retina, which acts as a shield light se
nsitive. The sensations of light received by the retina are carried to the brain
by the optic nerve. When we look at an object, the lens forms a real and invert
ed image of this object, located exactly on the retina and, accordingly, we see
clearly the object. Although the image formed on the retina is inverted, the mes
sage carried to the brain causes us to see the object in its correct position. W
e see clearly an object whether it is nearer or farther away from our eye. This
happens because the image is always formed on the retina, whatever the distance
of the object to our eye. For this to happen, the focal length of the lens shoul
d be different for each position of the object. This effect is produced by the a
ction of the eye muscles that act on the lens, causing changes in its curvature.
This property of the eye is called visual accommodation. Defects in vision for
many people, the image of an object does not form exactly on the retina, and so
these people can not see clearly the object. The reason this occurs may be eithe
r a deformation of the eyeball, or a defective accommodation of the lens. In som
e people, the image is formed in front of the retina: these are short-sighted pe
ople. To correct this defect, ie, in order to have the object image formed on th
e retina, a person with myopia should wear glasses with lenses differ. Moreover,
in others, the light rays are intercepted by the retina before formation of the
image (the image would form behind the retina). This is because these people ha
ve an eyeball is shorter than normal (hyperopia) or a loss of accommodative abil
ity with age of the eye ("eye strain"). This defect is corrected by using glasse
s with lenses converge.