Light: A Wave and a Particle

Objective
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to
explain how Newton and Descartes described the
emergence of light in various colors through
prisms.
while

Both of them knew that when

light passed through a prism, different
 Learn about it!

Two of the many scientists who studied the behavior

of light were Rene Descartes and Sir Isaac Newton.
Separately, they conducted experiments using a prism
to explain the emergence of the colors of light upon
passing it.
 Rene Descartes's View on the Emergence of Colors of Light
was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who first
studied and explained the concept of refraction.
-In one of his experiments, he produced a rainbow by using a water-filled glass
sphere and sunlight. He explained that refraction of light caused the formation of rainbows.

-He then studied the refraction and emergence of colors of light in a prism.
-He observed that the different colors of light refracted at varying degrees.
- He noted that the red light refracted more than the blue light.
 explained the emergence of the colors of light using the concept of
the plenum, the invisible substance that permeated the universe.

-He pictured the particles of plenum as tiny balls which were in contact, and rotating
with the same speed.

-He explained that when these particles passed through the prism and encountered a slit on the
edge, their rotational speed would change. This change resulted in the emergence of a color.
Other parts of the slit produced other colors of light.
 Sir Isaac Newton's View on the Emergence of Colors of Light
was an English physicist and mathematician who was famous
because of his contributions in describing motion and the nature of light.
-His studies included the emergence of colors as light passed through a prism.
- In his experiment, he saw that the red light refracted the least while the violet light
refracted the most.
- According to Newton, this difference in refraction occurred due to the differences in the
mass of the colors of light.
 believed that particles of matter exert equal force to the particles of light
regardless of its color.

- He then explained that when light particles passed through an interface of matter, the
colors of light which have different mass and inertia will be deflected at varying
degrees.
- . He noted that particles with greater mass and inertia are deflected less when acted
upon by the same force.
-Particles of red light has more mass than those of violet light. Therefore, red light was
deflected less than the violet light.
 Key Points
 Rene Descartes believed that colors emerge from light when the rolling balls that make up a
substance change speed when light passes through it. When the balls encounter a slit on the
edge of a prism, the ball next to the slit starts to rotate which causes the change in the speed of
the rotation of the balls and this change produced a color.

 Sir Isaac Newton believed that light colors emerge upon passing a prism due to the difference
in the mass and inertia of the colors that caused the difference of deflection of each.