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sruthisupriya
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What is meant by a ray of light?
sruthisupriya said:What is meant by a ray of light?
sruthisupriya said:I agree with all that. But, Physically what is meant by a ray of light? i mean, how can we divide light into straight lines, when it spreads in every direction from the source?
krab said:The way to think of this is that there are waves that emanate in all directions from the aperture, but outside the ray, these waves have phases such that they add up to nothing.
nicentight said:what is a beam of light?
Have you even read the previous replies?nicentight said:define the term ray of light
sruthisupriya said:What is meant by a ray of light?
sr_philosophy said:Ray optics is just observation - it is not a theory. Wave optics is theory. Wave optics is put forth as a theory and it is used to explaining effects like interference and diffraction.
sr_philosophy said:Ray of light not carrying energy is not a flaw. It is geometric optics and you do not speak about energy while dealing with it.
Why do you care what a ray of light is? Ray optics is just observation - it is not a theory. Wave optics is theory. Wave optics is put forth as a theory and it is used to explaining effects like interference and diffraction. First of all the question was about ray of light and i do not know why the topic of wave nature of light came up. Secondly this question need not be dealed in such vigour. A ray of light is just an idealized (narrow) beam of light.
Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye. It travels in the form of waves and has both particle-like and wave-like properties.
Light travels in straight lines, known as rays, at a constant speed of 299,792,458 meters per second in a vacuum. It can also travel through transparent materials such as air, water, and glass.
Reflection is when light bounces off a surface, such as a mirror, at the same angle it hits the surface. Refraction is when light passes through a transparent material and bends, or changes direction, due to the change in speed.
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. It includes all types of light, from radio waves to gamma rays.
Light can be absorbed, reflected, or transmitted when it interacts with matter. The color of an object is determined by which wavelengths of light are absorbed and which are reflected. For example, an object appears red because it reflects red light and absorbs all other colors.