VISUAL PHYSICS ONLINE

7.1 THE NATURE OF LIGHT

P71 014

What were the main contributions to nature of light made by Rene Descartes, Jean Fresnel, Christian Huygens and Thomas Young?

Describe the controversy between Newton’s particle model of light and the people who supported the wave model.

Describe the most significant experimental evidence that light behaves as a wave and as a particle?

Hint: Do a web search on (1) Descartes, Fresnel, Huygens and Young and the wave theory of light. (2) Newton’s particle models of light and the controversy between the early wave and particle models of light. (3) Images on the nature of light.

https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Physics/24/Light-I/132

View solution below only after you have completed answering the question. The solution is not in a form that you would answer in an examination. The answers are in more detail to help improve your appreciation and understanding of the physics.

Solution

Write a brief summary of the results of your web searches.

Experimental evidence for the wave and particle models of light