Light

Light is a fascinating thing to study! There are so many aspects of light that we normally don’t think about in our daily lives. Consider …

Two byproducts in the process of making molten iron are heat and light. It doesn’t matter if any of the light from the flame below (or around) the iron reaches the metal; the molten metal will put off tremendous amounts of light. The light is so intense you cannot look at it without hurting your eyes.

So how do we get light from molten metal?

As the electrons are escaping the bonds of the iron nuclei on their way into space, the stickiness of the iron causes a vibration to occur. Some of the electrons are released in waves at the frequency of visible light. Scientists call these Photons. Other electrons are released in the form of heat.

I have read that Photons have no mass and I have read that Photons do have mass but it is insignificant. Since an electron has a mass equivalent to 1/1840 of a proton, I guess we could call that “insignificant”. I have come to accept that Photons do have a physical property, but not mass as defined by Newton’s Laws of Gravity.

When the electrons are released in the form of Photons, the electrons rely on the electron in front of them and behind them to stay in their position. The path through space is well defined and they can travel through the path of least resistance, which was immediately behind the electron in front.

The wave of electrons (Photon) can bounce off of an object. Because the human eye can absorb these Photons to a small degree, the bounced light gives us the perspective of an object.

If you stand outside on a sunny day and look at a red brick building, you will notice that you can estimate the distance from where you are standing to the end of the building. This is due to the fact that the light that is traveling from the farthest point of the building has decayed far more than the light that is reflected from the part of the building that is closest to you.

As the white light that is coming from the sun hits the side of the red brick building, the blue spectrum and the yellow spectrum of the white light wave is absorbed by the brick. The red band of the spectrum bounces off and is absorbed by your eye. The reflected light from the farthest point of the building must pass by many atoms and molecules before it reaches your eye. As the electrons pass by these atoms and molecules, some of the electrons get snagged and the light wave is diminished.

The light wave that is bouncing from the red brick building closest to you has a lot less to pass through and is more intense.

The process of the brick absorbing the blue and yellow spectrum of the white light wave causes the electrons to be freed from the wave. The freed electrons cause the temperature of the red brick to rise.

Photons (electrons traveling at a specific frequency in a defined path) cause two things to occur. A Photon is absorbed (totally or partially) by an object (producing heat), or, the Photon can be reflected (totally or partially) so we can see the object.

Light can also bend darkness. In a dark space, light can cause objects behind the light to be invisible to the human eye.

In the absence of light, there is no color.

© 2007-2015 Bill Gavlas, American Professional Services – All content of this website is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any manner without the express written permission of the author

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