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| Characteristics of Light |
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 Light is a form of energy produced by luminous objects. |
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Light can travel through vacuum. |
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Light can penetrate through transparent materials but cannot pass through opaque objects. |
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Light travels in a straight line in an optically homogeneous medium. |
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Light bounces back when made to fall on polished surfaces such as mirrors or metal surfaces. This bouncing back of light is described as reflection. |
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The change in the velocity of light when it travels from one transparent medium to another is described as refraction. |
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Light takes the path of least time in passing from one point to the other. This is nothing but Fermat's principle. The shortest distance between any two given points is a straight line. Thus Fermat's principle proves the rectilinear propagation of light. |
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Light appears to have a dual nature. During propagation, light exhibits wave characteristics but when it interacts with matter, it behaves like particles. |
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