The Three B's
What are block light, bend light, and bounce light?
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Goal:
It’s useful to think about light as the "three B's": block light, bend light, and bounce light. Click through the slideshow to learn about these three aspects of light.
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Block Light
Bend Light When light travels through glass, it slows down slightly and bends, or refracts. This bending spreads out the colors from the object and into the colors of the rainbow. This process is called refraction.
Bounce Light
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Light travels in a straight line. It can't go around things. When light runs into a solid object, the object may absorb the light rays. The result is often a dark shadow cast on the surface beyond the object. When light is absorbed, it's blocked. This process is called absorption.
A prism is a solid object, usually glass, that light can pass through, separating white light into the full spectrum, or series of colors.
Light bounces off the sides of this paper lantern, which makes the light look brighter. People often use lanterns and lampshades to create a soft, pleasant light. When light hits many surfaces, some of it bounces off, or is reflected. Very shiny surfaces, like mirrors, reflect nearly all the light that hits them. This process is called reflection.