Characteristics of Light

Light Bounces Back

When it hits a surface, light bounces back to its source. For instance, when you beam the light from a flashlight on the surface of a mirror, the mirror’s shiny surface will not allow the light to pass through. As a result, the light bounces back and reflects on other surfaces. This bouncing back of light from a surface is called reflection.

Light Forms Different Colors

When the sun’s rays shine through falling rain, its light spreads into a band of colors reflected by each raindrop. The reflected colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—form a rainbow.

The colors of a rainbow are the same colors that are also seen in a prism. A triangular prism is a piece of transparent glass that produces different colors when light passes through it.