Newton’s corpuscular theory of light (AQA A-Level Physics): Quizzes
📚Quizzes
Practise the questions
10 questions from this quiz
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Practise the questions
10 questions from this quiz
What term did Newton use for the tiny particles that he proposed light was composed of?
What term did Newton use for the tiny particles that he proposed light was composed of?
Corpuscles
In Newton's theory, what type of force causes reflection when corpuscles collide with a surface?
In Newton's theory, what type of force causes reflection when corpuscles collide with a surface?
Repulsive force
What happens to the parallel component of velocity during reflection in Newton's corpuscular theory?
What happens to the parallel component of velocity during reflection in Newton's corpuscular theory?
Remains unchanged
What force did Newton propose acts on corpuscles entering a denser medium during refraction?
What force did Newton propose acts on corpuscles entering a denser medium during refraction?
Short-range attractive force
In Newton's refraction model, what happens to velocity perpendicular to the surface in denser media?
In Newton's refraction model, what happens to velocity perpendicular to the surface in denser media?
It increases
According to Newton's corpuscular theory, how does light travel in denser media?
According to Newton's corpuscular theory, how does light travel in denser media?
Faster
Which phenomenon did Newton's corpuscular theory struggle to explain?
Which phenomenon did Newton's corpuscular theory struggle to explain?
Diffraction
According to Huygens' Principle, what does each point on a wavefront act as?
According to Huygens' Principle, what does each point on a wavefront act as?
Source of secondary wavelets
In Huygens' wave theory, what happens to light speed when entering a denser medium?
In Huygens' wave theory, what happens to light speed when entering a denser medium?
Wavelets slow down
Why was Newton's corpuscular theory more widely accepted initially?
Why was Newton's corpuscular theory more widely accepted initially?
Newton's influence and reputation