Light travels:
a
in bendy lines
b
in curves
c
in straight lines
d
around corners
c - in straight lines.
c . ---- as long as it is traveling in a material with constant speed of light.
That is correct! Light travels in straight lines as long as it is traveling in a medium (such as a vacuum) with a constant speed of light. However, if it enters a medium with varying refractive index, it may bend or change direction.
Light travels in straight lines (c).
To understand how we know this, we can look at the phenomenon of light propagation. One way to observe this is by conducting an experiment called the "light ray experiment." Here's how you can do it:
1. Take a source of light, such as a flashlight or a laser pointer, and turn it on.
2. Place a screen or a piece of paper in the path of the light beam, a short distance away from the source.
3. Observe the pattern of light on the screen or paper. You will notice that it forms a straight line from the source to the screen without bending or curving.
This experiment demonstrates that light travels in straight lines. When light encounters an obstacle or a change in medium, such as passing through a transparent material or reflecting off a surface, it follows the law of reflection or refraction respectively. These laws describe how light behaves when interacting with different materials, but ultimately light still travels in straight lines between these interactions.
In everyday life, we observe that light appears to bend or curve when passing through certain materials like water or glass. However, this apparent bending is due to a change in the speed of light as it enters and exits these materials according to the laws of refraction. The light still travels in a straight line within each medium, but its path appears curved when observed from our perspective.