Question

Who amongst the following used corpuscular theory to explain reflection and refraction of light?
A. Newton
B. Maxwell
C. Young
D. Hertz

Answer 1

Hint: There was a long debate regarding the nature of light – whether it was a particle or a wave – which went on for over centuries. Isaac Newton was a pioneer of the particular or corpuscular theory of light wherein light was considered as a particle whereas Thomas Young was the first pioneer for the wave nature of light.

Complete step by step answer:
There was a long standing confusion and debate about the nature of light. Many believed that light is a wave while others believed that light is a particle. There were many experiments to prove and disprove both these statements individually. Finally, it was found out that light has a dual nature – it has both particles and waves like nature and properties. Light travels as a wave, but interacts with other bodies in the form of particles known as photons.
Isaac Newton was one of the first pioneers and firm believers of the particle nature or corpuscular theory of light. According to this theory light was made of perfectly rigid and elastic particles (or corpuscles) that travel with high velocity and have kinetic energy.
According to his theory, the particles and hence light, travels faster in an optically denser medium and slower in a rarer medium. However, this was proved wrong as the opposite is, in fact, true.
Newton’s corpuscular theory could not also explain the phenomenon of interference, polarization and diffraction of light which could only be proved by considering that light was of a wave nature.
Hence, the correct answer is A) Newton.

Note: Students must remember that Thomas Young was a believer of the wave nature of light according to the results of his famous ‘Young’s double slit experiment’. Maxwell contributed heavily to the notion of wave particle duality which is well established in quantum mechanics through his famous Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetic radiation.
Due to the fame of Newton, people blindly believed the corpuscular theory of light and Thomas Young’s works were recognized many decades after he completed them.