2006-10-12 05:26:10 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Light is a side effect of friction between electrons in the tiny wire inside the bulb. If you turn off the switch, there is no current in the wire, so no electron friction, thus no light.
2006-10-12 05:30:40 · answer #1 · answered by juliepelletier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't go anywhere. It just stops coming from the bulb.
In an incandescent bulb, light is emitted because electricity flowing through certain materials emits light past a certain temperature.
In an LED, you have a diode with properties that allows it to emit light at much lower temperatures (and therefore uses a lot less power).
If you're talking about the light that shines around the room when the light was on, it is simply reflected out of the room or loses enough energy colliding with objects to fall out of the visible spectrum into the infrared spectrum.
2006-10-12 12:32:18 · answer #2 · answered by Jonny Jo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Light is an effect of quantum physics and is produced mainly by electrons within atoms dropping from one quantum energy state to another (between shells in clasic physics).
The electrons move 'up' between states because of the input of energy (ie electrical or heat). They then release this energy in the form of photons when they drop back down.
The relationship is E=hf, where E is energy in joules, h is Planck's constant and f is the frequency of the emitted radiation.
There are discreet levels of energy, so this is why light is known as the 'spectrum' - because it is not continuous.
When the light goes of, photon emission stops and the emitted photons bounce around the room for a short while, some may be reflected, but all will eventually be absorbed by the materials in the room.
What this really means is that the photons will be absorbed and raise the energy levels of the electrons (but not enough to re-emit the photon as light). Instead the materials will get slightly warmer (as heat is one of the spectrums within the whole electromagnetic spectrum
2006-10-12 14:45:56 · answer #3 · answered by Bill N 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thought I answered this last week... but it goes home when you switch the bulb off just I do when the pub switches off its bulbs
OK not a "best answer" kind of answer but I'm really bored with this question now.
And why do some people give such long answers to boring questions?
2006-10-15 09:33:58 · answer #4 · answered by xpatgary 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it is absorbed, but that's the same place the light goes when the bulb is switched on.
2006-10-13 03:08:07 · answer #5 · answered by Frank N 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All the time a light source is on some of its output is being reflected by surfaces around it. That's why we can see things. Most of its output is absorbed and slightly raises the temperature of the surface.
Within a tiny fraction of a second of being switched off, all the radiant energy has been absorbed.
The same goes for sound from loudspeakers.
2006-10-12 12:31:12 · answer #6 · answered by DriverRob 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Light in a bulb is a form of energy which is converted from electric energy.
Till the electric energy is converted into light energy i.e. ectricity switched on, you will see the light and as soon as the electric energy is stopped by switching it off, you will noot see the light.
2006-10-12 12:36:16 · answer #7 · answered by ♪¢αpη' ε∂ïß♪ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a) it doesn't go anywhere... the electrical supply is stopped, there is no resistance and hence no heating... so the bulb simply stops glowing.
b) the light already emitted gets absorbed by other objects in the room
2006-10-13 13:29:09 · answer #8 · answered by medgr8 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is rapidly absorbed (within microseconds) by the walls and furnishings in the room. No surface is 100% reflective, so absorption always occurs.
2006-10-12 12:29:42 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It goes off.
2006-10-12 12:33:25 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋