Partial Reflection/Refraction

[silverpixeli]

Hi,

I'm making notes on light and I've been reading up about the different models and what they could/could not explain about the nature of light, and one of the things that came up was partial reflection (e.g. you see yourself in a window but you also see through to the other side, meaning light is both going through (refraction) and coming back at you (reflection))
Everywhere I've looked so far has just said that a wave model allows for partial reflection, while Newton's particle model does not. This was one of the failings of Newton's model for light. Nowhere have I been able to find an actual explanation of why/how a wave model allows for this phenomenon and why a particle model doesn't. SO if anyone out there has an explanation or even a link to a source that has the details, hit me up (please)

[Alwin]

Hi,

I'm making notes on light and I've been reading up about the different models and what they could/could not explain about the nature of light, and one of the things that came up was partial reflection (e.g. you see yourself in a window but you also see through to the other side, meaning light is both going through (refraction) and coming back at you (reflection))
Everywhere I've looked so far has just said that a wave model allows for partial reflection, while Newton's particle model does not. This was one of the failings of Newton's model for light. Nowhere have I been able to find an actual explanation of why/how a wave model allows for this phenomenon and why a particle model doesn't. SO if anyone out there has an explanation or even a link to a source that has the details, hit me up (please)

A quick google came up with this:

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=122116

Basically, I think if you can explain it using both the wave and particle model, you'd be in-line for the next noble prize?

[silverpixeli]

Haha! I see, maybe one day.

Thanks for the reply!