Light facts for kids

Rays of light shine through metal patterns into a railway station

Light is a type of energy that we can see. It's a form of electromagnetic radiation that our eyes can detect. Light is just a small part of the whole electromagnetic spectrum. It comes from stars like the Sun, and many animals can see it too.

Light travels in tiny packets called photons. It acts like both a wave and a particle. Studying light is called optics, and it's a very important part of physics.

Light travels as a wave. Each wave has a specific wavelength or frequency. Our eyes see different wavelengths as different colors. For example, a rainbow shows all the colors of visible light. These colors are usually red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

There are other types of light we can't see. Wavelengths longer than red light are called infrared. Wavelengths shorter than violet light are called ultraviolet. Special