Question

Newton postulated his corpuscular theory of light on the basis of
A. Newton’s ring
B. Rectilinear propagation of light
C. Colour through thin films
D. Dispersion of white light into columns

Answer 1

Hint: There are various theories often about the nature of light which are Newton's corpuscular theory, Huygens’s wave theory, Maxwell’s electromagnetic wave theory, and planck's quantum theory. Newton assumes that corpuscles travel very high. It also travels in a straight line being corpuscles weightless and this explains the propagation of light.

Complete answer:
On the basis of rectilinear propagation of light, Newton postulates his theory that is traveling in a straight line. Newton’s postulate his corpuscular theory of light by assuming the light to be made up of particles. He has made some more assumptions. Every source of light emits minute, tiny particles known as corpuscles in a medium surrounding the source. The corpuscles are perfectly elastic, rigid, and almost weightless. The corpuscles travel with very high speed and in a straight line because he assumed that corpuscles are weightless. This explains the rectilinear propagation of light. The speed of corpuscles is different in different media. Different colors of light are due to different sizes of the corpuscles.

Therefore the correct option is (C).

Addition information:
The theory has some drawbacks also.
He could not explain partial reflection and refraction at the structure of transparent media. It was unable to explain phenomena such as diffraction, interference, and polarization. The theory predicts that the speed of light in the denser medium is more than in the rare medium. This was contrary to the absurd experimental fact that the speed of light in water is less than the speed of light in air.

Note:
One gets the sensation of light when the corpus falls on the retina. As light consists of material particles, emission of light from a source should cause a reduction in the mass of the source of light but the experiment showed that there is no change in the mass of the source of light.