Wave Optics — Physics STD 12 Science — Question

(1) Primary sources of light: The sources that emit light on their own are called primary sources. This emission of light may be due to
(a) the high temperature of the source, e.g., the Sun, the stars, objects heated to high temperature, a flame, etc.
(b) the effect of current being passed through the source, e.g., tubelight, TV, etc.
(c) chemical or nuclear reactions taking place in the source, e.g., firecrackers, nuclear energy generators, etc.

(2) Secondary sources of light: Some sources are not self luminous, i.e., they do not emit light on their own, but reflect or scatter the light incident on them. Such sources of light are called secondary sources, e.g. the moon, the planets, objects such as humans, animals, plants, etc. These objects are visible due to reflected light.
Many of the sources that we see around are secondary sources and most of them are extended sources.