In a clean room a torch makes a circle on the wall, but the beam itself is not visible in between
In a clean room a torch makes a circle on the wall, but the beam itself is not visible in between. The same torch in a dusty room shows the whole beam as a bright line. Gopal says the torch becomes stronger in the dusty room. Zoya says the torch is the same and something else explains it. Who is right?
Who do you think is right? Pick one.
The answer: Zoya is right
Why
Gopal has noticed something real — the dusty room genuinely looks brighter along the beam, so 'the torch got stronger' is a fair first reading. But you never see light itself travelling past you; you only see light that ENTERS YOUR EYE. In clean air almost nothing turns the beam sideways, so none of it reaches your eye from the middle and that stretch looks empty. Dust gives it thousands of tiny surfaces to bounce off, and some of those bounces come to you, drawing the line. Test: clap two dusty cloths in the torch beam and watch the line appear and fade as the dust settles — the torch was untouched the whole time. Zoya is right: you see the beam when something scatters it towards your eye, not because the light grew.
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