Lighting System and Design

Calculation

Light Measurement
 Quantitative Study of Light is called “Photometry”. The quantities of light generally
measured by photometry is luminous intensity of the source, luminous flux or
light flow from a source, and illumination on a surface.

1. Luminous intensity - the quantity of visible light that is emitted in unit time per unit
solid angle. The unit of luminous intensity is one lumen per steradian, which is the
unit of solid angle—there are 4π steradians about a point enclosed by a spherical
surface. This unit of luminous intensity is also called the standard candle, or candela,
one lumen per steradian. symbol (I)

Solid angle – the ratio of the intercepted surface area of a sphere to the square of the
radius of the radius, unit is steradians.

ω = A/R2

2. Luminous Flux – not all of the energy radiated from a luminous source is capable of
producing a visual sensation. Most of the radiation is in the infrared region, and a
small amount is in the ultraviolet region. The rate of flow of visible radiation is called
luminous flux, the symbol for which is the greek letter ɸ (phi). Luminous flux is that
part of the total energy radiated per unit of time from a luminous source that is
capable of producing sensation of sight. The unit of luminous flux is Lumen or lm.
Example:
Suppose a standard light source of 1 candle is place at the center of a hollow sphere
having a radius of 1 meter. The luminous source is presumed to radiate light equally in
all direction and to have such small dimensions that it may be termed a “point source”.
The area of the surface of a sphere of radius R is equal to 4πR2 . Since the radius of the
sphere is 1 meter its surface are is 4π(1)2. One lumen of flux is radiated by 1 candle source
to each square meter of inside the surface of the sphere.

ɸ = 4π I
3. Illumination – is the density of luminous flux on a surface.

E = ɸ/ A ( lumen / square meter)

 Laws of Illumination
The illumination (E) of a surface depends upon the following factors.

 E is directly proportional to the luminous intensity I of the source ( E α I)

 The illumination of a surface is inversely proportional to the square of the distance
of the surface from the source. ( E α 1/d2)
 The illumination E is directly proportional to the cosine of the angle made by the
normal line to the illuminated surface with the direction of the incident flux. ( E α
cos𝜃)

E = (I/d2) cos𝜃