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Physics - Light: Notes and Stuffs
Physics - Light: Notes and Stuffs
• The incident ray, reflected ray, and the normal all lie in the same plane
• The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection
Important terms
Incident Ray: Light ray hitting the reflecting surface.
Reflected Ray: Light ray reflected from the reflecting
surface.
Normal: The perpendicular to the reflecting surface at
the point of incidence.
Angle of incidence (i): The angle between the incident
ray and the normal.
Angle of reflection (r): The angle between the
reflected ray and the normal.
Reflection of light
Regular and Diffused reflection
Regular reflection
• refers to the reflection of rays coming from a smooth plane surface
• All incident rays have parallel reflected rays
Diffused (irregular) reflection
• Occurs from reflection of rays coming from rough surfaces
• The reflected rays come out in different directions
• But the laws of reflection are obeyed at each point on the rough surface
Reflection of light
Ray diagrams
Laws of refraction:
• The incident ray, refracted ray and the normal are all
in the same plane.
• The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the
sine of the angle of refraction is always a constant.
Applications of mirrors
Optical Testing (Mirrors can make letters appear further
away, saving space)
Blind corners (for drivers)
Periscopes
Refraction
Phenomena Due to Refraction of
Light
The apparent Depth – A swimming
pool looks shallower than it really is.
A straight object placed in water
looks bent at the surfaces.
Refraction of light
Laws of refraction
Minimum value is ONE, which is the refractive index of vacuum (or air)
The greater the refractive index, the slower the speed of light in that medium
Example:
If the critical angle for a material is 42°. What is its refractive index?
n = 1 / sinC
= 1 / sin 42°
= 1.49
Principle of Reversibility of
Light
States that light will follow exactly the same path if its
direction of travel is reversed
Therefore,
Refraction
Q&A
Q: What happens when the angle of incidence is more than the critical angle?
A: When the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, all the light
undergoes reflection.
Refraction
Q&A
Equations: 1
h=
sinC
1
sinC =
h
1 -1
C =sin ( )
n
Critical Angle is the angle of incidence in the optically denser medium
where the angle of refraction in the less dense medium = 90°.
Refraction of light
Total Internal Reflection
Definition
When light travels from an optically denser medium to an optically
less dense medium and the angle of incidence is greater than the
critical angle, there is NO refracted ray, all the light is reflected back
into the optically denser medium.
Refraction of light
Total Internal Reflection
• Diagram A: Angle of incidence greater than critical angle no refracted ray but
strong reflected ray light is totally reflected
C. Optical fibres
Thin and flexible. When light enters it, it is totally
reflected many times until it comes out at the other end.
Lenses
Converging Lenses
Converging/Convex lens: A lens which is thicker at the centre than at the edges
Ray Diagram
Lenses
Diverging Lenses
Diverging/Concave: A lens which is thinner at the centre than at the edges.
Lenses
Diverging Lenses
Principal axis: a line passing through the optical centre and perpendicular to the
plane of the lens.
Lenses
Constructing ray diagrams for convex lens
3 Rules:
Note: Any 2 of the rules are enough for locating the image.
The intersection of the refracted rays gives the position of the image.
Lenses
Constructing ray diagrams for convex lens
Tips
Use solid lines for real light rays
Remember to put arrowheads to indicate direction
Use dotted lines for extended light rays (virtual light rays) and don’t
add arrowhead
Use solid lines for real images and dotted lines for virtual images
Lenses
Constructing ray diagrams for convex lens
O between F and C
Nature of image
-Virtual
-Upright
-Magnified
-On same side of lens as O and further away
Egs. Magnifying glass, spectacles for long-sightedness
O at F
Nature of image
-At infinity
Egs. Produces a parallel beam of light as in spotlight with
lamp at O.
..
O between F and 2F
Nature of image
-Real
-Inverted
-Magnified
-On opposite side of lens to O, beyond 2F
Egs. Projector, microscope, objective lens
Lenses
Constructing ray diagrams for convex lens
O At 2F
Nature of image
-Real
-Inverted
-On opposite side of lens to O, at 2F
-Same size as O
-On same side of lens as O and further away
Egs. Camera making equal size copies
O at infinity
Nature of image
-Real
-Inverted
-Diminished
-On opposite side of lens to O, at F
-Egs. Objective lens of a microscope
O beyond 2F
Nature of image
-Real
-Inverted
-Diminished
-On opposite side of lens to O, between F and 2F
-Egs. Camera, eyes
Recall