Chapter 19: Optics

19.1 Mirrors
The Law of Reflection
Optics: study of how mirrors and images form images Ray diagram: how rays change direction when they strike mirrors and pass through lenses Angle of incidence: angle the incident ray makes with a line drawn perpendicular to the surface of the mirror

The Law of Reflection (contd.)

Angle of reflection: angle the reflected ray makes with the perpendicular line The law of reflection states that the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence

Plane Mirrors
Plane mirror: mirror with a flat surface
Ex: mirror in your bathroom

A plane mirror always produces a virtual image. Virtual image: copy of an object formed at the location from which the light rays appear to come

Concave Mirrors
Concave mirror: inside surface of a curved mirror is the reflecting surface Focal point: point at which the light rays meet Real image: copy of an object formed at the point where light rays actually meet
Can be viewed on surfaces like a screen

Concave Mirrors (contd.)

Concave mirrors can form either real or virtual images. Real image is formed when the object is farther from the mirror than the focal point because the reflected rays meet in front of the mirror. Virtual images form when the object is closer to the mirror than the focal point because the reflected rays spread out and appear to come from behind the mirror.

Convex Mirrors
Convex mirror: the outside surface of a curved mirror is the reflecting surface Convex mirrors always cause light rays to spread out and can only form virtual images. Image formed by convex mirror is always upright and smaller than the object.

Section 1 Assessment
Quick Lab. P. 571 Measuring the Height of Your Mirror Image Section 19:1 Assessment Questions 1-6 p/ 573

Section 19:2 Lenses

Index of Refraction

Speed of light in a vacuum: 3.00 x 108 m/s When light enters a new medium at an angle, the change in speed causes the light to bend, or refract.
Light from air -> glass or water: slows down

Index of refraction: ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a medium

Concave and Convex Lenses

Lens: an object made of transparent material that has one or two curved surfaces that can reflect light Curvature and thickness of a lens affect the way it refracts light

Concave Lenses
Concave lens: curved inward at the center and is thickest at the outside edges
Cause incoming parallel rays to spread out, or diverge

Concave lenses always cause light rays to spread out and can only form virtual images.

Convex Lenses
Convex lens: curved outward at the center and is thinnest at the outer edges
Cause incoming parallel rays to come together, or converge

Convex lenses form either real or virtual images.

Total Internal Reflection

Critical angle: angle of incidence that produces an angle of refraction of 90 Total internal reflection: complete reflection of a light ray back into its original medium Materials that have small critical angles are likely to cause most of the light entering them to be totally internally reflected.

Section 2 Assessment
Data Analysis p. 575 Section 2 Assessment questions 1-6 p. 578

Section 19:3 Optical Instruments

Telescope: instrument that uses lenses or mirrors to collect and focus light from distant objects Hans Lippershey invented the first telescope in 1608. Isaac Newton invented a telescope that formed images by reflecting light with a curved mirror in 1671. There are two main types of telescopes, reflecting telescopes and refracting telescopes.

Reflecting Telescopes
Reflecting telescope: uses mirrors and convex lenses to collect and focus light Light from distant object -> hits large concave mirror-> focused light reflected by an angled mirror and forms a real image -> convex lens enlarges the image

Refracting Telescopes
Refracting telescope: uses convex lenses to collect and focus light Light from object enters through convex, or objective lens -> forms real image inside telescope -> convex lens in eyepiece magnifies image

Cameras
Camera: optical instrument that records an image of an object Light rays enter a camera through an opening, are focused by the opening or lens, and form an image that is recorded on film or by a sensor.

Pinhole Camera
Pinhole cameras have a small hole in one side Leonardo Da Vinci constructed his camera by making a pinhole opening in the shutter of a window of a darkened room

Modern Film Camera

Lens elements focus the incoming light rays -> focused rays pass through diaphragm, device controlling amount of light passing through the lens -> shutter release button is pressed -> mirror flips up and shutter briefly opens to let focused light rays strike film

Microscopes
Microscope: optical instrument that uses lenses to provide enlarged images of very small, near objects The compound microscope uses two convex lenses to magnify small objects.

Section 3 Assessments
Quick Lab p. 585 Building a Pinhole Camera Section 3 assessment questions -4 p. 585

19:4 The Eye and Vision

The main parts of the eye are the cornea, the pupil and iris, the lens, and the retina.

Cornea
Cornea: transparent outer coating of the eye
Curved surface helps to focus light entering the eye

Pupil and Iris

Pupil: opening that allows light rays to enter the eye Iris: colored part of the eye that contracts and expands to control the amount of light entering the eye

Lens
Light enters the convex lens after passing through the pupil Lens focuses light onto light sensor cells at the back of the eye

Retina
Retina: inner surface of the eye that collects the focused, refracted light Area of the retina where the nerve endings come together to form the optic nerve creates a blind spot

Rods and Cones

Rods: light-sensitive neurons in the retina that detect low-intensity light and distinguish black, white, and gray Cones: light-sensitive neurons in the retina that detect color

Correcting Vision Problems

Several common vision problems are nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.

Nearsightedness
Nearsightedness: causes distant objects to appear blurry
Rays focus before they reach the retina Occurs because cornea is either too curved or eyeball is too long

Corrected by placing diverging (concave) lens in front of the eye

Farsightedness
Farsightedness: condition causing nearby objects to appear blurry Common causes are either a cornea not curved enough or an eyeball that is too short Image focuses beyond the retina

Astigmatism
Astigmatism: condition in which objects at any distance appear blurry because the cornea or lens is misshapen
Lens has two different focal points

Section 4 Assessment
Draw and label a diagram of the eye Section 4 assessment questions 1-6 p. 592 Consumer Lab: Selecting Mirrors p. 595