INTERNATIONAL INDIAN SCHOOL, AL-JUBAIL ‫ الجبيل‬- ‫المدرسة العالمية الهندية‬

Eastern Province – Kingdom of Saudi

‫المنطقة الشرقية – المملكة العربية السعودية‬
Arabia

Class -X
Chapter -10 :LIGHT -REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
[Questions from Previous Years’ Question Papers and more]

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS

1.The phenomenon of light responsible for the working of the human eye is _________________.

2. __________ colour light is least scattered by fog, mist or smoke.

3. ___________ colour refracts the most while passing through a prism.

4. The component of white light with greatest wavelength is ___________.

5. The persistence of vision for a normal eye is _______________.

6. Two media with refractive indices 1.31 and 1.50 are given. The bending of light is maximum in the medium
of refractive index ____________ and the speed of light is more in the medium ______________.

7. The power of a lens is + 1.6 D. The nature of the lens is __________.

8. An incident ray makes an angle of 60° with the surface of the plane mirror. The angle of reflection will be
_________°.

9. Focal length of a plane mirror is ________________ and its magnification is ______.

10. All distances in case of spherical mirror are measured in relation to ___________

11. An object which is optically denser has _________refractive index. [higher/lower]

12.A camera employs a ____________lens to form a _________ image.

13. A piece of cloth looks red in sunlight. If blue light is made incident on it, it will appear _______ colour.

14. The eye which suffers from myopia as well as hypermetropia is said to suffer from __________.

15. __________causes the blue colour of sky and the reddening of the Sun at sunrise and sunset.

16. The ability of the eye to focus both near and distant objects, by adjusting its focal length, is called the
____________________.

17. For a normal eye, the range of vision is from ________________-.

18. In case of a rectangular glass slab, the refraction takes place at both ____________interface and
____________ interface. The emergent ray is ___________ to the direction of incident ray.

19. The power of a convex lens of focal length 10 cm is ____________________

20. The absolute refractive index of a medium depends on _________ and _______________.

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

MCQs from CBSE Class 10 Science Chapter 10: Light - Reflection and Refraction
1. An object is placed 20 cm in front of a plane mirror. The mirror is moved 2 cm towards the object. The
distance between the positions of the original and final images seen in the mirror is:
(a) 2 cm
(b) 4 cm
(c) 10 cm
(d) 22 cm
Answer: (a) 2 cm
2. A ray of light that strikes a plane mirror PQ at an angle of incidence of 30o, is reflected from the plane
mirror and then strikes a second plane mirror QR placed at right angles to the first mirror. The angle of
reflection at the second mirror is:
(a) 30o
(b) 45o
(c) 60o
(d) 90o
Answer: (c) 60o
3. An object is placed at 100 mm in front of a concave mirror which produces an upright image (erect
image). The radius of curvature of the mirror is:
(a) Less than 100 mm
(b) Between 100 mm and 200 mm
(c) Exactly 200 mm
(d) More than 200 mm
Answer: (d) More than 200 mm
4. Which position of the object will produce a magnified virtual image, if a concave mirror of focal length 15
cm is being used?
(a) 10 cm
(b) 20 cm
(c) 30 cm
(d) 35 cm
Answer: (a) 10 cm
5. A concave mirror produces a magnification of +4. The object is placed:
(a) At the focus
(b) Between focus and centre of curvature
(c) Between focus and pole
(d) Beyond the centre of curvature
Answer: (c) Between focus and pole
6. Two big mirrors A and B are fitted side by side on a wall. A man is standing at such a distance from the
wall that he can see the erect image of his face in both the mirrors. When the man starts walking towards
the mirrors, he finds that the size of his face in mirror A goes on increasing but that in mirror B remains the
same:
(a) Mirror A is concave and mirror B is convex
(b) Mirror A is plane and mirror B is concave
(c) Mirror A is concave and mirror B is plane
(d) Mirror A is convex and mirror B is concave
Answer: (c) Mirror A is concave and mirror B is plane
7. A ray of light is travelling in a direction perpendicular to the boundary of a parallel glass slab. The ray of
light:
(a) Is refracted towards the normal
(b) Is refracted away from the normal
(c) Is reflected along the same path
(d) Does not get refracted
Answer: (d) Does not get refracted
8. A ray of light passes from a medium X to another medium Y. No refraction of light occurs if the ray of
light hits the boundary of medium Y at an angle of:
(a) 120o
(b) 90o
(c) 45o
(d) 0o

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

Answer: (b) 90o
9. A lens of focal length 12 cm forms an erect image, three times the size of the object. The distance
between the object and image is:
(a) 8 cm
(b) 16 cm
(c) 24 cm
(d) 36 cm
Answer: (a) 8 cm
10. If an object is placed 21 cm from a converging lens, the image formed is slightly smaller than the object.
If the object is placed at a distance of 19 cm from the lens, the image formed is slightly larger than the
object. The approximate focal length of the lens is:
(a) 20 cm
(b) 18 cm
(c) 10 cm
(d) 5 cm
Answer: (c) 10 cm
11. A student does the experiment on tracing the path of a ray of light passing through a rectangular glass
slab for different angles of incidence. He can get a correct measure of the angle of incidence and the angle
of emergence by following the labelling indicated in figure:

(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
Answer: (d) D
12. While performing an experiment on determination of focal length of a convex lens, four students
obtained the image of the same distant tree on the screen as follows:

Which diagram shows the formation of image correctly?

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
Answer: (d) D

13. A student traces the path of a ray of light passing through a rectangular slab.

For measuring the angle of incidence, he must position the protractor in the manner shown in the figure:

(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
Answer: (d) D
14. Four students A, B, C and D performed the experiment to determine the focal length of a concave
mirror by obtaining the image of a distant tree on a screen. They measured the distances between the
screen and the mirror as shown in the diagrams given below:

The correct way to measure accurate focal length of the mirror is:

(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
Answer: (c) C

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

15. A student traces the path of a ray of light passing through a rectangular slab for three different values of
angle of incidence (∠i ) namely 30o, 45o and 60o. He extends the direction of incident ray by a dotted line
and measures the perpendicular distance ‘l’ between the extended incident ray and the emergent ray.

He will observe that:

(a) ‘l’ keeps on increasing with increase in angle of incidence

(b) ‘l’ keeps on decreasing with increase in angle of incidence
(c) ‘l’ remains the same for all three angles of incidence
(d) ‘l’ is the maximum for ∠i = 45o and is less than this value for ∠i = 30o and ∠i = 60o.
Answer: (a) ‘l’ keeps on increasing with increase in angle of incidence

VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS [1 Mark]

1.If a light ray IM is incident on the surface AB as shown, identify the correct emergent ray. [Delhi (C),2008]

2. The refractive indices of four media A, B, C and D are given in the following table:

If light, travels from one medium to another, in which case the change in speed will be (i) minimum, (ii)
maximum? [Delhi(C),2008]
3. “The refractive index of diamond is 2.42”. What is the meaning of this statement in relation to speed of
light? [Delhi,2008]
4. Redraw the given diagram and show the path of the refracted ray: [All India(C),2008]

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

5. Redraw the given diagram and show the path of the refracted ray: [All India(C),2008 ]

6.Draw the following diagram in your answer book and show the formation of image of the object AB with
the help of suitable rays. [All India,2008]

7.Redraw the diagram given below in your answer book and show the direction of the light ray after reflection
from the mirror. [Delhi (C),2009]

8. Redraw the diagram given below in your answer book and show the direction of the light ray after reflection
from the mirror. [Delhi (C),2009]

9. Redraw the diagram given below in your answer book and show the direction of the light ray after reflection
from the mirror. [Delhi (C),2009]

10. Redraw the diagram given below in your answer book and show the direction of the light ray after refraction
from the lens. [Delhi, All India(C),2009]

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

11.Redraw the diagram given below in your answer book and show the direction of the light ray after refraction
from the lens. [All India (C),2009]

12. Explain why a ray of light passing through the centre of curvature of a concave mirror, gets reflected along the
same path. [Delhi,2010]
13. What is the nature of the image formed by a concave mirror if the magnification produced by the mirror is +3?
[Delhi,2010]
14. Between which two points of a concave mirror should an object be placed to obtain a magnification of -3?
[Delhi,2010]
15. The outer surface of a hollow sphere of aluminium of radius 50 cm is to be used as a mirror. What will be the
focal length of this mirror? Which type of spherical mirror will it provide? [Delhi,2010]
16. Between which two points related to a concave mirror should an object be placed to obtain on a screen an
image twice the size of the object? [All India,2010]
17. A girl was playing with a thin beam of light from her laser torch by directing it from different directions on a
convex lens held vertically. She was surprised to see that in a particular direction the beam of light continues to
move along the same direction after passing through the lens. State the reason for this observation.
[Foreign,2010]
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS [TYPE I] [2 Marks]
1. Explain with the help of a diagram, why a pencil partly immersed in water appears to be bent at the water
surface. [Delhi,2008]
2.Draw ray diagrams to represent the nature, position and relative size of the image formed by a convex lens
for the object placed:
(a) at 2F1 (b) between F1 and the optical centre O of lens: [All India,2008]
3. A ray of light, incident obliquely on a face of a rectangular glass slab placed in air, emerges from the
opposite face parallel to the incident ray. State two factors on which the lateral displacement of the emergent
ray depends. [Foreign,2008]
4.What is the minimum number of rays required for locating the image formed by a concave mirror for an
object. Draw a ray diagram to show the formation of a virtual image by a concave mirror. [Delhi,2009]
5. In an experiment with a rectangular glass slab, a student observed that a ray of light incident at an angle of
55° with the normal on one face of the slab, after refraction strikes the opposite face of the slab before
emerging out into air making an angle of 40° with the normal. Draw a labelled diagram to show the path of
this ray. What value would you assign to the angle of refraction and angle of emergence? [All India,2010]
6. State the two laws of refraction of light. [Delhi,2011]
7. Define and show on a diagram, the following terms relating to a concave mirror:
(i) Aperture (ii) Radius of curvature [Foreign,2011]
8. Define the focus of a concave mirror. If the radius of curvature of a convex mirror is 30 cm, what would be
its focal length? [Foreign,2011]
9. Distinguish between a real and a virtual image of an object. What type of image is formed (i) by a plane
mirror, (ii) on a cinema screen? [Foreign,2011]

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUEST10NS [TYPE II] [3 Marks]
1. A concave lens has focal length of 20 cm. At what distance from the lens a 5 cm tall object be placed so
that it forms an image at 15 cm from the lens? Also calculate the size of the image formed.
[2007, Delhi] [Ans.- u= -60 cm; hi = 1.25 cm]
2. An object 50 cm tall is placed on the principal axis of a convex lens. Its 20 cm tall image is formed on the
screen placed at a distance of 10 cm from the lens. Calculate the focal length of the lens.
[ 2007, All India]
3. An object 2 cm in size is placed 30 cm in front of a concave mirror of focal length 15 cm. At what distance
from the mirror should a screen be placed in order to obtain a sharp image? What will be the nature and the
size of the image formed? Draw a ray diagram to show the formation of the image in this case.
[Delhi(C),2008] [v=-30cm, m=1]
4. An object 2 cm high is placed at a distance of 64 cm from a white screen. On placing a convex lens at a
distance of 32 cm from the object it is found that a distinct image of the object is formed on the screen. What
is the focal length of the convex lens and size of the image formed on the screen? Draw a ray diagram to
show the formation of the image in this position of the object with respect to the lens.
[Delhi(C),2008] [f=16cm; h=2cm]
5. A convex lens has a focal length of 10 cm. At what distance from the lens should the object be placed so
that it forms a real and inverted image 20 cm away from the lens? What would be the size of the image
formed if the object is 2 cm high? With the help of a ray diagram show the formation of the image by the lens
in this case. [All India (C),2008] [u=-20cm; m=1]
6. For which position of the object does a convex lens form a virtual and erect image? Explain with the help
of a ray diagram. [All India, 2009] [between f and O]

7. At what distance should an object be placed from a convex lens of focal length 18 cm to obtain an image
at 24 cm from it on the other side. What will be the magnification produced in this case? [Delhi, 2010]
[u=-72cm; m=-1/3]

8. How far should an object be placed from a convex lens of focal length 20 cm to obtain its image at a
distance of 30 cm from the lens? What will be the height of the image if the object is 6 cm tall? [All India,2010]
[u=-60cm; hi=-3cm]

9. The image of an object placed at 60 cm in front of a lens is obtained on a screen at a distance of 120 cm
from it. Find the focal length of the lens. What would be the height of the image if the object is 5 cm high?
[Foreign,2010] [f=40cm, hi=-10cm]

10. Draw a ray diagram and also state the position, the relative size and the nature of image formed by a
concave mirror when the object is placed at the centre of curvature of the mirror. [Delhi,2011]

REFRACTION AND REFRACTIVE INDEX

1. Define ‘refractive index of a transparent medium.’ What is its unit? Which has a higher refractive index,
glass or water? [Delhi,2011]
2. A ray of light travelling in air enters obliquely into water. Does the light ray bend towards or away from the
normal? Why? Draw a ray diagram to show the refraction of light in this situation. [Delhi,2011]
3.(a) “The refractive index of diamond is 2.42”. What is the meaning of this statement?
(b) Name a liquid whose mass density is less than that of water but it is optically denser than water.
[Delhi,2011]

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

4. What is the principle of reversibility of light? Show that the incident ray of light is parallel to the emergent
ray of light when light falls obliquely on a side of a rectangular glass slab. [All India,2011]
5.What is understood by lateral displacement of light? Illustrate it with the help of a diagram. List any two
factors on which the lateral displacement of a particular substance depends. [Foreign,2011]
6. Why does a ray of light bend when it travels from one medium into another? [Delhi,2009]
7. How should a ray of light be incident on a rectangular glass slab so that it comes out from the opposite side of
the slab without being displaced? [Foreign,2010]
8. A ray of light enters a rectangular glass slab of refractive index 1.5. It is found that the ray emerges from the
opposite face of the slab without being displaced. If its speed in air is 3 x 108 ms-1 then what is its speed in
glass? [Foreign,2010]
9. The speed of light in a transparent medium is 0.6 times that of its speed in vacuum. What is the refractive index
of the medium? [Foreign,2010]
10.With the help of a ray diagram explain why a convex mirror is preferred for rear view mirrors in motor cars.
[Foreign,2011]
11. State the type of mirror preferred as (i) rear view mirror in vehicles, (ii) shaving mirror. (iii) Headlights of
a car (iv) Rear-view mirror of vehicles (vi) Solar furnace. Justify your answer giving two reasons in each case.
[Delhi/ All India/Foreign/,2012]
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTION [5 Marks]
1. Draw the ray diagram in each case to show the position and nature of the image formed when the object
is placed:
(i) at the centre of curvature of a concave mirror
(ii) between the pole P and focus F of a concave mirror
(iii) in front of a convex mirror
(iv) at 2F of a convex lens
(v) in front of a concave lens [2007, Delhi]
2.(a) It is desired to obtain an erect image of an object, using a concave mirror of focal length 20 cm.
(i) What should be the range of distance of the object from the mirror?
(ii) Will the image be bigger or smaller than the object?
(iii) Draw a ray diagram to show the image formation in this case.

(b) One half a convex lens of focal length 20 cm is covered with a black paper.
(i)Will the lens produce a complete image of the object?
(ii)Show the formation of image of an object placed at 2F1 of such covered lens with the help of a ray
diagram.
(iii)How will the intensity of the image formed by half-covered lens compare with non-covered lens?
[Foreign,2008]
3. (a) If the image formed by a lens is diminished in size and erect, for all positions of the object, what type
of lens is it?
(b) Name the point on the lens through which a ray of light passes undeviated.
(c) An object is placed perpendicular to the principal axis of a convex lens of focal length 20 cm. The
distance of the object from the lens is 30 cm. Find (i) the position (ii) the magnification and (iii) the nature of
the image formed. [Delhi,2011] [v=60cm, m=-2]
4. (a) What is meant by ‘power of a lens’?
(b) State and define the S.I. unit of power of a lens.
(c) A convex lens of focal length 25 cm and a concave lens of focal length 10 cm are placed in close
contact with each other. Calculate the lens power of this combination. [All India,2011][-6D]

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)

5. а) Draw a ray diagram to show the formation of image of an object placed between infinity and the
optical centre of a concave lens.
(b) A concave lens of focal length 15 cm forms an image 10 cm from the lens. Calculate
(i) the distance of the object from the lens.
(ii) the magnification for the image formed.
(iii) the nature of the image formed. [All India,2011]
6. (a) Under what condition will a glass lens placed in a transparent liquid become invisible?
(b) Describe and illustrate with a diagram, how we should arrange two converging lenses so that a parallel
beam of light entering one lens emerges as a parallel beam after passing through the second lens.
(c) An object is placed at a distance of 3 cm from a concave lens of focal length 12 cm. Find the (i) position
and (ii) nature of the image formed. [Foreign,2011] [v=2.4cm, m=0.8]
7. (a) With the help of a ray diagram explain why a concave lens diverges the rays of a parallel beam of
light.
(b) A 2.0 cm tall object is placed perpendicular to the principal axis of a concave lens of focal length 15 cm.
At what distance from the lens, should the object be placed so that it forms an image 10 cm from the lens?
Also find the nature and the size of image formed. [Foreign,2011] [u=-30cm, m=0.33, hi=0.66]
8. List the sign conventions for reflection of light by spherical mirrors. Draw a diagram and apply these
conventions in the determination of focal length of a spherical mirror which forms three times magnified real
image of an object placed 16 cm in front of it. [Delhi,2012] [v=-48cm, f=-12cm]
9. State the law of refraction of light that defines the refractive index of a medium with respect to the other.
Express it mathematically. How is refractive index of any medium ‘A’ with respect to a medium ‘B’ related to
the speed of propagation of light in two media A and B? State the name of this constant when one medium
is vacuum or air.
The refractive indices of glass and water with respect to vacuum are 3/2 and 4/3 respectively. If the speed
of light in glass is 2 x 108 m/s, find the speed of light in (i) vacuum, (ii) water. [Delhi 2012]

More Questions
1. List four characteristics of the images formed by plane mirrors. (CBSE 2015)
2. Draw a ray diagram to show the path of the reflected ray corresponding to an incident ray which is
directed parallel to the principal axis of a convex mirror. Mark on it the angle of incident and the angle of
reflection (CBSE 2014)
3. A spherical mirror produces an image of magnification -1 on a screen placed at a distance of 50 cm
from the mirror.
(a) Write the type of mirror.
(b) Find the distance of the image from the object.
(c) What is the focal length of the mirror?
(d) Draw the ray diagram to show the image formation in this case. (CBSE 2014)
4. State the laws of refraction of light. If the speed of light in vacuum is 3X108 ms-1, find the speed of light
in a medium of absolute refractive index 1.5. (CBSE 2014)
5. Which phenomenon is responsible for making the path of light visible? (CBSE 2012)
6. When we place a glass prism in the path of a narrow beam of white light a spectrum is obtained.
7. What happens when a second identical prism is placed in an inverted position with respect to the first
prism? Draw a labelled ray diagram to illustrate it. (CBSE 2012)
8. The power of the lens is -4.0D. What is the nature of this lens? (CBSE 2008)
9. Which type of mirror is used to give erect and enlarged image of an object? (CBSE 2008)
10. Draw the ray diagram and also state the position, the relative size and the nature of image formed by
a concave mirror when the object is placed at the centre of curvature of the mirror. (CBSE 2011)

Compiled by-Mithu Kundu (GS, IISJ)