Chapter 2:

Reflection and
Refraction
Physics 72 11:45- 12:45 pm
November 5, 2014
TWHFV-x

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Reflection and Refraction
 The plane wave
segments can be
represented by
beams of light

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Reflection and Refraction
 For simplicity, we only
consider a single ray

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Reflection and Refraction
 Incident, reflected and
refracted rays

 The directions are

described in terms of the
angle they make with
respect to the normal.

 Angle of incidence, angle

of reflection, angle of
refraction.
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Reflection
 Specular reflection –
surface is smooth

 Diffuse reflection –
surface is rough

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Recall: Index of refraction

c
n
v
 Dimensionless
 Light always travels more slowly in a material than in
vacuum.
 n>1
 ↑ n, ↓ v
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Laws of reflection
and refraction

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Law of reflection
 Law of reflection
 incident
  reflected

 True even for diffuse

reflection!

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Law of Refraction / Snell’s law
na sin a  nb sin b
 Case 1: nb > na

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Law of Refraction / Snell’s law
na sin a  nb sin b
 Case 2: nb < na

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Law of Refraction / Snell’s law
na sin  a  nb sin b

 Case 3: incident is along the normal

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Snell’s law
 Snell’s law is the reason
why a half submerged
straight object appears
bent

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Index of Refraction and wave aspects of light

 Upon moving from one material to another,

 Frequency does not change

f  fo
 Wavelength decreases
c v o
f 
o



n
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Problem Solving strategies
 Make a drawing

 Angles with respect to normal

 Geometry and trigonometry

 Frequency of light does not change

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Reflection. Two plane mirrors with the same length L
intersect at right angles. A light strikes the first of them at
L/2. Find x.
i  refl  30 L
L/2
tan  refl 
x X
30o
L/2 L
x 
tan(30 )
1
x
3
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 Refraction. Light passes from a material with index of
refraction 1.0 into another material with index of refraction
1.4. Compared to the incident ray, the refracted ray
___________.
na sin a  nb sin b
A.is undeflected.
(1) sin a  (1.4) sin b
B.travels at a faster speed.
sin  a  sin b
C.bends toward the normal.
 a  b
D.bends away from the normal.

E.bends parallel to the surface.

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A ray of monochromatic (single-color) light in air falls on the upper
surface of two transparent parallel-sided slabs of different indices of
refraction. The index of refraction of the lower slab is approximately
__________.
A.√6
B.√3
C.√2 45o na
D.(√3)/2
E.½
nb
Red: (1) sin( 60)  na sin( 45)

Blue: na sin( 45)  nb sin(30) 3 1

 nb  
(1) sin(60)  nb sin(30) 2 2
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 Chapter 3:
Total Internal Reflection

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Total Internal Reflection
 We have seen that light
can be partially
reflected and refracted.

 In some situations, all

light can be reflected

 Total Internal Reflection

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Total Internal Reflection
 Only occurs when na > n b

 Critical Angle
 The refracted ray emerges
tangent to the surface

 
na sin  c  nb sin 90 o

 nb 
c  sin  
1
n1 > n2
 na 
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Total Internal Reflection
 Fiber optics  Gives the sparkle of diamond

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Yellow sodium light is incident on an aquarium from air.
At what condition will total internal reflection occur?

A.TIR will never occur

TIR only happens
B.θi > sin-1(1.33/1.00)
when n1 > n2
C. θi < sin-1(1.33/1.00)

D. θi > sin-1(1.00/1.33)

E. θi < sin-1(1.00/1.33)

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A light source is at the bottom of a pool with index of refraction
equal to √2. At what minimum angle of incidence will a ray
travel at the liquid-air interface?

A. 0o

B. 30o

C. 45o

D. 60o

E. 90o
 nair   1 
c  sin 
1   sin 

1

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n
 pool   2 23
 Chapter 4:
Dispersion

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Dispersion
 White light is a superposition of waves with different
wavelengths.

 In vacuum, the speed of light is the same for ALL

wavelengths.

 However, when light enters a material the wavespeed

and the index of refraction is dependent on the
wavelength

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Dispersion
 Dependence of the index of refraction on the
wavelength of the wave

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Dispersion curve
 Shows the dependence of the
index of refraction on
wavelength in vacuum.

 Lower wavelength, higher

index - larger deviation

 Violet light deviated most;

red light deviated least

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Rainbows
 Combined effect of dispersion, refraction and reflection

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Rainbows

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Rainbows

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Quiz
A beam of light strikes a sheet of glass at an angle of
60.0o with the normal in air. You observe that red
light makes an angle of 45.0o with the normal in the
glass, while violet light makes a 30.0o angle.
 What are the indices of refraction of this glass for these
colors of light?
 What are the speeds of red and violet light in the glass?
3
nred  ; nviolet  3
2
2
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vred 3 108 ; vviolet  3 108 31