Physics 116

Lecture 17
Refraction and lenses
Oct 27, 2010

R. J. Wilkes
Email: ph116@u.washington.edu
Lecture Schedule
(up to exam 2)

Today
2
Last time: Simple case: Refraction at a plane surface

•! Light bends at interface between refractive indices

–! bends more the larger the difference in refractive index
–! can be effectively viewed as a “least time” behavior
•! get from A to B faster if you spend less time in the slow medium
–! Object at B appears to be at location B’
•! Fish in tank appears to be displaced
•! Put your feet in the lake and they seem bent
A
Exact formula:
!1 n1sin!1 = n2sin!2
n1 = 1.0
n2 = 1.5

!2

B B’
3
 Reflections, and refractive optical illusion
•! In a thick piece of glass (n = 1.5), the light paths are as shown
–! About 4% of light energy is reflected from the surface (mirrorlike)
•! Same thing happens at back surface (4% of that gets re-reflected
from the inside front surface, and ends up going out the far side also…)

Apparent direction
A to object
n0 = 1.0 n1 = 1.5 n2 = 1.0
incoming ray
from object object appears displaced
(100%) due to jog inside glass
96%
8% reflected in two
reflections (front & back)
4%
92% transmitted
~ 4% 0.16% B
4
 FYI: Fermat’s principle here too

Least-time principle applies to refraction also:

Actual path is quickest path, taking into account changes in
light speed!
•! Fermat’s Least-Time principle
–! Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician, 1601-1665
•! Best known for “Fermat’s Last Theorem”
Has solutions (Pythagoras)
But
Never works, if N>2
•! Wrote a friend just before he died “I have discovered a truly
remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain” –
but he never got to explain
•! F’s Last Theorem was finally proven true in 1994 (by A. Wiles,
Princeton U.)
5
Underwater refraction: Total Internal Reflection
•! Looking up toward air from under water, refraction bends light
rays away from normal (going from higher to lower n)
•! For large angle of incidence, angle of refraction becomes >90° !
–! thereafter, you get total internal reflection
–! for glass, the critical internal angle is 42°, for water, it’s 49°
–! a ray within the higher index medium cannot escape at greater
incidence angles (look at sky from underwater…can’t see out!)
Shallow-angle
At critical angle, rays escape
refracted ray hugs surface n1 = 1.0
n2 = 1.5
At steeper angles,
rays are 100% 42°
reflected

–! Same principle is used to confine light within optical fibers

6
 Polarization by reflection
•! David Brewster (1781-1868): !I !R
Found that when !T - !R = 90deg n1
reflected light is polarized parallel to surface
n2
(perpendicular to plane of incidence) 90deg

By Snell's Law: !T

Brewster (polarizing) angle:

e.g., air/glass has !B = tan -1(1.5)= 57deg

Reason:
–! incident light has E components parallel and perpendicular to plane of incidence
–! reflected light can only have component perpendicular to plane of incidence for !R = !T
+ 90deg
•! Parallel component would have to be along propagation direction = longitudinal
wave!
 Refraction at curved surfaces: Lenses

•! Lenses = medium with higher n than air, with curved surfaces

Lens with curved surfaces front and back

(double-convex) bends light twice, each time
refracting incoming ray towards normal line.
Snell’s law of refraction applies at each surface.
(One curved/one flat surface = plano-convex;
inward cuving = concave lens)
•! Convex (positive or converging ) lens: thicker at center than edges
–! Positive lens (by convention, we say its focal length f is positive)
focuses parallel incoming rays to a point at distance f behind it

Focal length may be given in m or mm.

Optometrists instead specify “refracting
power” in diopters: higher power = shorter f
F (in diopters) = 1/(f in meters)
+1 diopter lens has f=1 m
+2 diopter lens has f=1/2 m 8
 Diverging lenses

•! Concave (negative or diverging ) lens: thinner at center than

edges
–! Negative lens (we say its f is negative) makes parallel incoming
rays bend outwards, so it seems as if light were coming from a
point in front of the lens (focal point)
Converging (+) Diverging (-)
Negative lens

f
Meniscus lenses
•! Meniscus lens: has both sided curved in the same direction, but
one surface is more sharply curved than the other
–! Commonly used for eyeglasses
–! Can be either positive or negative (thicker at center, or thinner)

9
 Ray tracing rules for lenses

Ray tracing rules for a (simple, thin) lens are:

1) Rays arriving parallel to the axis emerge to pass through the back focal point
2) Rays passing through the front focal point emerge parallel to the axis
3) Rays through center of the lens are undeviated

This lens setup could be used as a

object 1 camera, or a slide projector

3 f
o o o
Focal pt 2
Focal pt

Object distance image

Image distance
dO dI

Rays from object tip re-converge at a point, forming a

real, inverted, magnified image there
 When object is close to converging lens

1) Rays arriving parallel to the axis emerge to pass through the back focal point
2) Rays through center of the lens are undeviated
3) Rays do not re-converge – image is virtual
Gazing through the lens toward
the object, we see rays
object appearing to emerge from a
2 virtual, erect, magnified image
image 1
f
o o o
Focal pt
Focal pt

Object distance
dO
This lens setup could be used as a
magnifying glass
Image distance
dI
 Diverging lens, distant object

1) Rays arriving parallel to the axis emerge as if they came from the focal point
2) Rays through center of the lens are undeviated
3) The intersection of these rays shows image location, orientation, and size

image
This lens could be used in
object 1 eyeglasses for a nearsighted person
2
o o o
Focal pt
f
Gazing through the lens toward
Object distance
the object, we see rays
dO appearing to emerge from a
virtual, erect, demagnified image
Image distance that is closer than the object
dI
 Diverging lens, nearby object

1) Rays arriving parallel to the axis emerge as if they came from the focal point
2) Rays through center of the lens are undeviated
3) The intersection of these rays shows image location, orientation, and size

object image
1
2
o o o
Focal pt
f

Object distance Very little difference – image just

dO moves a bit closer to the lens

Image distance
dI
 Ray tracing applet – try it yourself

http://silver.neep.wisc.edu/~shock/tools/ray.html
(original source http://webphysics.davidson.edu/Applets/Optics4/Intro.html)