Light

Ray:

A straight line with an arrow to show the direction of wave propagation.

Beam:

Many rays combined together form a beam.

Monochromatic light (Laser)

A light of a single wavelength is call monochromatic.

Section – 1
Reflection
“It’s the bouncing back of light in the same medium after striking the boundary of
another medium”.

Laws Of reflection:
There are two laws

a) 1st Law:

“The angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection with the normal”

Angle i = Angle r
Note: Both angle i & r are measured with the normal.
b) 2nd Law:
“The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence all lie on
the same plane”.
Normal: “It’s an imaginary line perpendicular to the boundary of two surfaces”
Types of reflection:
Regular reflection
Light reflects from a smooth surface at the same angle as it hits the surface.
For a smooth surface, reflected light rays travel in the same direction. This is
called regular reflection.
Diffuse or Irregular reflection:
Most of the objects in the everyday world are not smooth on the microscopic level.
For a rough surface, reflected light rays scatter in all directions. This is called diffuse
reflection.

Reflection By Plane Mirror:

Note:
To form the image we need two reflected rays. When the reflected rays are extended
beyond the mirror than the point of intersection give the image position.
The image formed by plane mirror has the following properties:
A plane mirror always forms a virtual image (behind the mirror).
The image and object are the same distance from a flat mirror,
The image size is the same as the object size,
The image is upright.
The image is laterally inverted i,e the image of his right hand appears to be the left hand
of the image.
The line joining the object with image is always perpendicular to the line of action of
the mirror boundary.
Virtual Image: It’s the one which can’t be obtained on the screen.

Mirror Periscope:
A periscope is an optical instrument that uses a system of prisms, lenses or mirrors to
reflect images through a tube. It is used to view the objects which are not in the line of
sight.
It is made of hollow tube with mirrors placed at 450 angle to the walls of the tube, as
shown below

Note:
It’s important that mirrors are placed at 450 angle with the walls, because light always
reflect from mirror at the same angle that it hits it. So only this ways light is directed
to the eyes.
Image type:
Up- right or erect, same size, same distance and virtual.
Disadvantage:
Any deposition of moisture of dust on the mirror reduces the reflection almost to nil,
and hence, the periscope cannot be used in places where there is a lot of dust or
moisture.
Section – 2
Refraction
“It’s the passing of light from one medium to another”.
Note:
When the light passes from rare medium to denser medium it bends towards the
normal and while from denser to rare it bends away from the normal (if it doesn’t fall
along the normal).

Laws of refraction:
There are two laws;
1. The incident ray, refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence all
lie on the same plane.
2. When the light travel from rare to denser medium than the ration between sini to
sinr is always constant for the same two mediums.

sin i
= constant
sin r
This constant is called Refractive index (n).
So,
 sin i
n = sin r ……………….. n = refractive index of denser medium

This law is called Snell’s law.

Note: 1
‘n’ tells us about the optical density of the denser medium.
For diamond n = 2.4 ………… it is maximum
n ¿ 1 …………. always (For air n ≈ 1)
Note: 2
Refractive index is a measure of how light propagates through a material. 
The higher the refractive index the slower the light travels, which increases the change
in the direction of the light within the material.
Note: 3
For the light ray passing from a denser medium (such as glass to vacuum) to a less
dense medium,

1 sin i
=
n sin r
……………….. n = refractive index of denser medium.

Alternate Formulas For ‘n’:

speed of light ∈ vaccume c
n = speed of light ∈medium = v

Also;
Real depth hr
n = Apperent depth = h
a
Total Internal Reflection: (TIR)
Definition:
“It’s the bouncing back of light in the same denser medium while striking the boundary
of rare medium”.
Explanation:

As shown, a ray of light passes from water to air. Since it passes from a medium of a
higher refractive index to that having a lower refractive index, the refracted light ray
bends away from the normal.
At a specific angle of incidence, the incident ray of light is refracted in such a way that it
passes along the surface of the water. This particular angle of incidence is called the
critical angle (C). Here the angle of refraction is 90 degrees.
When the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, the incident ray is
reflected back to the medium. We call this phenomenon total internal reflection.
Note:
Following are the two conditions of total internal reflection:
 The light ray moves from a more denser medium to less dense medium.
 The angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle.
Critical angle: (C)
Definition:
“The angle of incidence for which the angle of refraction becomes 90-degrees or the
refracted ray starts travelling along the boundary”.
Calculating C:

Since the light is travelling from denser to rare medium, so according to Snell’s law;
1 sin i
=
n sin r

1 sin C sin C
Or =
n sin 90
= 1

1
Or C = sin-1( n )

For example;
1
n = 1.5 ….. for glass, so C = sin-1( 1.5 ) = 430

Application of total internal reflection:

1. Optical Fiber:

It’s a thing glass rod made by coating a low refractive index glass upon high refractive
Index. These are used in telecommunication to transfer data. The data is sent in the
form of light pulses which can travel under total internal reflection.
Advantages:
 Fast communication.
 Much secure i.e data can’t be stolen.
  Cheap to produce & easy to handle (Light weight compare to copper).

 Resistant to chemical corrosion.

Disadvantage:
 It’s fragile.
2. Prism Periscope:

As shown the light enters and leaves the prism along the normal direction only if the
prisms are 450 angle. As the angle the ray of light makes with the normal inside the
prism is 450 normal which is more than critical angle of glass so It goes under total
internal reflection.
Note:
If the light doesn’t fall on the prism along the normal than it undergo dispersion.
Advantage:
Prisms might be more durable and give sharper images
Mirrors also may oxidize over time, while a prism will last practically forever without
changing.
Mirage Effect:
Mirage is caused due to total Internal Reflection of light by the various layers of air. It is
an optical illusion which is responsible for the appearance of the water layer at short
distances in a desert or on the road. 
The closer the air is to the ground, the hotter it will be, and its refractive index will be
smaller whereas the air above is cooler with high refractive index. Thus Light goes under
total internal reflection.
Section – 3
Lenses
A lens is a piece of transparent material that is shaped so as to cause light rays to bend
in a specific way as they pass through it, whether that means making the rays converge
to a specific point or to diverge as if from a specific point.
There lenses are of many types but the two main types of are:
Convex Lens (Converging) and Concave Lens (Diverging)
1. Convex Lens (Converging):
It is thick in the middle and thin at the ends.

A convex lens is also called a converging lens because it makes parallel light rays passing
through it bend inward and meet (converge) at a spot just beyond the lens known as the
focal point.
2. Concave Lens:
It is thin in the middle and thick at the ends.
A concave lens is also called a diverging lens because it makes parallel light rays passing
through it bend outward and the rays seems to be coming out of the focal point.
Important Terminologies:
1. Optical Centre or Pole (p):
It’s the geometrical centre of the lens.
2. Centre Of Curvature: (C)
It’s the centre of the spherical surface from which the lens is taken.
3. Principle axis:
It’s the straight line passing from the two centre of curvatures.
4. Principle focus or Focal point: (f)
It’s the mid-point between centre of curvature and the optical centre.
5. Focal Length:
It’s the distance of focal point from optical centre.
Note:
2f = C
Rays used for image formation:
Any two of the following three rays can be used to form an image;
i. A ray parallel to principle axis passes from focal point on the other side.

ii. A ray passing through optical centre passes straight, without a change in
direction.
iii. A ray passing through ‘f’ becomes parallel to the principle axis after passing
through lens.

Image Formation By Convex Lens:

Note:
The object can be placed at 5 different positions in front of the lens i,e beyond ‘C’, at ‘C’
between ‘C’ and ‘f’, at ‘f’ and between ‘f’ and ‘p’.
So the images will be formed accordingly.
1. Object beyond ‘C’:

Image:
Inverted, real, diminished and between f & 2f on the other side of the lens.
2. Object at ‘2f’ or ‘C’:

Image:
Inverted, real, same size and at 2f on the opposite side.
3. Object between ‘C’ & ‘f’:
Image:
Inverted, real, magnified and Beyond ‘C’ on opposite side.
Note:
When the object is brought closer to lens from beyond ‘C’ towards ‘f’, the image moves
away from lens and its size increases.
4. Object at ‘f’:

In such case the rays are parallel to each other and will not meet.
Image:
Undefined or formed at infinity.
5. Object between ‘f’ & ‘p’:

Image:
Upright, Enlarged, virtual and on the same side of the lens as the object.
Note:
When the object is brought just with in the focal point it’s image is most magnified. But
as it is brought closer to optical centre its size decreases.
Especial Case:
Object at infinity: A distance more than 100 times of the focal length is assumed to be
infinity. In such case the rays are to be parallel to the principle axis and they meet at the
focal point. So the image is formed at focal point. The size of the image is much smaller
than object.
Note: Ray diagrams must ALWAYS have arrows to indicate direction of the ray.
Image formed by concave lens:
When an object is placed at infinity, a virtual image is formed at the focus. The size of
the image is much smaller than that of the object.

When an object is placed at a finite distance from the lens, a virtual image is formed
between the pole and the focus of the convex lens. The size of the image is smaller than
that of the object.

Note:
The image by concave lens is always;
 located on the object' side of the lens
 a virtual image
 an upright image
 reduced in size (i.e., smaller than the object)
Linear Magnification:
Definition:
“It is the ratio between image size by object size”
M = Image ¿ ¿ Object ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿
As the image distance increase, its size also increases, so magnification can also be
defined as;
Image distance
Or M = Object distance
Uses Of Lenses:
Magnifying Glass:
A magnifying glass is a convex lens used to make an object appear much larger than it
actually is. This works when the object is placed at a distance from the lens of less than
one focal length.

Short – sightedness:
Short sightedness is common eye condition that causes distant objects to appear
blurred, while close objects can be seen clearly.
The image is formed short of retina.
Such defect can be removed by using diverging lens, as shown below
Long – sightedness:
Long-sightedness affects the ability to see nearby objects. You may be able to see
distant objects clearly, but closer objects are usually out of focus.
The image is formed behind of retina.
Such defect can be removed by using converging lens, as shown below
Short – sightedness Long – sightedness
Projector:

As shown, a projector has a bright light source (The concave mirror is used increase the
light intensity). The function of condenser is to produce a parallel beam.
The projector lens is moveable, when the object is brought just within its focal length a
magnified inverted image is formed on the screen.
Note:
To get the upright image the object is placed inverted.
Camera:

Image:
Real, inverted and diminished.
Note:
The aperture control the amount of light & the shutter control the duration of light.

Section – 4
Dispersion
It’s the splitting of white light into seven different colors after passing through prism.
The range of colors produced is called spectrum.
Note:
The color of longest wavelength (Red) bends the least & the shortest (Violet) bends the
most.
Note:
Infra-red will bend less than red (above red in spectrum) and it detected by using
thermocouple.
Whereas, ultra violet will bend more than violet (below violet) and is detected by using
fluorescent screen.
Angle of deviation:
It’s the angle between line of action of incident ray and that of emergent ray, as shown
below

Note:
DRed ¿ DViolet D = Angle of deviation
Pure spectrum:
 A spectrum in which there is overlapping of different colours is called an impure
spectrum. In other words, in an impure spectrum, the colours are not distinct and
independent but they overlap.
On the other hand, a spectrum with each colour distinct and independent is called
a pure spectrum.
To produce pure spectrum a prism between two converging lenses.
The source is placed at the focal point of 1st lens, which make the beam parallel. Then
the screen is placed at the focal point of 2nd lens, so each colour can be spotted
independently.