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Light Notes
Light Notes
Light Notes
Reflection:
Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror? Well, that is what reflection is.
Reflection is the “bouncing back” of light from a smooth polished surface. In other
words, it is the rebounding of light.
Below are some definitions that you should know when understanding reflection:
Angle of Incidence: The angle that is formed between the incident ray and the
normal.
Reflected Ray: The ray of light that bounces off the reflecting surface.
Angle of reflection: The angle between the normal and the reflected ray.
When talking about reflection, it is important to discuss the topic: The characteristics of
a plane mirror image. So, let me tell you about this.
You will understand more about these characteristics when I will tell you how to find the
position of an image (formed by a plane mirror).
A ray diagram is the representation of the paths light can take to travel. We use ray
diagrams to locate the position of the object from an image.
1. First of all, draw an incoming ray from the object (towards the mirror).
2. Now, draw the normal (perpendicular line) and mark the angle of incidence.
3. Since the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, draw the reflected
ray.
5. Finally, trace back the lines and the point where they intersect (meet) will give
you the image.
The regular reflection is clear and sharp such as from a plane mirror. This is because
the reflecting surface (such as a mirror) is uniform.
In simple words, refraction is the bending of light (it can also be sound and water) as it
travels from one substance to the other. Actually, it is the change in speed that causes
this bending.
For example, when the light moves from air to water, it slows down which causes it to
bend.
Now, let’s talk about some other important concepts related to refraction.
Further reading:
Snell’s Law:
The refractive index (n) is the measure of the bending of light when it moves from one
medium to the other. In simple words, it shows how much the light ray would bend.
In short, here is the formula that we will use for the calculations in future.
But before moving on, I have a question for you to practise to see how the formula
mentioned above can be used in calculations.
Question:
From the diagram, we know that the refractive index (n) is 1.5, and the angle of
incidence is 57°.
Important Note: Before finding the critical angle, you need to know about the Principle
of reversibility. In simple words, if the light moves from a denser (water or glass) to a
less dense medium (air), the formula will also be reversed.
n = Sin r / Sin i
Moving on, we will talk about the critical angle in detail. But for now, you should know
that the critical angle is the angle of incidence when the angle of refraction is 90
degrees.
In Physics, if the angle of incidence is greater than the so-called critical angle, then
the total internal reflection will take place. In this case, the light reflects instead of
refracting.
We will understand this topic in detail. But for now, you should know the two
requirements for his process to occur:
Light should travel from a denser (higher refractive index) medium to a less
dense medium.
The angle of incidence should be greater than the critical angle.
Sin c = 1 / n
You should know about the use of optical fibres in telecommunication as it is very
important from an examination point of view.
An optical fibre is a (thin) rod of high-quality glass. When the light enters it, it
undergoes total internal reflection. Note that this Principle works even when an optical
fibre is bent.
Now you might be wondering, why do we use optical fibres to transmit data?
Well, they transfer data huge amounts of data with minimal loss. Plus, they are cheap
and efficient. In short, the advantages of optical fibres are:
Cheap (cost-effective)
Lightweight and flexible
Less signal degradation
Transmit large amount of data with minimal degradation
Now when you know something about total internal reflection, let’s take about lenses.
Below are some terms that you should know about when learning about lenses.
Principle axis: It is a straight line passing through the optical centre of the lens.
Optical centre: It is the centre point (mid-point) and lies on the Principle axis. Note that
if the light passes from this point, it neither converges nor diverges.
Focal point: This is the point where all the rays (parallel to the Principle axis) meet after
refraction. You should know that every lens has two focal points (on each side) defined
as F and 2F.
Focal length: It is the distance between the optical centre (C), and the focal point (F).
The image formed by the lens depends upon the position of the object from the lens.
I have given a table below that will help you remember the type of images formed.
Now, note that we use these lenses as a magnifying glass and in cameras, projectors
and photographic enlargers.
Below are some details that may help you understand the above concepts:
Magnifying glass: It is used to make objects look bigger in size. Therefore, the lens is
placed at less than f (a focal length) from the object.
Cameras: They use converging lenses to focus an image and even magnify it.
However, if we talk about a film camera (specifically), it produces a real, inverted and
diminished image.
Projectors: They create images by shining the light through a lens that is refracted.
This forms a sharp image that is real, inverted and magnified.
Note that being long-sighted means that you will not be able to see objects closer to
your eye. This is because the lens is unable to focus the rays to produce a clear image.
Therefore, we use a converging lens to focus the light rays on the retina (to produce a
sharp image).
On the other hand, short-sightedness is the exact opposite. This is because people who
are short-sighted see the objects far away blurry.
We use spectacles with a diverging lens to correct this. So in this way, we use lenses
to correct vision as well.