DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL

NACHARAM

• Light- It is a form of energy which creates a sense of vision.

• It has dual nature which travels in the form of rays and waves,
particle theory and wave theory of light respectively.
• Rectilinear Propagation of light- Property of light travelling in straight
lines.
• Reflection of light- The bouncing back of light rays after striking a
surface back into the same medium.
• Types of Reflection-
i.Regular reflection
ii.Irregular reflection or diffused reflection

• Laws of reflection of light:-

I LAW :The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal
lie on the same plane.
II LAW :The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
 • Note:If a ray strikes the surface at 90 , or passes through
0

the normal then, angle of incidence would be equal to the

angle of
reflection .

i.e ˪i = ˪r = 0

• Image :- It is a point where the reflected rays either meet or appear to

meet.
• Differences between real and virtual images:-

Real Image Virtual Image

Reflected rays meet at a point Reflected rays appear to

point.
Can be caught on a screen Cannot be caught on a
screen.
Always inverted. Always erect
Concave mirrors ,pin hole camera .. Convex mirrors, concave lens ..

Mirror: A smooth highly polished reflecting surface is

called a mirror. It is of different types- Plane mirrors,
spherical mirrors etc
 Characteristics of the Image formed by a plane mirror:-

i.Virtual and erect

ii.Laterally inverted

iii.Object distance is equal to image distance

iv.Same size

Spherical mirrors: A mirror whose polished reflecting surface is a part

of a hollow sphere is called a spherical mirror. These are of two types
concave mirror and convex mirror.
Concave mirror: A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved
inwards, facing towards the centre of the sphere.
Convex mirror: A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved
outwards.

Terms related to spherical mirrors:

 1. Aperture:- The effective width of a spherical mirror from
which the reflection takes place.
2. Pole:- the centre of a spherical mirror is called pole.
3. Centre of Curvature:- The centre of the hollow sphere of
which the spherical mirror is a part of.
4. Radius of Curvature:- The radius of the hollow sphere of which the
reflecting surface of a spherical mirror forms a part.

5. Principal Axis:- A straight line passing through the centre of curvature

and pole.
6. Normal:- It is a straight line obtained by joining any point of the
spherical mirror with the centre of curvature.
7. Focus:- The point on the principal axis where all the reflected rays
meet or appear to meet.
8. Focal length:- The distance between the pole and the focus.
Note : Relation between focal length and radius of curvature
is given by F= R/2 (OR )R= 2F

Rules to draw ray diagrams:-

1. If a ray passes parallel to the principal axis, it reflects through focus.

2. When a ray passes through focus, it reflects parallel to the principal

axis.
 3. If the ray passes through the centre of curvature, it reflects back in
the same path.

4. If a ray strikes obliquely at the pole of the mirror, it reflects

back from the same point with the same angle.

Ray diagrams using

concave mirror
1.Object at infinity
 Nature of the image:-
• Real and inverted
• At focus
• Highly diminished

2. Object: Beyond centre of curvature (or) between

infinity and centre of curvature

Nature of the image:-

• Real and inverted
• Between centre of curvature and focus
• Diminished
3. Object : At centre of curvature

Nature of the image:-

• Real and inverted
• At centre of curvature
• Same size
• 4.Object : between centre of curvature and focus
 Nature of image:-
• Real and inverted
• Beyond centre of curvature
• Magnified

5. Object: At focus

Nature of image:-

• Real and inverted

• At infinity
• Highly magnified
6. Object : Between focus and pole

Nature of the image:-

• Virtual and erect
• Behind the mirror
• Highly magnified
• Table showing object position, image position and the
nature of the image formed by a concave mirror for
different cases:

Position of the Position of the Nature of the image Size of the image
object image
At infinity At F Real and Inverted Diminished
 At F At infinity Real and inverted Magnified
Beyond C Between C & F Real and inverted Diminished
Between C & F Beyond C Real and inverted Magnified
At C At C Real and inverted Same size
Between F and P Behind the mirror Virtual and Erect Magnified

Images formed by convex mirror

i.Object: At infinity

Nature of the image-

• Virtual and erect
• Behind mirror at F
• Highly diminished
ii. Object : anywhere between infinity and pole

Nature of the image:

• Virtual and erect
• Behind the mirror
• Highly diminished
NOTE- Convex mirrors always produce virtual, erect and diminished
image.

Uses of a concave mirror:

 1. concave mirror is used as reflector in torch lights , search light, head lights
etc.
2. It is used as dentist's head mirror.
Uses of a convex mirror:
1. It is used as reflector in street lamps.
2. It is used as a rear view mirror in vehicles.
NOTE:Drivers use convex mirror as rear view mirror because a convex
mirror diverges the incident beam of light and always forms virtual, small
and erect image between the pole and focus. Also convex mirrors provide
a wider field of view

SIGN CONVENTION

• The object is always placed to the left of the mirror. This

implies that the light from the object falls on the mirror from
the left hand side.
• All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the
pole of the mirror.
• All the distances measured to the right of the origin (along the + x
axis) are taken as positive while those measured to the left of the
origin (along the – x axis) are taken as negative
• Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis
(along the + y axis) is taken as positive.
• Distances measured perpendicular and below the principal axis
(along the – y axis) is taken as negative.
 Concave mirror Convex mirror
u -ve -ve
v -ve (+ve if the object is +ve
between F an P )
f -ve +ve
r -ve +ve
h (or) h +ve
o +ve
h (or) h’ -ve (+ve if the object is
i +ve
between F an P )

Mirror formula:- The relation between u, v, f is given by the formula

1/v +1/u = 1/f

Where u= object
distance v=
image
distance f=
focal
length
Magnification: It is represented as the ratio of the height of the image to
the ratio of the height of the object. Magnification is denoted as the letter
‘m’. Where,
magnification (m) = h’ / h
Where, h’ is the image height and h is the object height.
Magnification can also be related to the image distance and object distance;
therefore it can also be written as:
m = -v/u
Where v is the image distance and u is the
object distance. Hence, the expression for
magnification (m) becomes:
m = h’/h
= -v/u
NOTE:
• Case (i): If magnification is equal to 1, then, h= h’ or v=u
• Case (ii): If magnification is less than 1, then, h’<h or v<u
• Case (iii): If magnification is more than 1 then, h’>h, v>u

NOTE : Minus (-) in magnification represents that the image formed is

real and inverted , Plus (+) in magnification represents that the image
formed is virtual and erect .
For ex: If the magnification of the image formed is -1.5 then, minus
(-) represents real and inverted and since 1.5 is greater than 1, image
is magnified.
If the magnification of the image formed is +1.5 then, plus (+)
represents virtual and erect and since 1.5 is greater than 1, image
is magnified.
NOTE: Image formed by a plane mirror is +1 , here plus
represents virtual and erect and since 1is equal to one, the image
size will be equal to object size.

Refraction of light
• The bending of a ray of light when it passes from one medium to another is
called refraction.
• When a ray of light travels from an optically rarer medium to an
optically denser medium ,it bends towards the normal
When a ray of light travels from an optically denser medium
to an optically rarer medium ,it bends away from the normal

• When a ray of light travels from an

optically rarer medium to an optically
denser medium , and then into rarer

medium.

LAWS OF REFRACTON OF LIGHT

1. The incident ray ,the refracted ray

and the normal lie at the same point
and the same plane.

2. The ratio of the sine of angle of incidence to the sine of angle of

refraction for a particular pairof media is constant

Which is also called as Snell’s law

This constant value is called as the refractive index and is

denoted by the symbol n . n = sin i / sin r

 Note : The refractive index of a medium gives the light bending ability of that

medium

Consider a ray of light travelling from medium 1 into medium 2 .Let v be the
1

speed of light in medium1 and v be the speed of light in medium 2. Then the
2

refractive index of medium 2 with respect to medium 1 is given by the ratio of the
speed of light in medium and the speed of light in medium 2 and is usually
represented as :

• Relative Refractive Index : When light passes from one medium to

another medium (other than vacuum or air ) then the value of refractive
index is called Relative refractive index.

Ex. When light is going

from water into glass

It is written as water n glass

(or) n
w g

• Absolute Refractive Index : When light passes from vacuum to

any other medium thenthe value of refractive index is called
Absolute refractive index.
Ex. When light is going

from vacuum into glass It is

written as n glass

• Relation between Refractive Index of a medium and the speed of light :

Note : Speed of light in any medium depends upon its wavelength and
frequency or f
 • Refractive index of medium 2 with respect to medium 1 is equal to
the ratio of therefractive index of the medium 2 to that of medium 1,
i.e n = n \ n
21 2 1

• Refractive index of medium 1 with respect to medium 2 is reciprocal

to the refractive index of the medium 2 with respect medium 1, i.e n12

=1\n 21

NOTE Speed of light in air or vacuum is 3 x 10 m\s 8

Lateral Displacement

The perpendicular distance of separation between the emergent ray and the original
path of the incident ray is called lateral displacement. It increases with

• increase in the thickness of the medium

• increase in the angle of incidence
• increase in the refractive index of the medium
• decrease in the wavelength of the light

Concave lens : A lens which is thinner in the middle and thicker at

the edges . It is a diverging lens
 TERMS RELATED TO LENS

• Aperture : The effective width of a lens from which refraction takes place is called its
aperture .
• Optical center : The center of a lens is called its optical center .If a ray
passes through it it does not undergo any deviation.
• Principal Axis: A line passing through the optical center and perpendicular to
both the faces of the lens is called its principal axis .
• Pricipal Focus : A Point on the principal axis at which parallel rays after
refraction converge or appear to diverge from it.
• Focal Length : The distance between the focus and the center of the lens .
• Power of lens : The reciprocal of the focal length of a lens measured
in meters is called its power.It is denoted by P
• Power = 1 / focal length (m) (or ) Power = 100 / f(cm)

• Rules to draw ray diagrams of lens

Rule I: A ray passing parallel to principal axis after refraction passes through the
focus

Rule II : A ray passing through the focus after refraction passes parallel to the
principal axis

Rule III : A ray passing through optical center does not undergo any refraction

Raydiagrams using
convex lens
 1.Object at
infinity

Nature of the image:-

• Real and inverted
• At F1

• Highly diminished
∙

• 2.Object: Beyond 2F (or)1 between infinity and 2F 1

Nature of the image:-

• Real and inverted
• Between 2F and F
2 2

• Diminished

3. Object : At 2F 1

Nature of the image:-

• Real and inverted
 • At 2F 2

• Same size
4. Object : between 2F and F 1 1

Nature of image:-
• Real and inverted
• Beyond 2F 2

• Magnified

5. Object: At focus

Nature of image:-
• Real and inverted
• At infinity
• Highly magnified
6. Object : Between F and Optical centre
1

Nature of the image:-

 • Virtual and erect
• On the same side of the object
• Highly magnified

Table showing object position, image position and the nature

of the image formed by a convex lens for different cases:

CASE OBJECT POSITION NATURE OF THE IMAGE , POSITION AND SIZE

Fig a At infinity Real and Inverted ; at F ; Highly diminished

Fig b Beyond 2F1 Real and Inverted ; between F2 and 2F2 ; Diminished
Fig c at 2F1 Real and Inverted ; at 2F2 ; same size

Fig d Between 2F1 and F1 Real and Inverted ; beyond2F2 ; Magnified

Fig e At F1 Real and Inverted ; at infinity ; Highly magnified

Fig f Between F1 and O Virtual and Erect ; On the same side of the object ; Enlarged

Images formed by concave Lens

CaseI : Object at infinity

Nature Of the Image :

Virtual and Erect

On the same

side of the

object (at F1)

 Highly

diminished

Case II : Object anywhere between infinity and O

Nature Of the Image :

Virtual and Erect ;

On the same side of the object

; Diminished

Sign Convention For Spherical Lenses

CONVEX LENS CONCAVE LENS

U -ve -ve
V +ve (-ve only when the object is between F1 and O ) -ve

f +ve -ve
R +ve -ve
h +ve +ve
h’ -ve (+ve only when the object is between F1 and O ) +ve

Lens Formula : The relationship between object distance (u) ,image distance (v) and
focal length (f) of the lens is given by the formula
Magnification Produced by Lens : The linear magnification produced by a lens is
equal to the ratio of image distance to the object distance
(or) Ratio of height of the image to the height of the object
One Dioptre :
One Dioptre is the power of a lens whose focal length is one meter.

NOTE: A lens of short focal length will have more power where as , a lens of long
focal length will have less power
The power of convex lens is +ve, and the power of concave lens is – ve.

When two or more lens are combined : P = P1 + P2 = 1 / f1 + 1 / f2

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