Professional Documents
Culture Documents
WP2; Light Waves (SDA) 1
WP2; Light Waves (SDA) 1
LIGHT
REFRACTION OF LIGHT
Refraction of light is the bending of light as it travels from one medium to another.
[N.B. Even though the light bends it always travels in a straight line.] ,
When a light ray travels from an optically less dense medium to an optically denser medium, the
rays are bent or refracted towards the normal ( i > r ).
When a light ray travels from an optically denser medium to an optically less dense medium, the
rays are bent or refracted away from the normal ( i < r ).
If the light ray passes through a glass block which has parallel sides, the emerging ray will be
parallel to the ray entering the glass block as seen in diagram below.
2
Example 1: Speed of light in air is 3.0 x 108 m/s and in glass speed of light is 2.0 x 108 m/s
= 1.5.
Snell’s Law
Refractive index can be calculated using the angle of incidence i and the angle of refraction r.
The refractive index is given by
Solution
sin r = 0.3774
r = Sin-1(0.3774) r = 22.2º
3
If the incidence angle exceeds the critical angle for any material then Total Internal Reflection
takes place.
If i > c then total internal reflection takes place. See diagram below
5
c = Sin-1(0.667)
c = 42º
Light can be trapped by total internal reflection inside the optic fibre. The light rays meet the
sides of the rod at an angle greater than the critical angle of the glass. The light rays are then
totally internally reflected inside the glass rod.
Surgeons use a device called an endoscope to examine the inside of patients’ bodies. This is
made of bundles of fibre optics.
Optical fibres can also carry telephone calls. In industry they are used to examine hidden parts.
Security personnel use fibre optics to view inside rooms were hostages are held.
Reflecting Prisms
6
Glass prisms are used to change the direction of light rays through total internal reflection.
In periscopes, 45o prisms are used instead of plane mirrors.
In car or bicycle rear reflectors, the direction of the incoming light can be reversed by two total
internal reflections.
Mirages
7
Mirages are common in hot deserts or even in a hot day in a tarred road. A traveler often sees a
pool of water ahead of him/her which is an optical illusion.
Mirages are caused by the progressive and continuous refraction of light as it passes into warmer
layers of air of changing refractive index.
The rays of light eventually become parallel to the ground, and then proceed to bend upwards as
a result of total internal reflection.
To the observer the rays of light appear to come from the road. This creates an image of the sky
on the road which looks like a pool of water.
LENSES
Lenses refract light and form images. There are two main types of lenses: The Convex
(converging) lens and Concave (diverging) lens.
Principal Axis: A path followed by a light ray as it passes through the centre of the lens and is
perpendicular to the lens.
Principal focus (F): A point on the principal axis at which all the rays seem to converge after
passing through the lens.
Optical Centre(c): The geometric centre of a lens.
8
Focal length (f): Length between the optical centre and the principal focus. This is a constant for
any given lens.
2. A ray parallel to the principal axis passes through F after leaving the lens.
NB: All rays begin from the top of the object and the bending takes place at the line passing
through the middle of the lens.
Object beyond 2F
The image is
Inverted
Real
Smaller than the object
Formed between F and 2F.
The image is
Real
9
Object at 2F
The image is
Inverted
Real
Same size as the object
Formed between F and 2F.
The lens is used in this way in various optical instruments to provide an upright image.
The image is
Virtual
Upright
Bigger than the object (Magnified)
formed behind the object
Object at F
The image will be formed at infinity, similarly, when the object is at infinity, the image will be
formed at F.
10
The camera uses a convex lens to form an image that is real, small, inverted on a piece of film at
the back. The image is formed between F and 2F of the lens. The image is formed on the film.
A slide projector forms a real image on a screen of a slide or a film in a cine-projector. The
image is usually smaller than the real object (slide or frame of film), and is further away from the
lens.
Good illumination of the slide is needed in order for the image to be bright. This is achieved by
focusing the light beam by a concave mirror and two condenser lenses as shown in the diagram
below.
A Photographic Enlarger uses a magnified image of the negative to produce a well magnified
print of a photograph. It works the same way as a slide projector.
11