Waves and Optics 1 (HPH103)

HPH103 Course Coverage

• Fundamentals of wave motion

• Sound and Electromagnetic motion

• Physical and geometric optics

 Fundamentals of Wave Motion
• Review of properties and behaviour of Wave Motion
• Wave function, Superposition and the Wave Equation
• Physical Description of Wave Motion: Wave Energy and
Momentum
• Mechanical and Electromagnetic Wave Motion
• Reflection and Transmission at an Interface: Wave
impedance
• Harmonic Wave Motion and Superposition
• Stationary Wave Motion: Normal modes and Resonance
• Superposition of multiple Harmonic disturbances;
coherence
 Reflection
• When we think reflection we think mirrors, however any surface is capable of reflecting light. If an object
could not reflect light we would not be able to see it.
• Some objects absorb some light, reflecting back only certain frequencies, explaining why certain objects
are of certain colour.
• Rough surfaces deflect/scatter light in different directions. Smooth surfaces (mirrors) reflect all the light
in a predictable and convenient way.

• The law of reflection stipulates: angle of incident = angle of reflection.

• Reflection of a ray is synonymous to a ball bouncing off a wall, except gravity has negligible (no
noticeable) effect on light rays.
 Refraction or Transmission
• Besides surfaces reflecting, they also refract: they travel through the surface
but at a new angle.

• We are able to see through glass & water because much of the light striking
these substances is refracted and passes right through them. Partial reflection
occurs thus there coexist the former, incident & reflected rays.
• The angle of incidence = angle of reflection ≠ angle of refraction. Thus objects
we see in different medium(s) appear distorted e.g. a straw in a glass of water.
The former is due to light bending when it pass from one medium to the other.
 Refraction or Transmission
• Besides surfaces reflecting, they also refract: they travel through the surface
but at a new angle.

• We are able to see through glass & water because much of the light striking
these substances is refracted and passes right through them. Partial reflection
occurs thus there coexist the former, incident & reflected rays.
• The angle of incidence = angle of reflection ≠ angle of refraction. Thus objects
we see in different medium(s) appear distorted e.g. a straw in a glass of water.
The former is due to light bending when it pass from one medium to the other.
 Refraction or Transmission …
• Refraction results from light traveling at diff speeds in diff media.

• The speed of light c, is the speed of light in a vacuum. When the

light passes through matter it slows down, at travels at v. Thus
the light travels through the substance with an index of
refraction (refractive index) n = c/v.

• Thus n ≥ 1, e.g. for air n = 1, water n = 1.3, glass = 1.6.

Transparent materials, typically have low vales of n. Denser
material have higher indices of refraction.

• E.g. Less dense-to-denser medium (nless-dense < ndenser) and denser-

to-less dense medium(ndenser> nless-enser).
 Reflection- Transmission: Snell’s Law
• Snell’s
  Law governs the relationship between the
incident-angle and the refraction-angle.
• The ratio between two mediums, e.g. n1 and n2, is
= =
The ration between n1 and n2 is calculated using Snell’s
Law

n1sinƟ1 = n2sinƟ2

n1/n2 = sinƟ2/sinƟ1
Illustration: Reflection and Refraction
 Total Internal Reflection (TIR)
• When the refraction angle nr = 90o , the incident angle Ɵi is called the critical angle Ɵc.
The critical angle is given by sinƟc = n1/n2.

• If the angle of incident is greater than the critical angle, the ray of light will not be
refracted into the air.
• Question
The index for refraction of water is 1.3 and the index of refraction for air is 1.0. What
is the maximum angle of incidence at which a ray of light can pass from water into air.
 Dispersion Phenomenon
• The refractive index depends on the wavelength of the incident light.
• When a mixture of waves of different wavelength refract, each constituent colour refracts
differently - the different constituents disperse.
• Notes: Light of a longer wavelength/lower frequency refracts less than light of shorter
wavelength/longer frequency, so nviolet > nred.
• Dispersion explains why we see the rainbow when sunlight refracts off water droplets in
air. The white light of the sun is actually a mixture of a multitude of different wavelengths.
Thus each wavelength is refracted diff when passing through water droplets.

• Question
True or False: The violet light is refracted at a steeper angle than the red light.
 Dispersion Phenomenon
• The refractive index depends on the wavelength of the incident light.
• When a mixture of waves of different wavelength refract, each constituent colour refracts
differently - the different constituents disperse.
• Notes: Light of a longer wavelength/lower frequency refracts less than light of shorter
wavelength/longer frequency, so nviolet > nred.
• Dispersion explains why we see the rainbow when sunlight refracts off water droplets in
air. The white light of the sun is actually a mixture of a multitude of different wavelengths.
Thus each wavelength is refracted diff when passing through water droplets.

• Question
True or False: The violet light is refracted at a steeper angle than the red light.
 Reflection
• Remember waves carry energy and momentum, and whenever a wave
encounters an obstacle, they are reflected by the obstacle. This
reflection of waves is responsible for echoes, radar detectors, and for
allowing standing waves which are so important to sound production
in musical instruments.

• This "reflection" can be analysed in terms of momentum and energy

conservation. 

• If the collision between a ball and wall is perfectly elastic, then all the
incident energy and momentum is reflected, and the ball bounces
back with the same speed.

• If the collision is inelastic, then the wall (or ball) absorbs some of the
incident energy and momentum and the ball does not bounce back
with the same speed.
 Wave Pulses Traveling on a String

• The animation shows a wave pulse travelling

on a string. The speed, v, with which the wave
pulse travels along the string depends on the
elastic restoring force (tension, T) and inertia
(mass per unit length, μ) according to v = T μ.
 Reflection from an impedance discontinuity
• When a wave encounters a boundary which is neither rigid
(hard) nor free (soft) but instead somewhere in between,
part of the wave is reflected from the boundary and part of
the wave is transmitted across the boundary.

• The exact behaviour of reflection and transmission depends

on the material properties on both sides of the boundary.

• One important property is the characteristic impedance of

the material.

• The characteristic impedance of a material is the product of

mass density and wave speed, Z= ρv; where v = T μ.
 Reflection-Transmission
• At a fixed (hard) boundary, the displacement remains zero and the reflected wave
changes its polarity (undergoes a 180o phase change)

• At a free (soft) boundary, the restoring force is zero and the reflected wave has
the same polarity (no phase change) as the incident wave
 Reflection and Transmission
• From high speed to low speed (low density to high density)

• From low speed to high speed (high density to low density)

 Illustration: Reflection-Transmission

• E.g. Cellphone Signals, Satellite Signals, Echoes.

Cellphone: Reflection-Transmission
Illustration: Reflection-Transmission
Illustration: Reflection-Transmission
EM Waves: Reflection-Transmission