Chapter 1 Lecture (1) Dr.

Ayman rabie

Chapter 1 Light and Electromagnetic waves

Lecturer (1)

Electromagnetic radiation is composed of oscillating electric and magnetic fields emitted

by vibrating charged particles. It transports energy and travels through empty space with
a constant velocity c, where c equals the product of wavelength and frequency. The
electromagnetic spectrum comprises cosmic rays to long wavelength electrical
oscillations. Light is that very narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum to which the
eye is specifically sensitive. The study of light falls into two classes of phenomena:
physical optics and geometrical optics.
Physical Optics deals with theories of the nature of light and its interaction with matter.
The nature of light has been of fundamental interest to physicists. Two answers to the
question, "What is light?" have vied for acceptance. Isaac Newton's corpuscular theory
of light [ states that light is made up of small discrete particles called "corpuscles" (little
particles) which travel in a straight line with a finite velocity and possess impetus], it
was initially dominant but was supplanted by the wave theory originated by Christian
Huygens and developed by Thomas Young and Augustus Fresnel. In this century,
Planck showed that radiation is emitted or absorbed in discrete packets or quanta.
Einstein extended this idea to explain, where the wave theory was unable to do so, the
photoelectric effect. He said that electromagnetic radiation existed as quanta. A photon
is a quantum of light Contemporary optics treats photons as having the properties of a
particle and a wave.

The Corpuscular Theory of Light

Newton proposed this theory that treats light as being composed of tiny particles.
We use this theory to describe reflection. While the theory can explain the
primary and secondary rainbows, it cannot explain the supernumerary bow, the
corona, or an iridescent cloud.

The Wave Theory of Light

Proposed by Huygens, this theory describes light as waves that spread out from
the source that generates the light. Each color is a different wavelength.
Supernumerary bows are explained by assuming that light is a wave.

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The Electromagnetic Theory of Light

Maxwell's theory describes light as having electric and magnetic properties
electromagnetic waves. It is an improvement over the wave theory in that it
explains how light is generated. Visible light is only one type of electromagnetic
wave. This theory is very math intensive.

The Quantum Theory of Light

This theory is more mathematical than Maxwell's equations! It is similar to the
corpuscular theory of Newton, except that instead of describing light as particles,
light is composed of 'packets of energy' or photons. The energy of the photon
determines the color

Geometrical Optics is concerned with how light is propagated, reflected, and refracted,
and the formation of images. Light is assumed to consist of rays. Rays are merely the
paths taken by light. Experimental facts have resulted in some basic postulates of
geometrical optics:
1) Light is propagated in straight lines in a homogeneous medium,
2) The angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence.
3) The ratio of the sines of the angle of incidence to the angle of refraction is a constant
that depends only on the media, and
4) Two independent beams of light that intersect each other will in no way affect one
another.

Light Rays

The properties of a train of waves are velocity, frequency, wavelength, amplitude and
phase. If we observe a fixed point in the wave train, we will find that waves pass it at
regular intervals of time. The number of waves that pass per unit time is the frequency
.
The peak-to-peak distance between waves is the wavelength λ. More generally, it is the
distance between two particles m1 and m2 that occupy corresponding positions in two
successive waves. Two such particles have the same displacement and are moving in the
same direction. They, therefore, are in the same phase. The maximum height of the wave
is its amplitude a. The time it takes one wave to pass the observation point is the period
T. It is the reciprocal of the frequency. The velocity of any wave is given by: v = λf.
It is useful to represent light waves with imaginary surfaces representing the crests of the
electric field of the electromagnetic waves. These surfaces are called wave fronts, and
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the distance between any two successive wave fronts is referred to as the wavelength λ.
While propagating in vacuum, light waves have a constant speed c = λ f, where c = 3 ×
108 m/s and f is the light’s frequency.
When we study light reflection from mirrors, refraction from a surface between two
media, and propagation through lenses, we approximate light propagation by defining
rays that travel in straight lines perpendicular to the wave fronts. This ray approximation
technique is referred to as geometrical optics. On the other hand, when we study
interference, diffraction, and polarization of light and need to get satisfactory
descriptions of these phenomena, we treat light as waves. Such a study is referred to as
physical optics.
In geometrical optics we first consider a point source S emitting light waves
isotropically in all directions in a uniform medium. The emitted waves are a series of
concentric spherical wave fronts with the source located at their common centers, and
these waves can be approximated by straight-line rays perpendicular to the wave fronts,
see Fig. 17.1a. Next, we consider the case when the source is very far and study the
propagation of plane wave fronts. In this case, light rays propagate as straight lines
perpendicular to the wave fronts in a given direction, see Fig. 17.1b.

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Chapter 1 Lecture (1) Dr. Ayman rabie

Reflection and Refraction of Light

Figure 17.3 shows a beam of light of wavelength λ1 and speed  represented by a light
ray traveling in a straight line in medium 1. The beam encounters the smooth boundary
surface (or interface) of the transparent medium 2, which is more dense than medium 1.
Part of the incident light is reflected by the surface and another part penetrates medium 2
with wavelength λ2 and speed  unless the incident beam is perpendicular to the
surface, the ray that enters medium 2 is bent at the boundary and is said to be refracted.

In Fig. 17.3, the incident, reflected, and refracted rays are all in a plane perpendicular to
the boundary surface. In addition, the incident, reflected, and refracted rays make angles
θ1, θ1’, and θ2, respectively, with the normal to the boundary surface. Moreover,  and
 are the speeds of the light rays in media 1 and 2, respectively. Experiments and
theory prove the following two laws:

1 −  =    


2 −  sin  =  sin    



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Chapter 1 Lecture (1) Dr. Ayman rabie

Index of refraction

The speed of light  in any material is less than its speed in vacuum c. It is found that
the value of  slightly depends on the wavelength λ. Also, it is convenient to define a
dimensionless quantity known as the index of refraction n of a material as follows:


=

Since  is always less than c, then n>1 for any material and n=1 for vacuum.

As light crosses an interface between two media, its speed  and wavelength λ change,
but its frequency f remains the same. This can be understood by considering a normal
incidence of light and treating light as photons, each with energy  = ℎ
. If

changes, then energy will pile up at the interface, which is a mechanism that cannot take
place under the laws of Physics.
Since the relation  = 
must be satisfied in both media, and since the frequency
of
the incident and refracted rays must be the same, then:

 = 
  = 

If the media 1 and 2 have indices of refraction n1 and n2, respectively, then

 
 =   =
 

  
∴ = =
  

  =  
#$ &%
∵ = Then the law of refraction can be written as:
#% &$

 sin  =  sin   '  '  

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Chapter 1 Lecture (1) Dr. Ayman rabie

This form of the law of refraction is known as Snell’s law of refraction, and we will use
this form in tackling most of our examples.
To compare the refractive angle θ2 with the incident angle θ1 and the relative ratio n1/n2
for a light beam propagating from medium 1 to medium 2, we present the following
results:
• If n2 = n1, then θ2 = θ1. In other words, the light beam will not be deflected (refracted)
as it changes media.
• If n2 > n1, then θ2 < θ1. In other words, the light beam will refract and bend toward the
normal.
• If n2 < n1, then θ2 > θ1. In other words, the light beam will refract and bend away from
the normal.
Refraction cannot bend a beam so much that the refracted ray is on the same side of the
normal as the incident ray.

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

When light is directed from a medium having a higher index of refraction n1 toward one
having a lower index n2, i.e. n1 > n2, the refracted ray is bent away from the normal.
At some particular angle of incidence θc, called the critical angle, see Fig. 17.6, the
refracted ray 4 moves parallel to the boundary, i.e. θ2 =90◦ . In addition, all the incident
light energy will be associated with the reflected ray 4\.
All rays having angles of incidence θ1 greater than θc are entirely reflected at the
boundary, For those rays, the angle of incidence must be equal to the angle of reflection.
To find θc, we use Snell’s law and then substitute θ1 =θc and θ2 =90◦, to find that:

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Chapter 1 Lecture (1) Dr. Ayman rabie

 sin ( =  sin 90 =  → sin ( =  > 


When n1≫n2, Eq. 17.11 produces small values of θc.

Diamonds and Cubic zirconium crystals are good examples of media that have a high
index of refraction. The critical angle for a diamond crystal in air is θc = 24.4◦. Any light
ray inside the crystal that strikes its surfaces at an angle greater than the critical angle
will be completely reflected back into the crystal. This ray might undergo repeated total
internal reflections within the crystal, and this causes the crystal to sparkle.
Another important feature of internal reflection is the use of a thin flexible pipe made of
glass or transparent plastic as a light transmitter. This kind of flexible light pipe is called
an optical fiber. Light is confined to travel within a thin curved fiber pipe because of
successive total internal reflections. A bundle of fibers can be used to form an optical
fiber cable. This cable can transmit light, images, and even telephone calls from one
point to another with little loss. This technique is used extensively in modern industry
and is known as fiber optics. A physician can explore or even perform surgery by
inserting a bundle of optical fibers into the human body, avoiding the need to make large
incisions.
Optical fibers are also commonly used in fiber-optic communications, which permits
data, voice, and video transmission over longer distances than other forms of
communication media.

Optical path
In optics, optical path length (OPL) or optical distance is the product of the geometric
length of the path light follows through the system, and the index of refraction of the
medium through which it propagates. A difference in optical path length between two
paths is often called the optical path difference (OPD). Optical path length is important
because it determines the phase of the light and governs interference and diffraction of
light as it propagates.

Optical path difference corresponds to the phase shift which happens between two
previously coherent sources when passed through different mediums. For example a
wave passed through glass will appear to travel a greater distance than an identical wave

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Chapter 1 Lecture (1) Dr. Ayman rabie

in air. This is because the source in the glass will have experienced a greater number of
wavelengths due to the higher refractive index of the glass.
The OPD can be calculated from the following equation:
./0 =   −  

Where d1 and d2 are the distances of the ray passing through medium 1 or 2, n1 is the
greater refractive index (e.g., glass) and n2 is the smaller refractive index

Chromatic Dispersion
The index of refraction n encountered by light in any medium except vacuum depends
on the wavelength of the light. The dependence of n on wavelength implies that when a
light beam consists of rays of different wavelengths, the rays will be refracted at
different angles by a surface; that is, the light will be spread out by the refraction. This
spreading of light is called chromatic dispersion, in which “chromatic” refers to the
colors associated with the individual wavelengths and “dispersion” refers to the
spreading of the light according to its wavelengths or colors.
Generally, the index of refraction of a given medium is greater for a shorter
wavelength (corresponding to, say, blue light) than for a longer wavelength (say,
red light).
The prism of Fig. 17.9b is more commonly used to observe color separation of white
light because the dispersion at the first surface is enhanced at the second interface. Thus,
the violet ray in the white light of Fig. 17.9b will emerge from the right surface with an
angle of deviation δV which is greater than the angle of deviation δR of the red ray. The
difference δV − δR is known as the angular dispersion, while δY is the mean deviation of
the yellow rays.
The general expression of δ for any color turns out to be rather complicated. However,
as the angle of incidence decreases from a large value, the angle of deviation δ is found
to decrease at first and then increase. The angle of minimum deviation δm is found when
the ray passes through the prism symmetrically. This angle is related to the angle of the
prism A, and its index of refraction n by the relation:

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Chapter 1 Lecture (1) Dr. Ayman rabie
2 + 45
sin 1
2 6 2 + 45
= ℎ 2 '9  =
2 2
sin 7 8
2

The most charming example of color dispersion is that of a rainbow.

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