LIGHT-REFLECTION AND REFRACTION

LIGHT- Light is a form of energy which causes sensation of vision. It travels in straight line
path.
PROPERTIES OF LIGHT-
 It is a non-mechanical wave.
 Visible light has a very small wavelength (400-700nm)
 Speed of light in vacuum is approx.(3×10^8m/s)
 It is a transverse, electromagnetic wave.
PROPAGATION OF LIGHT-
It travels along straight line. Its path changes only when something comes in its path, where there
is a change of medium. This is called rectilinear propagation of light.
REFLECTION OF LIGHT:-
Bouncing back of light rays after hitting any surface is called reflection of light.

Laws of Reflection
a) The angle of incidence is equal to angle of reflection.
b) Incident ray, reflected ray and normal all lie in the same plane.

REFLECTION AT PLANE SURFACES-

i. Image formed by plane is always erect. virtual, of same size and is at the same distance
behind the mirror as the object is in front of it.
ii. Image formed is laterally inverted.
USES OF PLANE MIRRORS-
i. They are used as looking glass.
ii. They are used in solar cookers.
iii. They are also used in constructing periscope which is used in submarines.
iv. They are also used to make kaleidoscope, a toy which produces beautiful patterns.
v. They are also used in various scientific instruments.

SPHERICAL MIRRORS-:-Mirrors in which reflecting surface are spherical in shape, is

known as spherical mirrors. Reflecting surface of a mirror can be curved inwards or
curved outwards. The one which is curved inward is known as concave mirror and the one
which curved outwards is known as convex mirror.
 Some Important Terms
i. Pole- The centre of the reflecting surface in a spherical mirror is a pole. It is
represented by P.
ii. Centre of curvature- Reflecting surface in a spherical mirror has a centre, this is
known as centre of curvature. Centre of curvature in convex mirror lies behind the
mirror whereas in concave mirror, it lies in front of the mirror.

iii. Radius of curvature- The radius of the reflecting surface of the spherical mirror
is known as radius of curvature. It is represented by R.

iv. Principal axis- Straight line passing through the pole and centre of curvature in a
spherical mirror is known as principal axis.

v. Principal focus- The reflected rays appear to come from a point on the principal
axis, this is known as principal focus.

vi. Focal length- The distance between the pole and the principal focus in a spherical
mirror is known as focal length and it is represented by f.
vii. Aperture- The diameter of the reflecting surface is defined as aperture.
Note: Radius of curvature is twice the focal length (R=2f).

REFLECTION AT SPHERICAL MIRROR(LAWS OF IMAGE FORMATION)-

I. A ray parallel to the principal axis should pass through the focus after reflection in
case of concave mirror, or appear to diverge in case of convex mirror.
ii. A ray passing through the focus of the concave mirror or directed towards the focus in
case of convex mirror, should appear parallel to the principal axis after reflection.

iii. A ray which is passing through the centre of curvature in a concave mirror or
directed in case of convex mirror, should reflect along the same path.

iv. A ray when incident obliquely to principal axis on a concave or convex mirror is
also reflected obliquely
IMAGE FORMATION BY CONCAVE MIRROR-
Position of the
Position of the image Size of the image Nature of the image
object
At infinity At the focus F Highly diminished Real and inverted
Beyond C Between F and C Diminished Real and inverted
At C At C Same size Real and inverted
Between C and F Beyond C Enlarged Real and inverted
At F At infinity Highly enlarged Real and inverted
Between P and F Behind the mirror Enlarged Virtual and erect

Image formation by Convex Mirror-

 Size of the Nature of the
Position of the object Position of the image
image image
At the focus F, behind the Highly Virtual and
At infinity
mirror diminished erect
Between infinity and the pole P of the Between P and F, behind the Virtual and
Diminished
mirror mirror erect

SIGN CONVENTION FOR REFLECTION BY SPHERICAL MIRRORS-

New Cartesian sign convention is used to give sign convention used for spherical
mirrors. The conventions are as follows-
1. The object is always placed to the left of the mirror.
2. All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of the mirror.
3. All the distances measured to the right of the origin (along + x-axis) are taken as
positive while those measured to the left of the origin (along – x-axis) are taken as
negative.
4. Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis (along + y-axis) will
be taken as positive.
5. Distances measured perpendicular to and below the principal axis (along –y-axis) will
be taken as negative.

MIRROR FORMULA-
The distance of the object from its pole is known as object distance (u), whereas distance
from the pole of the mirror is known as image distance (v). The mirror formula is given
by-
1 1 1
= +
f u v
It is applicable for spherical mirrors in all
positions of the object.
MAGNIFICATION -
It is defined as relative extent to which an object
is magnified in comparison to its object size.
Let us consideran object AB is placed between C and F before concave mirror and we can
see that real and inverted image formed beyond C.
As magnificatioon is definedas the ratio of heightof image to the height of object.
'
−h
Therefore, m= −−−−−−(i)
h
But it is also true that magnification is defined as the ratio of distance of image to the
distance of object from pole of the mirror.
−v
i.e. m= −−−−−(ii)
−u
Now comparing equation (i) and equation (ii)
'
−h −v
Therefore, =
h −u
'
h −v
Or, =
h u
Where m is the magnification, “h” is the height of the object and h' i is the height of the
image. However, it is to be taken as negative for real images. A negative sign in the value
of magnification indicates that the nature of the image is real. A positive sign in the value
of the magnification indicates the virtual nature of the image.
USES OF SPHERICAL MIRRORS-
1. CONCAVE MIRROR-
 Used in search lights, torches, head lights of the vehicles. Also used in shaving mirrors.
Used by dentists also to see larger image of the teeth. Other use in solar furnaces.
2. CONVEX MIRROR-
 They are used as rear-view mirrors. They are used to see the traffic behind. They are
preferred as they give erect but diminished image.
REFRACTION OF LIGHT-
1. The phenomenon in which direction of propagation of light changes when it passes from
one transparent medium to another. This is because, speed of light is different in different
media.
2. Optically rarer medium is that medium in which speed of light is more.
3. Optically denser medium is that medium in which speed of light is less.
LAWS OF REFRACTION -
1. Incident ray, refracted ray and normal all lie in the same plane.
2. The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to the sine of angle of refraction is constant.
This law is also known as Snell’s law of refraction.
Sini
μ=
Sinr
REFRACTIVE INDEX -
When light passes from one medium to another medium, it changes its direction. The
extent to which the direction changes is expressed in terms of refractive index. The value
of refractive index is dependent on the speed of light in two media. v1 is the speed of light
in medium 1 and v2 is the speed of light in medium 2. The refractive index of medium 2
with respect to medium 1 is represented as n21.
If medium 1 is vacuum or air, then the refractive index of medium 2 with respect to
vacuum is known as absolute refractive index of the medium.

Where c is the speed of light in air, v is the speed of light in other medium and n m is the
refractive index of the medium.

SIMPLE EFFECTS OF REFRACTION-

i. An object appears to be raised when paced under water.
ii. Pool of water appears less deep than it actually is.
iii. If a lemon is kept in a glass of water it appears to be bigger when viewed from the sides
of glass.
iv. It is due to refraction of light that stars appear to twinkle at night
REFRACTION THROUGH A RECTANGULAR GLASS SLAB-

Consider a rectangular glass slab ABCD having parallel faces AB and CD as shown in above
figure. A ray of light EF in air is incident on the glass surface AB at point O. As the ray EO
enters from air (rarer medium) to glass (denser medium), the ray bends towards normal and
follows the path OO' inside the glass slab. At point O', refraction takes place again. As the ray
OO' enters from glass (denser medium) to air (rarer medium), the ray bends away from normal
and follow the path O'H outside glass slab.
Here, the ray EF is called incident ray, OO', the refracted ray and O'H, the emergent ray.
As per the laws of refraction, and.
The emergent ray O'H is parallel to the incident ray EF. The perpendicular distance O'L between
the original path of incident ray and the emergent ray is called the lateral displacement.
REFRACTION BY SPHERICAL LENSES- Lenses are defined as transparent
materials which are bounded by two surfaces, out of which one or both can be spherical.
When both the two spherical surfaces bulge outwards, it is known as convex lens. They
converge the light rays. When the two spherical surfaces bulge inwards, they are known as
concave lens. They are known as diverging lens. The centre of these spherical surfaces is
known as centre of curvature, represented by C.
Any imaginary straight line passing through the centre of curvature of a lens is known as
principal axis. The centre point is known as optical centre. The effective diameter of the
spherical lens is known as aperture.

IMAGE FORMATION IN LENSES USING RAY DIAGRAMS-

Rules for drawing the ray diagrams are as follows -
1. A ray of light which is parallel to the principal axis will pass through the principal
focus after refraction from the convex lens.

2. A ray of light passing through principal focus, will emerge parallel to principal axis
after refraction from the convex lens.

3. A light ray passing through optical centre will emerge out without any deviation.
Image formed by the Convex Lens for various positions of the object-

Position of the Position of the Relative size of the

Nature of the image
object image image
At infinity At focus F2 Highly diminished Real and inverted
Beyond 2F1 Between F2 and 2F2 Diminished Real and inverted
At 2F1 At 2F2 Same size Real and inverted
Between F1 and 2F1 Beyond 2F2 Enlarged Real and inverted
At focus F1 At infinity Infinitely large Real and inverted
Between focus On the same side of Enlarged Virtual and erect
F1 and the lens as the object
optical centre O

Image formed by the Concave Lens

LENS FORMULA AND MAGNIFICATION -

The lens formula is given as
1 1 1
= −
f v u
Where, u is object distance, v is image distance and f is focal length.
The ratio of the height of an image to the height of an object is defined as magnification.
Magnification is represented by m, h0 is the height of the object and hi is the height of the
image.
!
h v
m= =
h u
POWER OF A LENS -
The degree of convergence or divergence of light rays is expressed in terms of power. So,
the reciprocal of focal length is known as its power. It is represented by letter P. The
power is given by-
P = 1/f
The SI unit of power is DIOPTRE. It is represented by D. Power of concave lens is
negative and power of convex lens is positive.