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Light

The document provides comprehensive notes on the behavior of light, including concepts of refraction, optical density, and the laws governing light's interaction with different media. It explains critical angles, total internal reflection, and factors affecting refractive index, as well as applications of these principles. Key definitions and comparisons between total internal reflection and reflection from a plane mirror are also included.

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SK SAYEED ALAM
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5 views

Light

The document provides comprehensive notes on the behavior of light, including concepts of refraction, optical density, and the laws governing light's interaction with different media. It explains critical angles, total internal reflection, and factors affecting refractive index, as well as applications of these principles. Key definitions and comparisons between total internal reflection and reflection from a plane mirror are also included.

Uploaded by

SK SAYEED ALAM
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Light Revision Notes

Concept Notes
➢The speed of light in air/vacuum is 3 × 108 m/s.
➢ A medium is said to be optically denser if light slows down in it.
➢ A medium is said to be rarer if light speeds up in it.
➢ When a ray of light travels from a rarer medium to a denser medium, it bends towards the
normal.
➢ When a ray of light travels from a denser medium to a rarer medium, it bends away from the
normal.

➢ The conditions when light travelling from one medium to another goes undeviated :
(i) Optical density of both the mediums is the same.
(ii) Angle of incidence is zero. i.e., light falls normally on the surface.

Refractive index has no unit.


➢ When light passes from one medium to another its frequency does not changes but
wavelength, speed and direction changes.
➢ When light passes from rarer to denser medium its wavelength decreases.
➢ When light passes from denser medium to rarer medium its wavelength increases.
➢ In case of minimum deviation of light while passing through the prism, the refracted ray inside
the prism is parallel to the base of the prism.
Factors affecting the angle of deviation of light travelling through the prism are :
(i) The angle of incidence.
(ii) The material of the prism (i.e., refractive index).
(iii) The angle of prism (A).
(iv) The colour or wavelength (λ) of light used.
Factors affecting lateral displacement of light passing through a rectangular glass block :
(i) The thickness of glass block.
(ii) The angle of incidence.
(iii) The refractive index of the glass and therefore, the wavelength of light used.

➢ Cause of refraction is that light has different speeds in different medium.


➢ The refractive index of a transparent medium is always greater than 1.

Factors affecting refractive index of a medium :


(i) Nature of medium.
(ii) Physical conditions such as temperature.
(iii) The colour or wavelength of light.

➢ Speed of light in glass is 2 × 108 m/s and in water is 2.25 × 108 m/s.
➢ Refractive index of glass is 1.5, for water is 1.33 and for diamond is 2.41

➢ Refraction of light through a rectangular glass block

Refraction of light through a rectangular glass block


Refraction of light through a glass prism

Applications of refraction of light


(a) Real and apparent depths of object in water
(b) Bending of stick under water

➢ Critical angle : is the angle of incidence in the denser medium for which angle of refraction in
the rarer medium is 90°.

Total internal reflection : When a ray of light travels from a denser to a rarer medium, with an
angle of incidence greater than critical angle, then no refraction takes place and the entire light is
reflected back in the denser medium. This is known as total internal reflection.
Essential conditions for total internal reflection to take place :
(i) Light must travel from a denser to a rarer medium.
(ii) The angle of incidence should be greater than the critical angle for the given pair of medium.

➢ Total internal reflection in a triangular glass prism


(a) An equilateral prism ( 60°,60°,60°)

Comparison between total internal reflection and reflection from a plane mirror

(i) In total internal reflection, light enters from a denser to a rarer medium, whereas in reflection
from a plane mirror, light can be incident from any medium.
(ii) There is no loss of energy in total internal reflection, as the entire light is internally reflected,
whereas in case of reflection from plane mirror, there is a loss of energy due to absorption and
refraction of light.

Know the terms


➢ Refraction : The change in direction of the path of light, when it passes from one
transparent medium to another transparent medium is called refraction. It is a surface
phenomenon.
➢ Denser medium : A medium is said to be optically denser if the speed of light in it
decreases.
➢ Rarer medium : A medium is said to be optically rarer if the speed of light in it increases.
➢ Angle of incidence : It is the angle between incident ray and the normal to the surface at
point of incidence.
➢ Angle of refraction : It is the angle between the refracted ray and the normal at the point
of incidence.
Laws of refraction :
➢ Ist Law : The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence, all lie in
the same plane.
➢ IInd Law : The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence i to the sine of the angle of
refraction r is constant for the pair of given medium. This constant is called refractive index. This
Law is also called Snell’s Law.
➢ Refractive index : The refractive index of the second medium with respect to the first
medium is defined as the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence in the first medium to the sine
of the angle of refraction in the second medium.
Lateral Displacement : The distance between the incident ray produced and the emergent ray
when light travels through the rectangular glass slab is called lateral displacement.
Angle of deviation : The angle between the emergent ray and the incident ray produced when
light passes through a prism is called angle of deviation.

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