Chapter - 1 Light_Reflection_and_Refraction
Chapter - 1 Light_Reflection_and_Refraction
CE (Physics)
Chapter 1: Light – Reflection and Refraction
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
Light – Reflection and Refraction
Reflection of Light
● Reflection is the phenomenon of bouncing back of light into the same medium on
striking the surface of any object.
● Laws of Reflection
o First law: The incident ray, the normal to the surface at the point of incidence and
the reflected ray, all lie in the same plane.
Second law: The angle of reflection (r) is always equal to the angle of incidence(i).
∠i = ∠r
o
Spherical Mirrors
● Convex mirrors or diverging mirrors in which the reflecting surface is curved outwards.
● Concave mirrors or converging mirrors in which the reflecting surface is curved inwards.
Rule 2: A ray passing through the principal focus of a concave mirror or a ray which is
directed towards the principal focus of a convex mirror emerges parallel to the principal
axis after reflection.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
Rule 3: A ray passing through the centre of curvature of a concave mirror or directed
towards the centre of curvature of a convex mirror is reflected back along the same path.
Rule 4: A ray incident obliquely towards the pole of a concave mirror or a convex mirror is
reflected obliquely as per the laws of reflection.
While dealing with the reflection of light by spherical mirrors, we shall follow a set of sign
conventions called the New Cartesian Sign Convention. In this convention, the pole (P) of
the mirror is taken as the origin. The principal axis of the mirror is taken as the x-axis (X’X)
of the coordinate system. The conventions are as follows:
● The object is always placed to the left of the mirror. This implies that the light
from the object falls on the mirror from the left-hand side.
● All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of the
mirror.
● 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.
● Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis (along + y-axis)
are taken as positive.
● Distances measured perpendicular to and below the principal axis (along –y-axis)
are taken as negative.
● Mirror Formula
The object distance (u), image distance (v) and focal length (f) of a spherical mirror are
related as
1 1 1
= +
f u v
● Linear Magnification (m)
The magnification produced by a spherical mirror indicates the extent to which an object's
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
image is magnified in relation to the object size.
Magnification is defined as the ratio of the image's height to the object's height. The letter
m is commonly used to represent it.
If h is the object's height and h' is the image's height, then the magnification m produced by
a spherical mirror can be written as
Height of the Image h '
m= =
Height of the object h
m is negative for real images and positive for virtual images.
Refraction of Light
● The phenomenon of change in the path of a beam of light as it passes from one medium
to another is called refraction of light.
● The cause of refraction is the change in the speed of light as it goes from one medium to
another.
● Laws of Refraction
o First Law: The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal to the interface of two
media at the point of incidence, all lie in the same plane.
o Second Law: The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of
refraction is constant for a given pair of media.
sin sin i 1
=constant ¿ n2
sin sin r
This law is also known as Snell’s law.
The constant, written as 1n2 is called
2
the refractive index of the second medium (in which
the refracted ray lies) with respect to the first medium (in which the incident ray lies).
● Absolute refractive index (n) of a medium is given as
speed of light ∈ vacuum C
n= =
speed of light ∈the medium V
● When a beam of light passes from medium 1 to medium 2, the refractive index of
medium 2 with respect to medium 1 is called the relative refractive index, represented
by 1n ,where
● While going from a rarer to a denser medium, the ray of light bends towards the normal.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
While going from a denser to a rarer medium, the ray of light bends away from the
normal.
● Conditions for no refraction
o When light is incident normally on a boundary.
o When the refractive indices of the two media are equal.
● In the case of a rectangular glass slab, a ray of light suffers two refractions, one at the air–
glass interface and the other at the glass–air interface. The emergent ray is parallel to the
direction of the incident ray.
Spherical Lens
o Convex lens or converging lens which is thick at the centre and thin at the edges.
o Concave lens or diverging lens which is thin at the centre and thick at the edges.
● Some terms related to spherical lenses:
o The central point of the lens is known as its optical centre(O).
o Each of the two spherical surfaces of a lens forms a part of a sphere. The centres of these
spheres are called centres of curvature of the lens. These are represented as C1andC2.
o The principal axis of a lens is a straight line passing through its two centres of curvature.
o The principal focus of a convex lens is a point on its principal axis to which light rays
parallel to the principal axis converge after passing through the lens.
o The principal focus of a concave lens is a point on its principal axis from which light rays,
originally parallel to the principal axis appear to diverge after passing through the lens.
o The focal length (f) of a lens is the distance of the principal focus from the optical centre.
● Sign Conventions for Spherical Lenses
According to New Cartesian Sign Conventions,
o All distances are measured from the optical centre of the lens.
o The distances measured in the direction of incidence of light are taken as positive and
viceversa.
o The heights above the principal axis are taken as positive and viceversa.
● Rules for tracing images formed by spherical lens
Rule 1: A ray which is parallel to the principal axis, after refraction passes through the
principal focus on the other side of the lens in case of a convex lens or appears to diverge
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
from the principal focus on the same side of the lens in case of a concave lens.
Rule 2: A ray passing through the principal focus of a convex lens or appearing to meet at
the principal focus of a concave lens after refraction emerges parallel to the principal axis.
Rule 3: A ray passing through the optical centre of a convex lens or a concave lens emerges
o Characteristics of imagesformed
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
Position of object Position of image Size of image Nature of image
At infinity At focus F1 Highly diminished Virtual and erect
Between infinity and O Between focus F1 and Diminished Virtual and erect
O
● Lens Formula
Object distance (u), image distance (v) and focal length (f) of a spherical lens are related as
1 1 1
− =
v u f
● Linear Magnification (m) produced by a spherical lens is
Height of the Image h '
m= =
Height of the object h
m is negative for real images and positive for virtual images.
● Power of a lens
● Power of a lens is the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens. Its S.I. unit is dioptre (D).
1
P ( dioptre )=
f (metre)
5. A light ray enters from medium A to medium B as shown in figure. The refractive
index of medium B relative to A will be
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
⮚ Long Questions:
1. A thin converging lens forms a:
(i) real magnified image
(ii) virtual magnified image of an object placed in front of it.
(a) Write the positions of the objects in each case.
(b) Draw labelled diagrams to show the image formation in each case.
(c) How will the following be affected on cutting this lens into two halves along the
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
principal axis?
● focal length,
● intensity of the image formed by half lens.
2. For the given data showing object distance and focal length of three concave
mirrors, answer the following questions:
● Out of the three in which case the mirror will form the image having same size
as the object?
● Which mirror is being used as a make-up-mirror?
● Draw the ray diagram for part (1) and part (2)
⮚ Assertion Reason Questions:
1. For two statements are given-one labelled Assertion (A) and the other labelled Reason
(R). Select the correct answer to these questions from the codes (a), (b), (c) and (d) as
given below:
a. Both A and R are true, and R is correct explanation of the assertion.
b. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of the assertion.
c. A is true, but R is false.
d. A is false, but R is true.
Assertion: Keeping a point object fixed, if a plane mirror is moved, the image will also
move.
Reason: In case of a plane mirror, distance of object and its image is equal from any point
on the mirror.
2. For two statements are given-one labelled Assertion (A) and the other labelled Reason
(R). Select the correct answer to these questions from the codes (a), (b), (c) and (d) as
given below:
a. Both A and R are true, and R is correct explanation of the assertion.
b. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of the assertion.
c. A is true, but R is false.
d. A is false, but R is true.
Assertion: The size of the mirror affects the nature of the image.
Reason: Small mirrors always form virtual images.
⮚ Case Study Questions:
1. Read the following and answer any four questions from (i) to (v).
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
When the rays of light travels from one transparent medium to another, the path of
light is deviated. This phenomenon is called refraction of light. The bending of light
depends on the optical density of medium through which the light pass.
This speed of light varies from medium to medium. A medium in which the speed of
light is more is optically rarer medium whereas in which the speed of light is less is
optically denser medium. Whenever light goes from one medium to another, the
frequency of light does not change however, speed and wavelength change. It
concluded that change in speed of light is the basic cause of refraction.
i. When light travels from air to glass, the ray of light bends:
a. Towards the normal.
b. Away from normal.
c. Anywhere.
d. None of these.
ii. A ray of light passes from a medium A to another medium B. No bending of light
occurs if the ray of light hits the boundary of medium B at an angle of:
a. 0º
b. 45º
c. 90º
d. 120º
iii. When light passes from one medium to another, the frequency of light:
a. Increases
b. Decreases
c. Remains same
d. None of these
iv. When light passes from glass to water, the speed of light:
a. Increases.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
b. Decreases.
c. Remains same.
d. First increases then decrease.
v. The bottom of pool filled with water appears to be due to refraction of light:
a. Shallower
b. Deeper
c. At same depth
d. Empty
2. The lenses form different types of images when object placed at different locations. When a
ray is incident parallel to the principal axis, then after refraction, it passes through the focus
or appears to come from the focus. When a ray goes through the optical centre of the lens,
it passes without any deviation. If the object is placed between focus and optical canter of
the convex lens, erect and magnified image is fanned. As the object is brought closer to the
convex lens from infinity to focus, the image moves away from the convex lens from focus
to infinity. Also, the size of image goes on increasing and the image is always real and
inverted. A concave lens always gives a virtual, erect, and diminished image irrespective to
the position of the object.
i. The location of image fanned by a convex lens when the object is placed at infinity
is
a. At focus
b. At 2F
c. At optical center
d. Between F and 2F
ii. When the object is placed at the focus of concave lens, the image formed is:
a. Real and smaller
b. Virtual and inverted
c. Virtual and smaller
d. Real and erect
iii. The size of image formed by a convex lens when the object is placed at the focus of
convex lens is:
a. Small
b. Point in size
c. Highly magnified
d. Same as that of object
iv. When the object is placed at 2F in front of convex lens, the location of image is:
a. At F
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
b. At 2 F on the other side
c. At infinity
d. Between F and optical center
v. At which location of object in front of concave lens, the image between focus and
optical centre is formed:
a. Anywhere between centre and infinity
b. At F
c. At 2F
d. Infinity
✔ Answer Key-
⮚ Multiple Choice Answers:
1. (a) Concave mirror as well as convex lens
2. (b) -20 cm
3. (c) When object is placed between the focus and centre of curvature
4. (c) I, II and III
5. (a) greater than unity
6. (a) A rectangular glass slab
7. (d) Convex lens
8. (a) A convex lens has 4 dioptre power having a focal length 0.25 m
9. (a) is less than one
10. (b) 30 cm in front of the mirror
⮚ Very Short Answers:
1. Answer: The process of returning or bouncing back the light to the same medium
after striking the surface is called reflection of light.
2. Answer: A surface which reflects the light is called reflector.
3. Answer: Angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. That is, ∠i = ∠r.
Incident ray, reflected ray and normal to the reflecting surface at the point of
incidence lie in the same plane.
4. Answer: For normal incidence, ∠i = 0. Therefore, according to law of reflection ∠r
= ∠i = 0.
5. Answer: When rays of light from an object actually meet at a point after refraction,
then image formed is real.
6. Answer: When rays of light from an object do not meet at a point but appears to
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
meet at a point, then image formed is virtual.
7. Answer: Image is virtual, erect and of the same size as that of the object.
8. Answer: The center of a hollow sphere of which the spherical mirror forms a part is
called the center of curvature of the spherical mirror.
9. Answer: The radius of a hollow sphere of which the spherical mirror forms a part is
called radius of curvature of the spherical mirror.
10.Answer: The part of spherical mirror exposed to the incident light is called the
aperture of the spherical mirror.
⮚ Short Answers:
1. Answer:
Real Image Virtual Image
Real images are formed by a concave Convex mirror form a virtual
mirror image
Real images are formed due to the Virtual images are formed due to
actual intersection of light rays the imaginary intersection of light
rays
2. Answer:
Angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. That is, ∠i = ∠r .
Incident ray, reflected ray and normal to the reflecting surface at the point of
incidence lie in the same plane.
3. Answer:
4. Answer:
Concave mirror forms virtual image if object is placed between the focus and pole
of the mirror. Therefore, for the position of object at 10 cm mirror forms the
required image.
A real and diminished image is formed when object lies beyond C i.e., beyond 2F.
So, for the position of object at 40 cm, mirror forms the required image.
An enlarged real image is formed when object lies between F and 2 F. So, for the
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
position of object at 20 cm, mirror forms the required image.
An image of same size of the object is formed when object lies at C or 2F. So, for
the position of object at 30 cm, mirror forms the required image.
5. Answer:
(i)
(ii)
6. Answer:
Reflector: Concave mirrors are used in motor head lights, search lights and torches
etc. to produce an intense parallel beam of light. A bulb is placed at the focus of
concave mirror or concave reflecting surface. The beam of light from the bulb after
reflecting from the concave mirror goes as a parallel beam (figure 24).
This parallel beam of – light illuminates the road ahead of the vehicle.
Shaving and make up mirror: When an object is placed close to a concave mirror
(i.e between the pole and focus of the concave mirror), an erect and enlarged
(large in
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
size) image of the object is formed. Because of this fact, concave mirror is used by
men to see their enlarged faces while shaving. Similarly, a lady can see her face
better with the help of a concave mirror while doing make up.
In solar cookers: When a parallel beam of sun light falls on a concave mirror, this
beam is brought to the focus of the concave mirror. As a result of this, the
temperature of an object (say a container containing un-cooked food) placed at
this focus increases considerably. Hence the food in the container is cooked (figure
25).
7. Answer:
Rear view or driver’s mirror. Convex mirror is used as a rear view mirror in vehicles
because this mirror forms an erect and diminished image of an object behind the
vehicle. Since the image of the object formed is small in size, so the field of view is
increased. It means, the driver of a vehicle can see the traffic over large area
behind his vehicle. This mirror is also known as driver’s mirror.
In street lights. Convex mirror is used in street lights to diverge light over a large
area (figure 28).
8. Answer:
(i) Reflected rays are shown in figures.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
(ii) The point where the reflected rays of light meet or appear to meet on the
principal axis is known as principal focus F of the concave mirror or convex mirror.
⮚ Long Answers:
1. Answer:
(a)
● A converging or convex lens forms real and magnified image of an object,
when the object is placed between F1 and 2F1
● A converging lens forms a virtual magnified image of an object, when the
object is placed between the focus and optical center of the converging lens.
(b)
(c)
Focal length of each half will be equal to the focal length of the lens. If converging
lens of focal length f is cut into two equal halves as shown in figure
iii.