PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
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 anyobject.
Laws ofReflection
o First law: The incident ray, the normal to the surface at the point of incidence and the reflected ray,
all lie in the sameplane.
o Second law: The angle of reflection (r) is always equal to the angle of incidence(i).
ir
The image formed by a plane mirror isalways
o virtual anderect
o of the same size as theobject
o as far behind the mirror as the object is in front ofit
o laterallyinverted
Spherical mirrors are of twotypes:
Spherical Mirrors
Convex mirror or diverging mirrors Concave mirror orconverging
mirrors
o Convex mirrors or diverging mirrors in which the reflecting surface is curvedoutwards.
o Concave mirrors or converging mirrors in which the reflecting surface is curvedinwards.
Some terms related to sphericalmirrors:
o The centre of curvature (C) of a spherical mirror is the centre of the hollow sphere of glass, of
which the spherical mirror is apart.
o The radius of curvature (R) of a spherical mirror is the radius of the hollow sphere of glass, of
which the spherical mirror is apart.
o The pole (P) of a spherical mirror is the centre of themirror.
o The principal axis of a spherical mirror is a straight line passing through the centre of curvature C
and pole P of the sphericalmirror.
o The principal focus (F) of a concave mirror is a point on the principal axis at which the rays of
light incident on the mirror, in a direction parallel to the principal axis, actually meet after reflection
from themirror.
o The principal focus (F) of a convex mirror is a point on the principal axis from which the rays of
light incident on the mirror, in a direction parallel to the principal axis, appear to diverge after
reflection from themirror.
o The focal length (f) of a mirror is the distance between its pole (P) and principal focus(F).
o For spherical mirrors of small aperture, R =2f.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
Sign Conventions for SphericalMirrors
According to New Cartesian Sign Conventions,
o All distances are measured from the pole of themirror.
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 sphericalmirrors
Rule 1: A ray which is parallel to the principal axis after reflection passes through the principal focus in
case of a concave mirror or appears to diverge from the principal focus in case of a convex mirror.
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 afterreflection.
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.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
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.
Image formation by a concavemirror
o RayDiagrams
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
o Characteristics of imagesformed
Position of Position of
Size of image Nature of image
object image
At infinity At focus F Highly diminished Real and inverted
Between F and
Beyond C Diminished Real and inverted
C
Equal to size of
At C At C Real and inverted
object
Between C and F Beyond C Enlarged Real and inverted
At F At infinity Highly enlarged Real and inverted
Between F and P Behind the mirror Enlarged Virtual and erect
Image formation by a convexmirror
o RayDiagrams
o Characteristics of imagesformed
Position of object Position of Size of image Nature of
image image
At infinity At focus F behind Highly diminished, Virtual and erect
the mirror point sized
Anywhere between Between P and F Diminished Virtual and erect
infinity and the pole behind the mirror
of the mirror
MirrorFormula
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) produced by a spherical mirroris
size of image (h2 ) image distance (v)
m
size ofobject(h1) object distance(u)
m is negative for real images and positive for virtual images.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
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 oflight.
The cause of refraction is the change in the speed of light as it goes from one medium toanother.
Laws ofRefraction
o FirstLaw:Theincidentray,therefractedrayandthenormaltotheinterfaceoftwomediaat the
point of incidence, all lie in the sameplane.
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 ofmedia.
sini
constant 1n 2
sinr
This law is also known as Snell’s law.
The constant, writtenas1n 2 is called the refractive index of the secondmedium (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 givenas
speed of lightinvacuum c
n
speed of light inthemedium 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 2,where
n v
1
n 2 cv2 1
2
n1 cv1 v2
Similarly, the refractive index of medium 1 with respect to medium 2 is
n v
2
n 1 cv1 2
1
n2 cv2 v1
1
n 2 n 1
2 1
1
or,
1
n
2 2
n1
While going from a rarer to a denser medium, the ray of light bends towards the normal.
While going from a denser to a rarer medium, the ray of light bends away from thenormal.
Conditions for norefraction
o When light is incident normally on aboundary.
o When the refractive indices of the two media areequal.
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
incidentray.
SphericalLens
Convex lens or diverging lens Concave lens or converging
lens
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
o Convex lens or converging lens which is thick at the centre and thin at theedges.
o Concave lens or diverging lens which is thin at the centre and thick at theedges.
Some terms related to sphericallenses:
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 ofcurvature.
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 thelens.
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 thelens.
o The focal length (f) of a lens is the distance of the principal focus from the opticalcentre.
Sign Conventions for SphericalLenses
According to New Cartesian Sign Conventions,
o All distances are measured from the optical centre of thelens.
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 sphericallens
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 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 principalaxis.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
Rule 3: A ray passing through the optical centreof a convex lens or a concave lens emerges without
any deviation.
Image formation by a convexlens
o RayDiagrams
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
o Characteristics of imagesformed
Position of
Position of object Size of image Nature of image
image
At infinity At focus F2 Highly diminished Real and inverted
Between F2 and
Beyond 2F1 Diminished Real and inverted
2F2
Equal to size of
At 2F1 At 2F2 Real and inverted
object
Between F1 and
Beyond 2F2 Enlarged Real and inverted
2F1
At focus F1 At infinity Highly enlarged Real and inverted
Beyond F1 on the
Between F1 and O same side as the Enlarged Virtual and erect
object
Image formation by a concavelens
o RayDiagrams
o Characteristics of imagesformed
Position of
Position of image Size of image Nature of image
object
At infinity At focus F1 Highly diminished Virtual and erect
Between infinity Between focus F1
Diminished Virtual and erect
and O and O
LensFormula
Object distance (u), image distance (v) and focal length (f) of a spherical lens are related as
1 1 1
=
u u f
Linear Magnification (m) produced by a spherical lensis
sizeofimage(h2) imagedistance(v) size
m
of object(h1) object distance(u)
m is negative for real images and positive for virtual images.
PHYSICS LIGHT – REFLECTION ANDREFRACTION
Power of alens
o 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
o Power of a convex lens is positive and that of a concave lens isnegative.
o When several thin lenses are placed in contact with one another, the power of the combination
of lenses is equal to the algebraic sum of the powers of the individuallenses.
P P1 P2 P3 P4 ...
