REFRACTION

Refraction of Light: The bending of light at the interface of two different mediums is called Refraction
of light.

• If the velocity of light in medium is more, then medium is called optical rarer.
Example, air or vacuum is more optical rarer.
• If the velocity of light in medium is less, then medium is called optical denser.
Example, glass is more denser than air.

Refractive Index: It represents the amount or extent of bending of light when it passes from one
medium to another.
There are two types of refractive index

• Relative refractive index and

• Absolute refractive index.

Refractive index of medium with respect to other medium is called Relative Refractive Index.
Refractive index of medium 1 with respect to medium 2
= Speedoflightinmedium2(V2)/Speedoflightinmedium1(V1)
Refractive index of medium with respect to air or vacuum is called Absolute Refractive Index.
Absolute refractive index of medium (m) = Speed of light in air(c)/Speed of light in medium(Vm)

Incident ray: It is incoming ray on the refracting surface.

Refracted ray: It is an outgoing ray from the refracting surface.

An angle of incidence (i): It is the angle between incident rays and perpendicular line (normal) at the
point of incidence.

An angle of refraction (r): It is the angle between refracted rays and perpendicular line (normal) at the
point of incidence.

Law of Refraction: According to this law

• “The incident ray, refracted ray and normal at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.”
• “The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is constant.”
sini/sinr = constant (µ)

The frequency (v) of light remains constant when the light ray is incident on the interface of two media. But
light moves with different speeds in different media.

C = vλ

As a result, the wavelength (μ) of light also changes at the interface. This, in turn, causes a change in direction,
which is refraction. Clearly during refraction, The frequency of light remains constant. Speed of light and
wavelength changes causing the incident light to deviate.
Effects of Refraction in Nature

Rainbow is formed after a shower due to the refraction of sunlight by surfaces of water droplets.

When the sun rises, the light coming from the sun refracts through the Earth’s atmosphere and reaches our eye
before the sun actually crosses the horizon. Similarly, after the sunset, light rays from the sun get refracted and
reach us. Due to this, the sunrise is a bit advanced and the sunset is delayed.

Because of the heterogeneous atmosphere of the Earth, the apparent position of distant stars varies slightly,
causing twinkling of stars.

Application of Refraction of Light

Lenses are transparent objects which can focus light using refraction. Lenses are widely used in cameras and
binoculars.

In cosmology, different telescopes are used to study the faraway objects of the universe. Microscopes are
widely used in science to study very small objects, which are otherwise invisible to the naked eye. These
optical instruments use refraction to form magnified images of distant or small objects.

Prisms are wedge-shaped transparent objects, often used as optical filters to extract out a particular
wavelength. Light rays of different wavelengths propagate with different speeds in a medium such that they
refract at different angles. This phenomenon is called dispersion (observed in prisms).

An important application of refraction is optical fibers which are used for communication with minimum
energy dissipation.

Total internal reflection and critical Angle

Thee incident angle for which the refraction angle is above 90° is known as the critical angle.

Total internal reflection takes place when a wave strikes on the boundary of a medium at an angle greater than
the critical angle with respect to the normal to the surface,

Thus with respect to total internal reflection critical angle can be defined as that incident angle above which
total internal reflection takes place.

Transmission of light from a denser to a rarer medium at different angles of incidence

Critical angle (IC)

Critical angle is the angle of incidence in the denser medium corresponding to which the angle of refraction in
the rarer medium is 90∘.

For a glass to air refraction , we have

Aμg = 1/sin ic

Factors affecting the critical angle

The colour of light – Critical angle increases with increase in wavelength of light.
The temperature – Critical angle increases with increase in temperature.

Total internal reflection

When a ray of light travelling in a denser medium, is incident on the surface of a rarer medium such that the angle of
incidence is greater than the critical angle for the pair of media, the ray is totally reflected back into the denser medium.
This phenomenon is called the total internal reflection.

Example of total internal reflection

Diamond:

When the incident ray falls on every face of the diamond such that the angle formed, the ray is greater than the critical
angle. The critical value of the diamond is 23°. This condition is responsible for the total internal reflection in a diamond
which makes it shine.

Mirage:

It is an optical illusion that is responsible for the appearance of the water layer at short distances in a desert or on the
road. Mirage is an example of total internal reflection which occurs due to atmospheric refraction.

Optical Fibre:

When the incident ray falls on the cladding, it suffers total internal reflection as the angle formed by the ray is greater
than the critical angle. Optical fibres have revolutionised the speed with which signals are transferred, not only across
cities but across countries and continents making telecommunication one of the fastest modes of information transfer.
Optical fibres are also used in endoscopy.

Dispersion:

The phenomenon of splitting of white light by a prism into its constituent colours is known as dispersion.

Spectrum:

The band of colours obtained on a screen on passing white light through a prism is called spectrum.
Types Of Deviations
1. When a ray of light travels from a rarer medium to a denser medium (Figure a), it bends towards the normal.

2. When a ray of light travels from a denser medium to a rarer medium (Figure b), it bends away from the normal.

3. If the incident ray falls normally (or perpendicularly) (Figure c) on the surface of a glass slab, then there is no bending
of the ray of light and it goes straight.

Since the incident ray goes along the normal to the surface, the angle of incidence in this case is zero (0°) and the angle
of refraction is also zero (0°),

i.e.∠i=∠r and ∠i=∠r=0°

1. When a ray of light passes from rarer to denser medium it bends towards the normal
and ∠r<∠i∠r<∠i .
∴∴ Angle of deviation, d = i – r
2. When a ray of light passes from denser to rarer medium, it bends away from the normal
and ∠r>∠i∠r>∠i.
∴∴ Angle of deviation d = r – i
3. A ray of light travelling along the normal passes undeflected.

Sujash sir
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