4/4/24, 11:47 PM Light Reflection and Refraction Class 10 Notes Science Chapter 9 Free PDF

Prepared by prabhat sir

Light Refection & Refraction

Imagine you're holding a flashlight in a dark room. When you turn it on, you see a bright beam of
light. Well, light is a form of energy that makes things visible to our eyes. It's like a messenger that
carries information about the world around us.
Light is a form of electromagnetic energy that causes the sensation of vision. Some common
phenomena associated with lights are image formation by mirrors, the twinkling of stars, the
beautiful colours of a rainbow, bending of light by a medium and many more.
Properties of Light
Electromagnetic wave, so does not require any medium to travel.
Light tends to travel in straight line.
Light has dual nature i.e. wave as well as particle.
Light casts shadow.
Speed of light is maximum in vaccum. Its value is 3 × 108 ms-1.
When light falls on a surface, following may happen:
Reflection
Refraction
Absorption

Reflection of Light
Have you ever wondered why you can see your reflection in a shiny surface? The answer lies in
the phenomenon of reflection. When light encounters a surface, it bounces back, allowing us to
see objects and ourselves.
The reflection of light is the phenomenon where light bounces off a surface and changes
direction.

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Laws of Reflection
(i) Angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
(ii) The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence, all lie in the same
plane.

Virtual and Real image

Image is a point where at least two light rays actually meet or appear to meet.

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Try yourself: Which phenomenon is responsible for allowing us to see our reflection in a
shiny surface?

a. Refraction

b. Absorption

c. Reflection

d. Diffraction

View Solution

Image Formed by Plane Mirror

Characteristics of Image formed by Plane Mirror

(i) Virtual and erect.
(ii) Size of image is equal to the size of object.
(iii) Image is formed as far behind the mirror as the object is in front of it.
(iv) Laterally inverted.
Lateral Inversion: The right side of the object appears left side of the image and vice-versa.
Application of lateral inversion

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The word AMBULANCE is written in reverse direction so that it can be read correctly in rear
view mirror of vehicles going in front of it.

Spherical Mirrors
Mirrors whose reflecting surface is curved.
There are two types of spherical mirrors:
(i) Convex Mirror
(ii) Concave Mirror

Properties of Concave mirror

The reflecting surface is curved inwards.
Converging mirror

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Properties of Convex mirror

The reflecting surface is curved outwards.
Diverging mirror

Common terms for Spherical mirrors

Principal axis: The line joining the pole and center of curvature.
Pole (P): The centre of the spherical mirror.
Aperture (MN): It is the effective diameter of the spherical mirror.
Center of Curvature (C): The centre of the hollow glass sphere of which the mirror was a
part.
Radius of Curvature (R): The distance between the pole and the centre of curvature.
Focus (F): The point on principal axis where all the parallel light rays actually meet or appear
to meet after reflection.
Focal length (f): The distance between the pole and the focus.
Relationship between focal length and radius of curvature: f = R/2

Rules for making ray diagrams by spherical mirror

(i) A ray parallel to the principal axis, after reflection, will pass through the principal focus in case
of a concave mirror or appear to diverge from the principal focus in case of a convex mirror.

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(ii) 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, after reflection, will emerge parallel to the
principal axis.

(iii) A ray passing through the centre of curvature of a concave mirror or directed in the direction
of the centre of curvature of a convex mirror, after reflection, is reflected back along the same
path.

(iv) A ray incident obliquely to the principal axis, towards a point P (pole of the mirror), on the
concave mirror or a convex mirror, is reflected obliquely. The incident and reflected rays follow
the laws of reflection at the point of incidence (point P), making equal angles with the principal
axis.

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Try yourself: Which type of mirror has a reflecting surface curved inwards?

a. Convex Mirror

b. Concave Mirror

c. Plane Mirror

d. Spherical Mirror

View Solution

Ray diagrams for images formed by concave mirror

(i) When object is at infinity
Image Position − At ‘F’
Nature of image – Real, inverted
Size – Point sized or highly diminished

(ii) When object is beyond ‘C’

Image Position – Between ‘F’ and ‘C’
Nature of image – Real, inverted
Size – Diminished

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(iii) When object is at ‘C’

Image Position – At ‘C’
Nature of image – Real, inverted
Size – Same size as that of object

(iv) When object is placed between ‘F’ and ‘C’

Image Position – Beyond ‘C’
Nature of image– Real, inverted
Size – Enlarged

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(v) When object is placed at ‘F’

Image Position – At Infinity
Nature of image – Real, inverted
Size – Highly enlarged

(vi) When object is between ‘P’ and ‘F’

Image Position – Behind the mirror
Nature of image – Virtual, erect
Size – Enlarged

Uses of Concave Mirror

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Used in torches, search lights and vehicles headlights to get powerful parallel beam of light.
Concave mirrors are used by dentists to see large image of teeth of patients. (Teeth have to
be placed between pole and focus).
Concave mirror is used as shaving mirror to see a larger image of the face.
Large concave mirrors are used to concentrate sunlight to produce heat in solar furnace.

Ray diagrams of images formed by convex mirror

(i) When object is placed at infinity
Image Position − At ‘F’
Nature of image – Virtual, erect
Size – Point sized

(ii) When object is placed between pole and infinity

Image Position – Between ‘P’ and ‘F’
Nature of image– Virtual, erect
Size – Diminished

A full length image of a tall building/tree can be seen in a small convex mirror.
Uses of Convex Mirror
Convex mirrors are used as rear view mirrors in vehicles because
they always give an erect though diminished image.

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they have a wider field of view as they are curved outwards.

Convex mirrors are used at blind turns and on points of merging traffic to facilitate vision of
both side traffic.
Used in shops as security mirror.

Sign Convention for Reflection by Spherical Mirror

The object is placed to the left of the mirror.
All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of the mirror.
All distances measured in the direction of incident ray (along + X-axis) are taken as positive
and those measured against the direction of incident ray (along – X-axis) are taken as
negative.
Distance measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis are taken as positive.
Distances measured perpendicular to and below the principal axis are taken as negative.

Object distance = ‘u’ is always negative.

Focal length of concave mirror = Negative
Focal length of convex mirror = Positive

Mirror Formula
1/v + 1/u = 1/f
where, v = Image distance
u = Object distance

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f = Focal length
Magnification of Spherical Mirrors
It is the ratio of the height of image to the height of object.
m = Height of image/Height of object
⇒ m = hi/ho
Also, m = -v/u
If ‘m’ is negative, image is real.
If ‘m’ is positive, image is virtual.
If hi = ho then m = 1, i.e., image is equal to object.
If hi > ho then m > 1 i.e., image is enlarged.
If hi < ho then m < 1 i.e., image is diminished.

Magnification of plane mirror is always + 1.

‘+’ sign indicates virtual image.
‘1’ indicates that image is equal to object’s size.
If ‘m’ is ‘+ve’ and less than 1, it is a convex mirror.
If ‘m’ is ‘+ve’ and more than 1, it is a concave mirror.
If ‘m’ is ‘-ve’, it is a concave mirror.

Refraction of Light
The bending of a ray of light as it passes from one medium to another is called
refraction.

It is due to a change in the velocity of light while travelling from one medium to another.
The maximum velocity of light is 3 x 108 m/sec in a vacuum or air.
The velocity is less in the denser medium.

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Laws of Refraction of Light

Laws of refraction state that:
The incident ray refracted ray, and the normal to the interface of two media at the point of
incidence all lie on the same plane.
The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is constant.
This is also known as Snell’s law of refraction.

Bending of Light Ray

According to Snell's law, μ1 sin i = μ2 sin r

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(i) If light passes from rarer to the denser medium:

μ1 = μR and μ2 = μD
so that,

⇒ ∠i > ∠r
In passing from rarer to a denser medium, the ray bends towards the normal.

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(ii) If light passes from denser to rarer medium μ1= μD and μ2 = μR

⇒ ∠ i < ∠r
In passing from denser to rarer medium, the ray bends away from the normal.
Refractive index depends on nature and density of medium and colour of light refractive
index is maximum for violet and minimum for the red light.

What is Refractive Index?

Refractive index, also called the index of refraction describes how fast light travels through
the material.

Refractive Index is dimensionless. For a given material, the refractive index is the ratio between
the speed of light in a vacuum (c) and the speed of light in the medium (v). If the refractive index
for a medium is represented by n, then it is given by the following formula:

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When a light ray is refracted from medium number 1 into medium number 2, the relative
refractive index of medium 2 w.r.t. medium 1(n21) is given by

Similarly, the refractive index of medium 1 with respect to medium 2 is given by

Therefore, we conclude that n21 x n12 = 1

or n21 = 1 / n12

Lenses
A lens is a piece of any transparent material bounded by two curved surfaces or by one
curved and one plane surface.
Lens are of two types:
Convex or convergent lens

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Concave or divergent lens

Terminologies
Optical Centre: O is a point for a given lens through which any ray passes undeviated.

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Principal Axis: C1C2 is a line passing through optical centre and perpendicular to the
lens.
Principal Focus: A lens has two surfaces and hence two focal points. First focal point is
an object point on the principal axis for which image is formed at infinity.

While second focal point is an image point on the principal axis for which object lies at
infinity.

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Focal Length f is defined as the distance between optical centre of a lens and the point
where the parallel beam of light converges or appears to converge.
Aperture : In reference to a lens, aperture means the effective diameter. Intensity of
image formed by a lens which depends on the light passing through the lens will depend
2
on the square of aperture, i.e., I µ (Aperture)

Try yourself: What is the property of light that causes it to make objects visible to our
eyes?

a. Light is a form of electromagnetic energy.

b. Light travels in a straight line.

c. Light has dual nature, both wave and particle.

d. Light casts a shadow.

View Solution

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Rules for Image Formation

A ray passing through optical centre proceeds undeviated through the lens.
A ray passing through first focus or directed towards it, after refraction from the lens,
becomes parallel to the principal axis.
A ray passing parallel to the principal axis after refraction through the lenses passes or
appears to pass through F2.

For Convergent or Convex Lens:

Object Image Magnification
∞ F m << – 1

∞ – 2F F – 2F m < –1
2F 2F m = –1

F – 2F ∞ – 2F m > –1
F ∞ m >> –1
F – O In front of lens m > + 1

Image Formation for Convex Lens

Object is placed at infinity.

Image: at F real, inverted, very small in size and m << - 1

Object is placed in between ∞ -2F.

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Image: real (F - 2F) inverted, small in size (diminished), and m < - 1

Object is placed at 2F.

Image : real (at 2F)

inverted
equal (of same size)
(m = -1)
Object is placed in between 2F - F.

Image : real (2F - ∞)

inverted
enlarged
m>1

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Object is placed at F.

Object is placed in between F - O.

Image: virtual (in front of lens)

erected
enlarge
(m > + 1)

Given Real Virtual

u - -
v + -

h1 + +
h2 - +
m - +

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Image Formation for Concave Lens

Image is virtual, diminished, erect, towards the object, m = +ve
Object is placed at infinity.

Image: At F
virtual
erected
diminished
(m << + 1)
Object is placed in front of the lens.

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Image: between F and optical centre

virtual
erected
diminished
(m < + 1)

Lens Formula
Focal length of a lens can be found by the following formula:

Where - f = Focal length of lens.

v = Distance of image from pole
u = Distance of object from pole.

Uses of Lens Formula

(i) Put the correct signs of known variables according to the sign conventions.
(ii) Do not put the sign of an unknown variable. The sign will automatically show up during
calculations.
(iii) If the calculated sign of a variable turns out positive, then the variable calculated is on the
other side of the lens, i.e., on the opposite side to the object. However, if the calculated
variable is of negative sign, then it is on the same side as the object.

Combination of lenses
Two thin lens are placed in contact to each other
Power of combination:

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P = P1 + P2

1/F = 1/f1 + 1/f2

Use sign convention when solving numericals.
Two thin lenses are placed at a small distance a.

1/F = 1/f1 + 1/f2 - a/f1f2

P = P 1 + P 2 - a P 1 P2
Use sign convention when solving numericals.

Power of Lens
The power of a lens is defined as the reciprocal of focal length of the lens. Focal length should
always be measured in meters.

Unit of power of lens is 1/meter which is called dioptre.

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Magnification of Lens
The magnification is defined as the ratio of the height of the image and the height of the
object it is represented by M.

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