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Student Activity 3
Developing Optics Equations

Science Background
Light is a fascinating thing. Look around. The room is full of light. You need light to see, but you cannot actually see
the light as it fills the room. Scientists use different behaviours of light to build models that help explain what is
happening. In this activity, you will use these models of light to understand several useful optics equations.

Part 1: Magnification and Thin Lens Equations

Light travels in straight lines. We can therefore represent it with straight lines or rays. We can use ray diagrams to
locate the focused image formed by a lens, but they are not the only way to find the image. Equations, derived
from ray diagrams, give us another way to approach lens problems. In this activity, you will examine ray diagrams
to reveal connections between the object, image, and lens that are expressed in these two equations:
hi d i 1 1 1
M =– = + =
ho do di d0 f
where
M is the magnification factor
ho is the height of the object, measured from the principal axis (PA)
hi is the height of the image, measured from the PA
do is the distance from the object to the centre of the lens along the PA
di is the distance from the image to the centre of the lens along the PA
f is the focal length of the lens, measured from the centre of the lens along the PA
1. The black arrow is the object. Extend the rays indicated by the dotted lines to locate the focused image of
the arrow. Choose a different colour for each ray. Sketch the image of the arrow. Label ho, hi, do, di, and f.
PA stands for principal axis.

2. Shade in the triangle formed by the object, the ray that goes through O, and the principal axis. Using the
same colour, shade in the triangle formed by the image, the ray through O, and the principal axis.
Consider the two angles in your triangles at point O. These are opposite angles. What property do
opposite angles have?

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3. The object and the image are perpendicular to the principal axis, so the two triangles you shaded are
similar. In similar triangles, the ratio of corresponding sides is a constant. Write an equation showing
that the ratio of height over distance along the principal axis for the object is equal to the ratio of
height over distance for the image.

4. Rearrange your equation to get hi/ho on the left side. What does this ratio of heights describe?

5. Is the image upright or inverted? What could you add to your equation to convey this information?

6. Two small right-angle triangles are formed to the right of the lens that both come to a point at F. Since
the lens is thin, we can use the vertical dashed line to represent the lens. Shade in the triangle formed
by the lens, the ray that goes through F, and the principal axis with a second colour. Use this second
colour to also shade in the triangle formed by the image, the ray that goes through F, and the principal
axis. These are similar triangles. What makes them similar?

7. Label the length of the sides along the principal axis in terms of di and f. Express the ratio of the height
to the length of the sides for each triangle.

8. Equate the two ratios, and rearrange the terms to get hi/ho on the left side.

9. Equate this expression with the one you obtained in Step 4.

10. This combined expression is not very useful in its current form. Let’s clean it up a little so that each
term has only one variable in the numerator. Start by separating any fractions into individual terms,
x– y x y
recalling that = – .
z z z

11. Two of your terms should have the same numerator. Divide the equation by that numerator and simplify.
You should now have an equation that relates the distances to the focal length of the lens.

12. Use your equations to verify the types, size, and location of an image formed when a 5.0 cm tall object is
located 25.0 cm from a lens with a focal length of 15.0 cm. You should confirm that the image will be real,
inverted, 7.5 cm tall, and 37.5 cm on the opposite side of the lens from the object.

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Part 2: Snell’s Law

Modelling light as a wave can help us understand why light is refracted at a boundary. Let’s use this model to take
a closer look at where Snell’s law comes from. (Recall that Snell’s law describes the relationship between the
angles of incidence and refraction for light travelling between media with different refractive indexes.) The index of
refraction, n, expresses how much slower light travels in a medium, v, compared to in a vacuum, c. When light
moves from one medium to another, the change in speed can cause the light to change direction. Snell’s law
connects the angles with the indexes of refraction:
c
n1 sin θ1=n 2 sin θ2, n=
V
where
n1 is the index of refraction of the first medium
n2 is the index of refraction of the second medium
θ1 is the angle of incidence, measured from the normal
θ2 is the angle of refraction, measured from the normal
Use the PhET Bending Light simulation with the settings selected as shown in Figure 1. A beam of light is shown as
a series of wave fronts travelling in the direction of the light ray. Notice that the wave fronts are perpendicular to
the direction of the light ray and that successive waves are separated by an equal length of time because they are
produced at regular intervals.

Figure 1 Screenshot of the PhET Bending Light simulation

1. Adjust the angle of incidence to be around 60°, using the protractor tool for guidance. Examine the incident
and refracted beams.
(a) What happens to the distance between wave fronts in the glass?

(b) Would the change in medium affect the time intervals between successive wave fronts passing a
point?

(c) What does that tell you about the speed of the wave in the glass?

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Examine the region where the light moves from one medium to another (e.g., from air to glass). If we look at two
successive wave fronts, shown in Figure 2 as AB and CD , we can see two right-angle triangles formed: one in air (
∆ BAD ) and the other in glass (∆ ADC ).

Figure 2 Light waves travelling from air into glass

2. Use geometry to show that ∠ BAD=θ1 and ∠ ADC=θ2 .

opposite
3. ∆ BAD and ∆ ADC are right-angle triangles. Using the definition sin x= , write an expression
hypotenuse
for each triangle equating the sine of the angle (θ1 or θ2 ) with the sides.

4. The hypotenuse ( AD ) is common to the two triangles. Rearrange your equations to solve for the
hypotenuse and then combine your two equations into one. Simplify your equation.

5. The sides AC and BD show how far the light travels in the same amount of time. Express these
distances using the index of refraction, n, and the speed of light in a vacuum, c.

6. Substitute these expressions into your equation from Step 4 and simplify.

7. Use your equation to verify that when light in water (nwater = 1.33) is incident on glass (nglass = 1.5)
at an angle of 40°, the angle of refraction is 35°.

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Consolidate Your Learning

Answer the following questions to check your understanding of optics equations.
1. In Part 1, the real image is formed on the side of the lens that is opposite to the object. Where would a virtual
image be formed? How could you indicate this when using the equations?

2. A biologist is examining a specimen using a magnifying glass (f = 12 cm). The lens is 10 cm above the 2.5 cm
long specimen. Use your lens equation from Part 1, Step 11, to give a complete description (size, attitude,
location, type) of the focused image produced by the lens.

3. Refer to the wave fronts in Part 2, Figure 2.

(a) How would the diagram change if the light were moving from glass to air?

(b) Why does light bend away from the normal when it speeds up?

(c) What happens to the light when the angle of incidence is zero?

4. Total internal reflection (TIR) is a very important phenomenon in which all of the light that is incident on a
transparent surface is reflected back into the original (more optically dense) medium. It is the basis of all fibre
optics technology. TIR occurs when light that is in a higher-index material moves toward a lower-index
material at a large angle.
What is the largest angle of refraction that a light ray can reasonably have? Sketch this situation, and then use
your equation from Part 2, Step 6, to develop an equation for the angle of incidence when this maximum angle
of refraction happens. This angle of incidence is called the critical angle, θc .

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