6th - 8th | 9th -10th ICSE, CBSE, GSEB & 11th,12th – Sci/Comm

Std – 9th ICSE Subject – History

REFRACTION OF LIGHT AT PLANE
SURFACES
(A) REFRACTION, LAW OF REFRACTION AND REFRACTIVE INDEX.

Scope: Partial reflection and refraction due to change in medium, Laws of refraction, conditions
for a light ray to pass undeviated, Values of speed of light (c) in vacuum air, water and glass;
refractive index 𝜇 = 𝑐/𝑉, V = f𝜆. Values of 𝜇 for common substances such as water, glass and
diamond, experimental verification; refraction through glass block; lateral displacement;
multiple images in thick glass mirror.

Refraction of Light:
 Refraction is a surface phenomenon, in which there is a change in
direction of the path of light, when it passes from one transparent medium to
another transparent medium .
 The speed of light is 3 × 108m/s in air,
2.25 × 108 m/s in water and
2 × 108 m/s in glass.
 A medium is optically denser if light slows down in it.

It has been observed that:

▪ When a ray of light travels from a rarer
medium to denser medium, the speed of light
decreases and hence it bends towards the
normal, having ∠i > ∠r. Its deviation = ∠i – ∠r.

▪ When a ray of light travels from a denser

medium to a rarer medium, the speed of light
increases and hence it bends away from the
normal, having ∠i < ∠r.
Its deviation = ∠r – ∠i.

▪ The ray of light which is incident normally

on the surface separating the two media,
passes un-deviated. Thus if its ∠i = 0˚, then
its ∠r = 0˚.

Cause of refraction:
▪ Light travels with different speeds in different media.
▪ The refraction of light occurs because when a ray of light passes from one
medium to another, its direction (except for ∠i = 0) changes because of
change in its speed.

Changes in λ , f and v of light energy due to refraction:

▪ Rarer to denser – Speed of light decrease – its λ decrease – it bends towards the normal.
▪ Denser to Rarer – Speed of light increase – its λ increase – it bends away from the normal.
▪ The frequency depends on the source; hence it does not change.
▪ Speed of light is maximum in vacuum – 3 × 108 m/s.
▪ The speed of light in air is same as in vacuum.

Laws of Refraction:
 The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence, all
lie in the same plane.
 The ratio of the sine of angle of incidence to the sine of angle of refraction (i.e.
refractive index) is constant for the pair of a given media.
 Snell’s law: The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to the sine of angle of
refraction is constant for the pair of given media. This constant is called the
refractive index of second medium with respect to the first medium.

Refractive index / Refractive index of a medium:

 Definition: The ratio of the sine of angle of incidence in first optical medium to
the sine of angle of refraction in the second optical medium is the refractive
index of second optical medium with respect to the first optical medium.
1µ2 = sin 𝑖 / sin 𝑟
 Definition: The absolute refractive index of a medium is defined as the ratio of
the speed of light in vacuum (or air) to the speed of light in that medium.
µ = 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑕𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑖𝑟 (𝑐) / 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑕𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑕𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑚 (𝑣)
1µ2 = 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑕𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑚 1/𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑕𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑚 2= µ2/µ1

 The refractive index has no unit, as it is the ratio of two similar quantities.
 Conditions for no change in direction of light ray on refraction: If the refractive
indices of medium 1 and medium 2 are same, the velocity of light will be same in
both the media, so a ray of light will pass from medium 1 to medium 2 without
any change in its direction even if the angle of incidence in medium 1 is not zero.
 Formulae:
▪ V = fλ’ (light in any medium)
▪ c = fλ (light in air)
▪ 𝛍 = 𝒄/𝒗 = 𝒇𝝀/𝒇𝝀′ = 𝝀/𝝀′

Factors affecting the refractive index of a medium:

▪ Optical density – Directly proportional
▪ Temperature – Inversely Proportional
▪ The colour/wavelength – Inversely Proportional

Principle of reversibility of the path of light:

 According to this principle, the path of a light ray is reversible.
▪ If refractive index of glass with respect to air is aµg = 3/2
▪ The refractive index of air with respect to glass will be gµa = 1/3⁄2 = 2/3 .

Determination of refractive index of glass:

 Calculate the refractive index as follows:
▪ The refractive index ‘µ’ of glass is calculated,
by the ratio of sin 𝑖/sin 𝑟.

▪ The incident ray AO, the normal NOM at the

point of incidence O and the refracted ray
OB are in the plane of the paper – thus it
verifies the first law of refraction.

Refraction of light through a rectangular glass block:

 Refraction occurs at two parallel surfaces PQ
and RS, ∠MOB= ∠𝑁1𝐵𝑂and the angle of
incidence i is equal to the angle of emergence
e by the principle of reversibility of path of a
light ray.
 Thus, the emergent ray BC is parallel to the
incident ray AO.
 Lateral displacement:
▪ The emergent ray is laterally displaced
from the path of the incident ray.
▪ The path of incident ray AO is
represented by the dotted line OD.
▪ The perpendicular distance between the two paths ‘XY’ is called lateral
displacement.
 ▪ Factors of lateral displacement:
• The thickness of the glass block – Directly Proportional.
• The angle of incidence – Directly Proportional.
• The refractive index – Directly Proportional.

Multiple images in a thick plane glass plate or thick mirror:

 If an object is placed in front of a thick glass mirror
and viewed obliquely, a number of images are seen.
 Out of these images, the second image is the
brightest, while others are of diminishing brightness.
 The image A2 is the brightest image due to the light
ray suffering a strong reflection at the silvered
surface PN.

FORMULAE:
1. Refractive index, aμg =𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐮𝐦 (𝐜)/𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦
(𝐯)
2. 1μ2 = 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦𝟏/𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝟐
3. μ = 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐢 )/𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐫)
4. 1μ2 × 2μ1 = 1
5. 1𝝁2 = 𝝀2/𝝀1

(B) REFRACTION OF LIGHT THROUGH A PRISM.

Scope: Refraction through a glass prism.

Prism:
 Definitions: A prism is a transparent refractive
medium bounded by five plane surfaces
inclined at some angles, with a triangular
cross section.
 The plane surfaces through which the light
passes are called the refracting surfaces.
 The angle between the two refracting
surfaces are called the angle of prism.
 The line of intersection of the two refracting surfaces is called the refractive
edge of the prism.
 The section of the prism perpendicular to the refractive edge is called the
principle section of the prism.

Refraction through a prism:

 The ray of light suffers refraction at the
 two faces AB and AC of the prism.
 The ray OP suffers refraction from air to
glass and hence bends towards the
normal at surface AB.
 The ray PQ suffers refraction from glass
to air and hence bends away from the
normal at surface AC.
 QR is the emergent ray coming out from surface AC.
 At each refraction, the ray bends towards the base of the prism.
 Since the refractive faces AB and AC are not parallel to each other, so the
emergent ray QR is not parallel to OP.
 Due to principle of reversibility, if the ray is directed along RQ, it will emerge as PO.
 The angle LMQ – the angle between the direction of incident ray produced forward
(OP) and the emergent ray produced backward (QR), is the angle of deviation.
 This is denoted by the letter 𝛿 (𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑎).
 𝛿 = (𝑖1 + 𝑖2) – (r1 + r2)------ (i)
 𝑟1 + 𝑟2 = 𝐴 ( angle of prism) --- (ii); 𝑖1 + 𝑖2 = 𝐴 + 𝛿 --- (iii)
 Note: The direction of emergent ray in prism is deviated towards the base; while
the direction of emergent ray in a glass slab is parallel to the incident ray with a
lateral shift .

Factors affecting the angle of deviation:

There are 4 factors affecting angle of deviation,
▪ Angle of incidence (i) – First inversely and then directly
proportional
▪ The material of prism (refractive index 𝜇) – Directly
Proportional
▪ The angle of prism (A) – Directly Proportional
▪ The color or wavelength (𝜆) of light used – Inversely proportional
• Thus refractive index of the material of a prism is maximum for
violet light and least for red light.
• Consequently, a given prism deviates the violet light most and red
light least. (𝛿𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑡 > 𝛿𝑟𝑒𝑑).
▪ Diagrammatic illustration of wavelength as it moves from violet to red end and its
relation with frequency, refractive index and angle of deviation.
▪ A recap:
• Speed violet < Speed red
• 𝝀 violet < 𝝀 red
• 𝝁 violet > 𝝁 red
• 𝜹 violet > 𝜹 red
• µ α 𝟏/ λ
FORMULAE:
1. 𝜹Min = 2𝒊 – A
2. 𝜹 = (𝒊𝟏 + 𝒊𝟐) – (r1 + r2)
3. 𝒓𝟏 + 𝒓𝟐 = 𝑨
4. 𝒊𝟏 + 𝒊𝟐 = 𝑨 + δ

(C) SIMPLE APPLICATIONS OF REFRACTION OF LIGHT.

Scope: Simple applications: real and apparent depths of object in water; apparent
bending of stick under water, Simple numerical problems, approximate ray diagrams.

Real and apparent depth:

 From the definition of refractive index, we get:
▪ Refractive index of a medium with respect to air,
aµm =𝑂𝐴/𝐼𝐴=𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑕/𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑕.
▪ Apparent depth = 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑕/𝜇.
▪ Thus shift OI = real depth – apparent depth = real depth × (1 −1/µ).
▪ Since µviolet > µred, therefore shift is more for violet than red in a given medium.
▪ The above equations are true only when viewed from vertical position.
 Note: The apparent depth of an object lying in a denser medium and viewed
from rarer medium is always less than its real depth.

The factors on which a shift of an object due to which it appears raised, depends on:
 The refractive index of the medium – Directly proportional.
 The thickness of the denser medium – Directly proportional.
 The colour or wavelength of the incident light – Inversely proportional.

Apparent Bending of a Stick Under Water:

 A straight stick XOP is placed obliquely in water.
 The portion of stick under water appears to be shortened and
raised.
 Reason:
▪ The ray of light refracts from denser to rarer medium.
▪ Due to rectilinear propagation of light the part of stick immersed in water
appears to be at a raised position, while the stick outside the water appears as it is.
▪ Due to this difference in vision the stick appears bend.

An object in rarer region, when viewed from denser region:

 It will appear at greater distance than its real distance.
 Real distance is shorter than apparent distance,
 hence the refractive index is always less than 1.

Some Consequences of Refraction of Light:

 A tank appears shallow than its actual depth.
 A star appears twinkling in the sky.
 A print appears to be raised when a glass block is placed over it.
 The sun is seen a few minutes before it rises above the horizon in the morning
and in the evening few minutes longer after it sets.
 A piece of paper struck at the bottom of a glass block appears to be raised when
seen from above.
 A coin kept in a vessel and not visible when seen from just below the edge of the
vessel, can be viewed from the same position when water is poured into the vessel.
 A person’s legs appear to be short when standing in a tank.
 An object placed in a denser medium when viewed from a rarer medium appears
to be at a lesser depth.
 An object placed in a rarer medium when viewed from a denser medium appears
to be at a greater distance than its real distance.

Summary of all factors with respect to violet and red light:

FORMULAE:
1. 𝝁 = 𝑹𝑫/𝑨𝑫
2. Shift = RD (1 –𝟏/𝝁).

(D) CRITICAL ANGLE AND TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION.

Scope:
 Total internal reflection, critical angle, examples or refraction in a triangular glass
prism, qualitative comparison with reflection from a plane mirror. Application of
total internal reflection. Transmission of light from a denser medium (glass / water) to
to a rarer medium (air) at different angle of incidence, critical angle C, 𝜇 =1/sin 𝐶 ,
essential conditions for total internal reflection.
 Total internal reflection by a triangular glass prism; ray diagrams, different cases
of angles of prism (60°-60°-60°), (60°-30°-90°), (45°-45°-90°); comparison of total
 internal reflection in a prism and reflection from a plane mirror.

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

incidence:
 When a ray of light is incident from denser to rarer it bends away from the normal,
hence for every degree rise in angle i, angle r goes on increasing.
Critical Angle (C):
 Definition: Critical angle is the angle of incidence in the denser medium, whose
corresponding angle of refraction in the rarer medium is 90˚.
 Relation between the critical angle and the refractive index:
▪ aµg = 1/𝑔µ𝑎
▪ aµg =1/sin 𝑖𝑐 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝐶 .
 Factors affecting the critical angle:
▪ Wavelength/color of light – Directly proportional.
▪ Temperature – Directly Proportiona.

Total Internal Reflection:

 Definition: Total internal reflection is a
phenomenon in which, a ray of light when travelling
from a denser medium to a rarer medium with an
angle of incidence greater than the critical angle for
a pair of media, is totally reflected back into the
denser medium.
 Conditions for the total internal reflection:
▪ The ray of light must travel from a denser medium to a rarer medium.
▪ The angle of incidence in the denser medium must be greater than the critical angle
for the pair of media.

Refraction and TIR of light rays at different angles of incidence:

 Note:
▪ 100% light energy is reflected back into the denser medium.
▪ No device produces 100% reflection (due to absorption and refraction of a part of
light) .
▪ TIR is of great practical application in the construction of periscope, binocular and
certain types of camera.

Total internal reflection in a prism:

 There are 3 types of prisms in which TIR takes place:
▪ 45 – 90 – 45 prism, (isosceles)
▪ 30 – 90 – 60 prism (scalene)
 ▪ 60 – 60 – 60 prism (equilateral).
 Total internal refection through right isosceles prism having 45˚– 90˚– 45˚:
▪ A total reflecting prism is used –
• To deviate a ray of light through 90˚.
Use: It is used in a Periscope.

• To deviate a ray of light through 180˚.

Use: It is used in binocular and certain types of camera, to
invert the image.

• To erect the inverted image without

producing a deviation.
Use: It is used in a slide projector.

 Total internal reflection through an equilateral prism 60˚ - 60˚ - 60˚:

▪ Since all 3 angles are equal there is only
one type of reflection from any of the 3
sides, as shown in the diagram alongside.
▪ Use: It deviates the light ray by 120˚.

 TIR and refraction of light through a scalene prism - 30˚, 90˚, 60˚ prism.
▪ Light incident from side containing the angle 60o and 90o.

▪ Light incident from side containing the angle 30o and 90o.

 Light incident from side containing the angle 30o and 60o (hypotenuse).
 ▪ There are 2 cases when the ray of light is incident from the hypotenuse:
• No TIR: • TIR:

Use of a total internal reflecting prism in place of a plane mirror:

 During total internal reflection, 100% of the incident light is reflected back into the
denser medium, whereas in ordinary reflection from a plane mirror, some light is
refracted and absorbed so the reflection is partial.
 It is for this reason that a total reflecting prism is used in place of a plane mirror
to deviate the light ray by 90˚ in a periscope and by 180˚ in a binocular.
 The use of a total reflecting prism gives us an image much brighter than that
obtained by using a plane mirror.

Some consequences of total internal reflection:

 A piece of diamond sparkles when viewed from certain directions.
 An empty test tube placed in water in a beaker with mouth outside the water
surface shines like a mirror.
 On a hot sunny day, a driver may see a pool of water on the road before him. It is
the phenomenon of mirage, which is often observed in desert.
 A crack in a glass vessel often shines like a mirror.
 An optical fiber is used to transmit a light signal over a long distance with a negligible
loss of energy (some loss may be due to absorption in the material).