Science Light – Reflection and Refraction CHAPTER9

• We see a variety of objects in the world around us.

• However, we are unable to see anything in a dark room.

• On lighting up the room, things become visible.

• What makes things visible?

• During the day, the sunlight helps us to see objects.

• An object reflects light that falls on it.

• This reflected light, when received by our eyes, enables us to see things.

• We are able to see through a transparent medium as light is transmitted through it.

• There are a number of common wonderful phenomena associated with light such as image
formation by mirrors, the twinkling of stars, the beautiful colours of a rainbow, bending of
light by a medium and so on.

• By observing the common optical phenomena around us, we may conclude that light seems
to travel in straight lines.

• The fact that a small source of light casts a sharp shadow of an opaque object points to this
straight-line path of light, usually indicated as a ray of light.

• If an opaque object on the path of light becomes very small, light has a tendency to bend
around it and not walk in a straight line – an effect known as the diffraction of light.

• Then the straight-line treatment of optics using rays fails.

• To explain phenomena diffraction, light is thought of as a wave, the details of which you
will study in higher classes.

• At the beginning of the 20th century, it became known that the wave theory of light often
becomes inadequate for treatment of the interaction of light with matter, and light often
behaves somewhat like a stream of particles.

• This confusion about the true nature of light continued for some years till a modern
quantum theory of light emerged in which light is neither a ‘wave’ nor a ‘particle’ – the new
theory reconciles the particle properties of light with the wave nature.

• These basic concepts will help us in the study of some of the optical phenomena in nature.

9.1 REFLECTION OF LIGHT

• A highly polished surface, such as a mirror, reflects most of the light falling on it.

• Laws of Reflection

• (i) The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, and

• (ii) The incident ray, the normal to the mirror at the point of incidence and the reflected ray,
all lie in the same plane.

• These laws of reflection are applicable to all types of reflecting surfaces including spherical
surfaces.

• What are the properties of the image?

• Image formed by a plane mirror is always virtual and erect.

• The size of the image is equal to that of the object.

• The image formed is as far behind the mirror as the object is in front of it.

• Further, the image is laterally inverted.

9.2 SPHERICAL MIRRORS

• The reflecting surface of a spherical mirror may be curved inwards or outwards.

• A spherical mirror, whose reflecting surface is curved inwards, that is, faces towards the
centre of the sphere, is called a concave mirror.

• A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved outwards, is called a convex mirror.

• You may now understand that the surface of the spoon curved inwards can be approximated
to a concave mirror and the surface of the spoon bulged outwards can be approximated to a
convex mirror.

• The centre of the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is a point called the pole. It lies on
the surface of the mirror. The pole is usually represented by the letter P.

• Schematic representation of spherical mirrors; the shaded side is non-reflecting.

• The reflecting surface of a spherical mirror forms a part of a sphere.

• This sphere has a centre.

• This point is called the centre of curvature of the spherical mirror.

• It is represented by the letter C.

• Please note that the centre of curvature is not a part of the mirror.
• It lies outside its reflecting surface.

• The centre of curvature of a concave mirror lies in front of it.

• However, it lies behind the mirror in case of a convex mirror.

• The radius of the sphere of which the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror forms a part, is
called the radius of curvature of the mirror.

• It is represented by the letter R.

• Imagine a straight line passing through the pole and the centre of curvature of a spherical
mirror.

• This line is called the principal axis.

• Remember that principal axis is normal to the mirror at its pole.

Activity 9.2

• CAUTION: Do not look at the Sun directly or even into a mirror reflecting sunlight. It may
damage your eyes. n Hold a concave mirror in your hand and direct its reflecting surface
towards the Sun.

• n Direct the light reflected by the mirror on to a sheet of paper held close to the mirror.

• n Move the sheet of paper back and forth gradually until you find on the paper sheet a
bright, sharp spot of light.

• n Hold the mirror and the paper in the same position for a few minutes.

• The paper at first begins to burn producing smoke.

• Eventually it may even catch fire.

• The light from the Sun is converged at a point, as a sharp, bright spot by the mirror.

• In fact, this spot of light is the image of the Sun on the sheet of paper.

• This point is the focus of the concave mirror.

• The heat produced due to the concentration of sunlight ignites the paper.

• The distance of this image from the position of the mirror gives the approximate value of
focal length of the mirror.

• Let us try to understand this observation with the help of a ray diagram.

• Observe Fig.9.2 (a) closely.

• A number of rays parallel to the principal axis are falling on a concave mirror.

• Observe the reflected rays.

• They are all meeting/intersecting at a point on the principal axis of the mirror.

• This point is called the principal focus of the concave mirror.

• Similarly, observe Fig. 9.2 (b).

• How are the rays parallel to the principal axis, reflected by a convex mirror?

• The reflected rays appear to come from a point on the principal axis.

• This point is called the principal focus of the convex mirror.

• The principal focus is represented by the letter F.

• The distance between the pole and the principal focus of a spherical mirror is called the
focal length.

• It is represented by the letter f.

• The reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is by-and-large spherical.

• The surface, then, has a circular outline.

• The diameter of the reflecting surface of spherical mirror is called its aperture.

• In Fig.9.2, distance MN represents the aperture.

• We shall consider in our discussion only such spherical mirrors whose aperture is much
smaller than its radius of curvature.
• Is there a relationship between the radius of curvature R, and focal length f, of a spherical
mirror?

• For spherical mirrors of small apertures, the radius of curvature is found to be equal to twice
the focal length.

• We put this as R = 2f .

• This implies that the principal focus of a spherical mirror lies midway between the pole and
centre of curvature.

Activity 9.3

• You have already learnt a way of determining the focal length of a concave mirror.

• In Activity 9.2, you have seen that the sharp bright spot of light you got on the paper is, in
fact, the image of the Sun.

• It was a tiny, real, inverted image.

• You got the approximate focal length of the concave mirror by measuring the distance of
the image from the mirror.

• n Take a concave mirror.

• Find out its approximate focal length in the way described above.

• Note down the value of focal length.

• (You can also find it out by obtaining image of a distant object on a sheet of paper.)

• n Mark a line on a Table with a chalk.

• Place the concave mirror on a stand.

• Place the stand over the line such that its pole lies over the line.

• n Draw with a chalk two more lines parallel to the previous line such that the distance
between any two successive lines is equal to the focal length of the mirror.

• These lines will now correspond to the positions of the points P, F and C, respectively.

• Remember – For a spherical mirror of small aperture, the principal focus F lies mid-way
between the pole P and the centre of curvature C.

• n Keep a bright object, say a burning candle, at a position far beyond C.

• Place a paper screen and move it in front of the mirror till you obtain a sharp bright image
of the candle flame on it.
• n Observe the image carefully.

• Note down its nature, position and relative size with respect to the object size.

• n Repeat the activity by placing the candle –

• (a) just beyond C,

• (b) at C,

• (c) between F and C,

• (d) at F, and

• (e) between P and F.

• n In one of the cases, you may not get the image on the screen.

• Identify the position of the object in such a case.

• Then, look for its virtual image in the mirror itself.

• n Note down and tabulate your observations.

• You will see in the above Activity that the nature, position and size of the image formed by
a concave mirror depends on the position of the object in relation to points P, F and C.

• The image formed is real for some positions of the object.

• It is found to be a virtual image for a certain other position.

• The image is either magnified, reduced or has the same size, depending on the position of
the object.

• A summary of these observations is given for your reference in Table 9.1.

9.2.2 Representation of Images Formed by Spherical Mirrors Using Ray Diagrams

• We can also study the formation of images by spherical mirrors by drawing ray diagrams.

• Consider an extended object, of finite size, placed in front of a spherical mirror.

• Each small portion of the extended object acts like a point source.

• An infinite number of rays originate from each of these points.

• To construct the ray diagrams, in order to locate the image of an object, an arbitrarily large
number of rays emanating from a point could be considered.
• However, it is more convenient to consider only two rays, for the sake of clarity of the ray
diagram.

• These rays are so chosen that it is easy to know their directions after reflection from the
mirror.

• The intersection of at least two reflected rays give the position of image of the point object.

• Any two of the following rays can be considered for locating the image.

• (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.

• (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.

• The light rays come back along the same path because the incident rays fall on the mirror
along the normal to the reflecting surface.

• (iv) A ray incident obliquely to the principal axis, towards a point P (pole of the mirror), on
the concave mirror [Fig. 9.6 (a)] or a convex mirror [Fig. 9.6 (b)], 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.

• Remember that in all the above cases the laws of reflection are followed.

• At the point of incidence, the incident ray is reflected in such a way that the angle of
reflection equals the angle of incidence.

• formation by Concave Mirror

• Figure 9.7 illustrates the ray diagrams for the formation of image by a concave mirror for
various positions of the object.

Uses of concave mirrors

• Concave mirrors are commonly used in torches, search-lights and vehicles headlights to get
powerful parallel beams of light.

• They are often used as shaving mirrors to see a larger image of the face.

• The dentists use concave mirrors to see large images of the teeth of patients.
• Large concave mirrors are used to concentrate sunlight to produce heat in solar furnaces.

• (b) Image formation by a Convex Mirror

• We studied the image formation by a concave mirror.

• Now we shall study the formation of image by a convex mirror.

• We consider two positions of the object for studying the image formed by a convex mirror.

• First is when the object is at infinity and the second position is when the object is at a finite
distance from the mirror.

• The ray diagrams for the formation of image by a convex mirror for these two positions of
the object are shown in Fig.9.8 (a) and (b), respectively.

Activity 9.5

• n Take a convex mirror.

• Hold it in one hand.

• n Hold a pencil in the upright position in the other hand.

• n Observe the image of the pencil in the mirror.

• Is the image erect or inverted?

• Is it diminished or enlarged?

• n Move the pencil away from the mirror slowly.

• Does the image become smaller or larger?

• n Repeat this Activity carefully.

• State whether the image will move closer to or farther away from the focus as the object is
moved away from the mirror?

• You have so far studied the image formation by a plane mirror, a concave mirror and a
convex mirror.

• Which of these mirrors will give the full image of a large object?

• Let us explore through an Activity.

Uses of convex mirrors

• Convex mirrors are commonly used as rear-view (wing) mirrors in vehicles.

• These mirrors are fitted on the sides of the vehicle, enabling the driver to see traffic behind
him/her to facilitate safe driving.

• Convex mirrors are preferred because they always give an erect, though diminished, image.

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

• Thus, convex mirrors enable the driver to view much larger area than would be possible
with a plane mirror.

QUESTIONS ?

• 1. Define the principal focus of a concave mirror.

• 2. The radius of curvature of a spherical mirror is 20 cm.

• What is its focal length?

• 3. Name a mirror that can give an erect and enlarged image of an object.

• 4. Why do we prefer a convex mirror as a rear-view mirror in vehicles?

9.2.3 Sign Convention for Reflection by Spherical Mirrors

• While dealing with the reflection of light by spherical mirrors, we shall follow a set of sign
conventions called the New Cartesian Sign Convention.

• In this convention, the pole (P) of the mirror is taken as the origin (Fig. 9.9).

• The principal axis of the mirror is taken as the x-axis (X’X) of the coordinate system.

• The conventions are as follows –

• (i) The object is always placed to the left of the mirror.

• This implies that the light from the object falls on the mirror from the left-hand side.

• (ii) All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of the mirror.

• (iii) All the distances measured to the right of the origin (along + x-axis) are taken as
positive while those measured to the left of the origin (along – x-axis) are taken as negative.

• (iv) Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis (along + y-axis) are
taken as positive.

• (v) Distances measured perpendicular to and below the principal axis (along –y-axis) are
taken as negative.

• Reprint 2025-26 Light – Reflection and Refraction 143

• The New Cartesian Sign Convention described above is illustrated in Fig.9.9 for your
reference.

• These sign conventions are applied to obtain the mirror formula and solve related numerical
problems.

9.2.4 Mirror Formula and Magnification

• In a spherical mirror, the distance of the object from its pole is called the object distance (u).

• The distance of the image from the pole of the mirror is called the image distance (v).

• You already know that the distance of the principal focus from the pole is called the focal
length (f).

• There is a relationship between these three quantities given by the mirror formula which is
expressed as

• 1 1 1 v u f + = (9.1)

• This formula is valid in all situations for all spherical mirrors for all positions of the object.

• You must use the New Cartesian Sign Convention while substituting numerical values for u,
v, f, and R in the mirror formula for solving problems.

Magnification

• Magnification produced by a spherical mirror gives the relative extent to which the image of
an object is magnified with respect to the object size.

• It is expressed as the ratio of the height of the image to the height of the object.

• It is usually represented by the letter m.

• If h is the height of the object and h′ is the height of the image, then the magnification m
produced by a spherical mirror is given by

• m = Height of the image ( ) Height of the object ( )

• m = h′ h (9.2)

• The magnification m is also related to the object distance (u) and image distance (v).

• It can be expressed as:

• Magnification (m) = ′ = − h h v u (9.3)

• You may note that the height of the object is taken to be positive as the object is usually
placed above the principal axis.
• The height of the image should be taken as positive for virtual images.

• However, it is to be taken as negative for real images.

• A negative sign in the value of the magnification indicates that the image is real.

• A positive sign in the value of the magnification indicates that the image is virtual.

• Figure 9.9 The New Cartesian Sign Convention for spherical mirrors

• Reprint 2025-26 144 Science

QUESTIONS ?

• 1. Find the focal length of a convex mirror whose radius of curvature is 32 cm.

• 2. A concave mirror produces three times magnified (enlarged) real image of an object
placed at 10 cm in front of it.

• Where is the image located?

9.3 REFRACTION OF LIGHT

• Light seems to travel along straight-line paths in a transparent medium.

• What happens when light enters from one transparent medium to another?

• Does it still move along a straight-line path or change its direction?

• We shall recall some of our day-to-day experiences.

• You might have observed that the bottom of a tank or a pond containing water appears to be
raised.

• Similarly, when a thick glass slab is placed over some printed matter, the letters appear
raised when viewed through the glass slab.

• Why does it happen?

• Have you seen a pencil partly immersed in water in a glass tumbler?

• It appears to be displaced at the interface of air and water.

• You might have observed that a lemon kept in water in a glass tumbler appears to be bigger
than its actual size, when viewed from the sides.

• How can you account for such experiences?

• Let us consider the case of the apparent displacement of a pencil, partly immersed in water.
• The light reaching you from the portion of the pencil inside water seems to come from a
different direction, compared to the part above water.

• This makes the pencil appear to be displaced at the interface.

• For similar reasons, the letters appear to be raised, when seen through a glass slab placed
over it.

• Does a pencil appear to be displaced to the same extent, if instead of water, we use liquids
like kerosene or turpentine?

• Will the letters appear to rise to the same height if we replace a glass slab with a transparent
plastic slab?

• You will find that the extent of the effect is different for different pair of media.

• These observations indicate that light does not travel in the same direction in all media.

• It appears that when travelling obliquely from one medium to another, the direction of
propagation of light in the second medium changes.

• This phenomenon is known as refraction of light.

• Let us understand this phenomenon further by doing a few activities.

Activity 9.7

• n Place a coin at the bottom of a bucket filled with water.

• n With your eye to a side above water, try to pick up the coin in one go.

• Did you succeed in picking up the coin?

• n Repeat the Activity.

• Why did you not succeed in doing it in one go?

• n Ask your friends to do this.

• Compare your experience with theirs.

Activity 9.8

• n Place a large shallow bowl on a Table and put a coin in it.

• n Move away slowly from the bowl.

• Stop when the coin just disappears from your sight.

• n Ask a friend to pour water gently into the bowl without disturbing the coin.
• n Keep looking for the coin from your position.

• Does the coin becomes visible again from your position?

• How could this happen?

• The coin becomes visible again on pouring water into the bowl.

• The coin appears slightly raised above its actual position due to refraction of light.

Activity 9.9

• n Draw a thick straight line in ink, over a sheet of white paper placed on a Table.

• n Place a glass slab over the line in such a way that one of its edges makes an angle with the
line.

• n Look at the portion of the line under the slab from the sides.

• What do you observe?

• Does the line under the glass slab appear to be bent at the edges?

• n Next, place the glass slab such that it is normal to the line.

• What do you observe now?

• Does the part of the line under the glass slab appear bent?

• n Look at the line from the top of the glass slab.

• Does the part of the line, beneath the slab, appear to be raised?

• Why does this happen?

9.3.1 Refraction through a Rectangular Glass Slab

• To understand the phenomenon of refraction of light through a glass slab, let us do an

Activity.

• Reprint 2025-26 Light – Reflection and Refraction 147

• In this Activity, you will note, the light ray has changed its direction at points O and O′.

• Note that both the points O and O′ lie on surfaces separating two transparent media.

• Draw a perpendicular NN’ to AB at O and another perpendicular MM′ to CD at O′.

• The light ray at point O has entered from a rarer medium to a denser medium, that is, from
air to glass.
• Note that the light ray has bent towards the normal.

• At O′, the light ray has entered from glass to air, that is, from a denser medium to a rarer
medium.

• The light here has bent away from the normal.

• Compare the angle of incidence with the angle of refraction at both refracting surfaces AB
and CD.

• In Fig. 9.10, a ray EO is obliquely incident on surface AB, called incident ray.

• OO′ is the refracted ray and O′ H is the emergent ray.

• You may observe that the emergent ray is parallel to the direction of the incident ray.

• Why does it happen so?

• The

Ray Diagrams for Lenses (Continuation)

Ray Rule (i)

 In a convex lens, a ray parallel to the principal axis, after refraction, passes through
the principal focus on the other side of the lens (Fig. 9.13 a).
 In a concave lens, a ray parallel to the principal axis, after refraction, appears to
diverge from the principal focus on the same side of the lens (Fig. 9.13 b).

Table 9.5 – Image Formation by a Concave Lens

For different object positions

Nature of
Position of Object Position of Image Relative Size
Image
Highly diminished, Virtual and
At infinity At focus F₁
point-sized erect
Between infinity and Between focus F₁ and Virtual and
Diminished
optical centre O optical centre O erect

Ray Rule (ii)

 A ray passing through the principal focus of a convex lens, after refraction, emerges
parallel to the principal axis (Fig. 9.14 a).
  A ray appearing to meet at the principal focus of a concave lens, after refraction,
emerges parallel to the principal axis (Fig. 9.14 b).

Ray Rule (iii)

 A ray of light passing through the optical centre (O) of a lens emerges without any
deviation.
 This is shown in Fig. 9.15 (a) and (b).

Ray Diagrams
 Fig. 9.16 shows ray diagrams for image formation by a convex lens for different
object positions.
 Fig. 9.17 shows ray diagrams for image formation by a concave lens for various
object positions.

9.3.6 Sign Convention for Spherical Lenses

 Same sign convention as spherical mirrors is followed.
 All distances are measured from the optical centre of the lens.
 Focal length:
o Convex lens → positive
o Concave lens → negative
 Proper signs must be used for:
o Object distance (u)
o Image distance (v)
o Focal length (f)
o Object height (h)
o Image height (h′)

9.3.7 Lens Formula

 Relationship between object distance (u), image distance (v), and focal length (f):

1v−1u=1f(9.8)\frac{1}{v} - \frac{1}{u} = \frac{1}{f} \quad (9.8)v1−u1=f1(9.8)

 This formula is general and valid for all spherical lenses.

 Proper sign convention must be followed.
Magnification by a Lens
 Magnification (m) = ratio of image height to object height:

m=h′h(9.9)m = \frac{h'}{h} \quad (9.9)m=hh′(9.9)

 Magnification is also given by:

m=vu(9.10)m = \frac{v}{u} \quad (9.10)m=uv(9.10)

Example 9.3 (Concave Lens Numerical)

Given

 Focal length, f = –15 cm

 Image distance, v = –10 cm
 Object distance, u = ?

Using lens formula

1v−1u=1f\frac{1}{v} - \frac{1}{u} = \frac{1}{f}v1−u1=f1 1−10−1u=1−15\frac{1}{-10} -

\frac{1}{u} = \frac{1}{-15}−101−u1=−151 u=–30 cmu = –30 \text{ cm}u=–30 cm

Magnification

m=vu=−10−30=+13m = \frac{v}{u} = \frac{-10}{-30} = +\frac{1}{3}m=uv=−30−10=+31

 Image is virtual and erect

 Image size is one-third of object size

Example 9.4 (Convex Lens Numerical)

Given

 Object height, h = +2.0 cm

 Focal length, f = +10 cm
 Object distance, u = –15 cm

Image distance

v=+30 cmv = +30 \text{ cm}v=+30 cm

 Image formed on other side

 Image is real and inverted
Image height

h′=h×vu=2.0×30−15=−4.0 cmh' = h \times \frac{v}{u} = 2.0 \times \frac{30}{-15} = -4.0

\text{ cm}h′=h×uv=2.0×−1530=−4.0 cm

Magnification

m=vu=−2m = \frac{v}{u} = -2m=uv=−2

 Image is inverted
 Image is twice enlarged

9.3.8 Power of a Lens

 Power (P) = reciprocal of focal length

P=1f(9.11)P = \frac{1}{f} \quad (9.11)P=f1(9.11)

 SI unit: Dioptre (D)

 1 D = 1 m⁻¹

Sign of Power

 Convex lens → positive power

 Concave lens → negative power

Examples

 +2.0 D → Convex lens, f = +0.50 m

 –2.5 D → Concave lens, f = –0.40 m

Combination of Lenses
 Net power of lenses in contact:

P=P1+P2+P3+…P = P_1 + P_2 + P_3 + \dotsP=P1+P2+P3+…

 Example:
o +2.0 D + 0.25 D = +2.25 D
 Used in:
o Cameras
o Microscopes
o Telescopes
What You Have Learnt
 Light travels in straight lines.
 Mirrors and lenses form real or virtual images.
 Laws of reflection and refraction are obeyed.
 Cartesian sign convention is used.
 Mirror formula:

1v+1u=1f\frac{1}{v} + \frac{1}{u} = \frac{1}{f}v1+u1=f1

 Lens formula:

1v−1u=1f\frac{1}{v} - \frac{1}{u} = \frac{1}{f}v1−u1=f1

 Power of lens = reciprocal of focal length.


🔹 1. Laws of Refraction (Snell’s Laws) ❗ VERY IMPORTANT

You explained refraction well with examples, but laws of refraction are missing.

Add this:

 Laws of Refraction:
1. The incident ray, refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence lie in
the same plane.
2. The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to sine of angle of refraction is constant
for a given pair of media
 sin⁡isin⁡r=constant\frac{\sin i}{\sin r} = constantsinrsini=constant

🔹 2. Refractive Index ❗ VERY IMPORTANT

This is a key definition + formula usually asked.

Add this:

 Refractive index (n) of a medium is defined as:

n=sin⁡isin⁡rn = \frac{\sin i}{\sin r}n=sinrsini

 It depends on:
o Nature of the medium
o Colour (wavelength) of light
 Higher refractive index → light travels slower in that medium.

🔹 3. Speed of Light and Refractive Index (Optional but Good)

Often asked as 1-mark or MCQ.

Add this (short):

 Refractive index can also be written as:

n=speed of light in vacuumspeed of light in mediumn = \frac{speed\ of\ light\ in\

vacuum}{speed\ of\ light\ in\
medium}n=speed of light in mediumspeed of light in vacuum

🔹 4. Real vs Virtual Image (One-line clarity)

You mention real & virtual many times, but one clear difference is missing.

Add this:

 Real image: Can be obtained on a screen, usually inverted.

 Virtual image: Cannot be obtained on a screen, erect.

🔹 5. Uses of Lenses (Short list) ❗

You gave mirror uses well, but lens uses are missing.
Add this:

 Uses of convex lens:

o Magnifying glass
o Camera
o Microscope
o Spectacles (for hypermetropia)
 Uses of concave lens:
o Spectacles (for myopia)
o Door viewers (peepholes)