Chapter-10

Light-Reflection and Refraction

Light: Light is a form of energy which produces a sensation of vision.

 A group of parallel rays of light emitted by the source of light is called a beam of light.

Ray Beam of light

Reflection of light: The process of returning or bouncing back of light to the same medium after
striking a surface is called Reflection of light.

Laws of Reflection:

1) The incident ray, refracted ray and the normal to the reflecting surface at the point of incidence lie
on the same plane.

2) The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

 A ray of light striking a surface normally retraces its path.

Spherical mirrors: A mirror whose reflecting surface is curved or spherical is called spherical mirror.
There are two types of mirror:

1) Concave mirror- It is the part of a hollow sphere whose outer surface acts as a reflecting surface.

2) Convex mirror- It is the part of a hollow sphere whose outer surface acts as a reflecting surface and
the inner surface is polished.

Important terms for Spherical Mirrors:

 Center of curvature (C) - The Centre of a hollow sphere of which mirror forms a part is
called centre of curvature.

 Pole (P) - The midpoint or centre of the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror.

 Radius of Curvature (R) - The radius of a hollow sphere of which the spherical mirror forms
a part is called Radius of Curvature (R)

 Aperture- The part of a spherical mirror exposed to the incident light is called aperture.
  Principal axis- A line joining the centre of curvature and pole of a spherical mirror extended
on either side is called Principal axis.

 Focus (F) - A point on the principal axis of a spherical mirror where the rays of light parallel to
the principal axis meet or appear to meet after reflection from the spherical mirror is called focus.

 Focal length (f) - The distance between the pole (P) and principal focus (F) of a spherical
mirror is called Focal length.

R= 2f

Rules For Determining Image Formation By Spherical Mirror:

CONCAVE MIRROR CONVEX MIRROR

Rule 1 A ray parallel to the principal axis after A ray parallel to the principal axis after
reflection will pass through the reflection will appear to diverge from the
principal focus. principal focus

Rule 2 A ray passing through the principal A ray passing through principal focus of a
focus of a concave mirror after convex mirror will emerge parallel to the
reflection will emerge parallel to the principal axis
principal axis.
Rule 3 A ray passing through the centre of A ray directed in the direction of the centre
curvature of a concave mirror after of curvature of a convex mirror after
reflection is reflected back along the reflection is reflected back along the same
same path. path.

Rule 4 A ray incident obliquely to the A ray incident obliquely to the principal
principal axis towards pole of the axis towards pole of the mirror on the
mirror is reflected obliquely. convex mirror is reflected obliquely.

Ray Diagrams For Concave Mirror:

S. No. Position of Object Ray Diagram About Image

Position: at ‘F’
1. At infinity Nature: Real & Inverted
Size: Highly diminished
 Position: between ‘F’ & ‘C’
2. Beyond ‘C’ Nature: Real & Inverted
Size: Diminished

Position: At ‘C’
3. At ‘C’ Nature: Real & Inverted
Size: Same size

Position: Beyond ‘C’

4. Between ‘C’ & ‘F’ Nature: Real & Inverted
Size: Magnified

Position: At infinity
5. At ‘F’ Nature: Real & inverted
Size: Highly magnified

Position: Behind the mirror

6. Between ‘F’ & ‘P’ Nature: Virtual & erect
Size: Magnified
Uses of Concave Mirror:

 It is used as reflectors in headlights, search lights, torches to produce an intense parallel beam
of light.
 It is used as shaving and makeup mirrors.
 It is used in solar cookers.
 It is used in hospitals by dentist and ENT specialist.

Ray Diagrams Of Convex Mirror:

S. No. Position of Object Ray Diagram About Image

Position: At ‘F’
1. At infinity Nature: Virtual & erect
Size: Highly diminished

Position: Between ‘P’ & ‘F’

2. Between infinity & ‘P’ Nature: Virtual & erect
Size: Diminished

Uses Of Convex Mirror:

 It is used as rear view mirror in vehicles because the image formed is erect and diminished due
to the field of view is increased and the driver can see the traffic over large area behind his
vehicle.
 It is used in street lights to diverge light over a large area.
  It is used in big shopping stores.
Mirror Formula:

The relation between object distance (u), image distance (v) and focal length (f) is called Mirror formula

Magnification Or Linear Magnification (m):

It is defined as the ratio of the size of image to the size of object.

m= m=

It has no SI unit.

Sign Convention Of Spherical Mirror:

1. All the distances are measured from the pole of spherical mirror.
2. Distances measured in the direction of incident light are taken as positive, while those
measured in the opposite direction are taken as negative.
3. The upward distance perpendicular to the principal axis is taken as positive while those
measured in the downward direction are taken as negative.

 If ‘m’ is positive then, image is virtual and erect

 If ‘m’ is negative then, image is real and inverted
 If |m|>1 then, image size is magnified.
 If |m|=1 then, image size is equal to image size.
 If |m|<1 then, image size is diminished.

Refraction of Light:
The bending of light rays when they obliquely enter from one medium to another medium is called
Refraction of Light.
  When light goes from rarer to denser medium it bends towards normal.
 When light goes from denser to rarer medium it bends away from normal.

 Important point:
No refraction occurs, when
(i) light is incident normally on a boundary
(ii) refractive indices of the two media in contact are equal.

Cause of Refraction of Light: The Refraction of light takes place because speed of light changes as it
goes from one medium to another.

Laws of Refraction of Light:

1. The incident ray, refracted ray and normal to the surface separating the two media all lie on
the same plane.
2. The ratio of sine of incidence angle to the refracted angle is a constant for a given color of
light & for a given pair of media.

This is known as SNELL'S LAW.

Refractive Index (n):

(i) Absolute refractive index- It is defined as the ratio of speed of light in vaccum/ air to speed of light in
medium.

nm = nm =

It has no SI unit.

(ii) Relative refractive index- It is defined as the ratio of light in medium 1 to speed of light in medium 2.

n21 = nm =
 Examples of Refraction of Light:
1. A stone or coin appears at the bottom of a bucket filled with water appears to be raised.

Reason- Due to Refraction of light. When the rays of light from the coin travel from denser (water) to
rarer medium (air), it moves away from normal after refraction. The point from which refracted ray
appear to come gives the apparent position of the coin.

2. A pencil partly immersed in water in a glass appears to be bent at the water surface.

3. An egg or lemon placed in a glass filled with water appears to be bigger than its actual size when seen
from the sides of the glass.

4. The letters printed on the page of a book appears to be raised, when seen through a glass slab called
lateral shift.

Refraction Through A Glass Slab:

Lateral Displacement:- The perpendicular distance between emergent ray and incident ray
produced forward is called lateral displacement.

Factors Affecting Lateral Displacement:

1. Thickness of the Glass Slab

2. Angle of incidence

3. Refractive index of glass slab

4. Wavelength of light

Spherical Lenses:

A lens is a transparent refracting medium bounded by two surfaces of which one or both surfaces are
spherical.

Important Terms Of Spherical Lenses:

Centres of Curvature:- The centres of spheres of which the two spherical surfaces of the lens are
the parts are called its centres of curvature.

Principal Axis:- An imaginary straight line passing through the two centres of curvature of a lens
is called its principal axis.

Optical Centre(O):- The central point of a lens is called its optical centre.

Aperture:- The effective diameter of the circular outline of a spherical lens is called its aperture.
Principal Focus:- The point on the principal axis at which refracted rays meet or appear to meet
when the incident rays are parallel to the principal axis is called principal focus.

Rules For Formation Of Image In Spherical Lenses

Rule 1:-

Rule 2:-

Rule 3:-
Ray diagrams of Convex lens:

S. No. Position of Object Ray Diagram About Image

Position:- At F2
1. At infinity Nature:- Real & inverted
Size:- Highly diminished

Position:- Between F2 & 2F2

2. Beyond 2F1 Nature:- Real & inverted
Size:- Diminished

Position:- At 2F2
3. At 2F1 Nature:- Real & inverted
Size:- Same size

Position:- Beyond 2F2

4. Between F1 & 2F1 Nature:- Real & inverted
Size:- Enlarged

Position:- At infinity
5. At F1 Nature:- Real & inverted
Size:- Highly enlarged
 Position:- On the same side as the object
6. Between F1 & O Nature:- Virtual & erect
Size:- Enlarged

Ray diagrams of Concave lens:

S. No. Position of Object Ray Diagram About Image

Position:- At F1
1. At infinity Nature:- Virtual & erect
Size:- Highly diminished

Position:- Between F1 & O

2. Between infinity & O Nature:- Virtual & erect
Size:- Diminished

Lens Formula: It gives The relationship between u, v and f.

u= object distance- distance between optical Centre and object

v= image distance- distance between optical centre and image

f= focal length- Distance between Optical centre and F1

Linear magnification produced by lenses (m):

It is the ratio of the size of the image to the size of the object.

m=
m=
 it has no SI unit.

Sign Convention Used in Lens:-

Convex Lens Concave Lens

Focal Length (f) Positive Negative

Radius of Curvature (R) Positive Negative

Object Distance (u) Negative Negative

Positive (1st 5 cases)

Image Distance (v) Negative
or, Negative (last case)

Object height (ho) Positive Positive

Negative (1st 5 cases)

Image Height (hi) Positive
or, Positive (last case)

Negative (1st 5 cases)

Magnification (m) Positive
or, Positive (last case)

Applications of Lenses:

1. Convex lens is used as magnifying glass by watchmakers or palmists etc.

2. Convex lens is used for cameras, microphones, Telescope and projectors.
3. Convex lens is used in spectacles to correct the long sightedness.
4. Concave lens is used in spectacles to correct the short sightedness.

Power of Lens: It is the measure of degree of convergence or divergence of light rays falling on it.

Power is defined as the reciprocal of its focal length measured in meter.

P=

SI unit- dioptre (D)

 Power of lens is 1D if focal length is 1m.

 Power of convex lens is positive and concave lens is negative.

Power Of A Combination Of Lenses:

If two lenses of focal length f1 and f2 are placed in contact then its combination behaves like a single lens
whose focal length F is given by-

Therefore, power of lens, P= P1 +P2

 If there are n number of lenses then

power will be P= P1+P2+P3+. +Pn

 Camera lenses, microscopes and telescopes consists of combination of lenses.