LIGHT

 Luminous objects are which emit light by their own. Eg: Sun, flame of a
burning candle.
 Non-luminous objects are which cannot emit light on their own. These
objects reflect light from luminous bodies. Eg: Moon, Earth.
 Laser is a light source that works differently , the excited atoms act
together & emit narrow bright beam of light. It is used in industry to cut
through plate metal ,in scanners to read bar codes at shop, library
checkouts, in printing.
 RAYS: The direction of the path in which light is travelling &
represented by straight lines with an arrow on it.
 BEAM:A stream of light shown by a number of rays may be parallel ,
diverging or converging.

a. Light rays from a point source of light travel in all directions, moving
away with time. Such a beam of light is called a divergent beam of light.
b. The divergent beam does not meet at a point.
c. In a Divergent beam, the rays spread and follow different paths.
d. For instance, rays coming out from a glowing bulb or a candle or a car
headlight form a divergent beam.
e. A convergent beam of light rays comes together (converges) after
reflection and refraction at a single point known as the focus.
f. A convergent beam meets at a point.
g. In a Convergent beam, rays do not spread and follow the same path.
h. For instance, the rays received by video or still camera converge on the
film.
REFLECTION OF LIGHT

When a ray of light approaches a smooth polished surface and the light
ray bounces back called as Reflection of Light.

 Angles are measured between the wave direction (ray) and a line
at 90 degrees to the boundary.
 The angle of the wave approaching the boundary is called the
angle of incidence (i).
 The angle of the wave leaving the boundary is called the angle of
reflection (r) .
 The line at right angles (90°) to the boundary is known as the
normal .
 When drawing a ray diagram an arrow is used to show the
direction the wave is travelling
 An incident ray has an arrow pointing towards the boundary.
 A reflected ray has an arrow pointing away from the boundary.

LAW OF REFLECTION
The law of reflection states that these angles are the same:
1. Angle of incidence (i) = Angle of reflection (r)
2. The incident ray , the reflected ray and the normal all lie in
the same plane.
 Normal line which is perpendicular to a surface.
 Angle of Incidence is angle between incident ray and normal
to the surface.
  Angle of reflection is angle between reflected ray and
normal to the surface.

REFLECTION IN A PLANE MIRROR

 When an object is placed in front of a mirror, an image of that object can

be seen in the mirror.
 The image will be:
1. The same size as the object
2. The same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front of it
3. Virtual

 Light from the object hits the mirror, reflecting from it (i=r)
 To an observer, the reflected ray appears to have come from the right-
hand side of the mirror
 The reflected ray can be traced back in this directions, forming a virtual
ray
 This can be repeated for another ray travelling in a slightly different
direction
 An image of the object will appear where these two virtual rays cross
 The type of image formed in the mirror is called a virtual image.
 A virtual image is formed by the divergence of rays from the image, and
cannot be projected onto a piece of paper (because the rays don’t
actually go through the image)
 REFRACTION OF LIGHT
The bending of light when it passes from one material to
another called REFRACTION.
 When drawing refraction ray diagrams, angles are measured between
the wave direction (ray) and a line at 90 degrees to the boundary
o The angle of the wave approaching the boundary is called
the angle of incidence (i)
o The angle of the wave leaving the boundary is called the angle of
refraction (r)

 The line at right angles (90°) to the boundary is known as the normal

 When drawing a ray diagram an arrow is used to show the direction the
wave is travelling
o An incident ray has an arrow pointing towards the boundary
o A refracted ray has an arrow pointing away from the boundary

 Refraction occurs when light passes a boundary between two different

transparent media
 At the boundary, the rays of light undergo a change in direction
 The direction is taken as the angle from a hypothetical line called the
normal
o This line is perpendicular to the surface of the boundaries and is
usually represented by a straight dashed or dotted line
 The change in direction depends on which media the light rays pass
between:
 o From less dense to more dense (e.g air to glass), light
bends towards the normal
o From more dense to less dense (e.g. glass to air), light
bends away from the normal
o When passing along the normal (perpendicular) the light does
not bend at all

 The change in direction occurs due to the change in speed when

travelling in different substances
o When light passes into a denser substance the rays will slow
down, hence they bend towards the normal
 The only properties that change during refraction are speed and
wavelength – the frequency of waves does not change
o Different frequencies account for different colours of light (red
has a low frequency, while blue has a high frequency)
o When light refracts, it does not change colour , therefore, the
frequency does not change

REFRACTIVE INDEX
The refractive index is a number which is related to the speed of light in the material (which
is always less than the speed of light in a vacuum):

 The refractive index is a number that is always larger than 1 and is

different for different materials.
 o Objects which are more optically dense have a higher refractive
index, eg. n is about 2.4 for diamond
o Objects which are less optically dense have a lower refractive
index, eg. n is about 1.5 for glass

 Since refractive index is a ratio, it has no units

Snell's Law
 When light enters a denser medium (such as glass) it slows down
and bends towards the normal
o How much the light bends depends on the density of the material

 If light travels from a less dense to a more dense medium (e.g. air to
glass), r < i (bends towards the normal)
 If light travels from a more dense to a less dense medium (e.g. glass to
air), r > i (bends away from the normal)
 The angles of incidence and refraction are related by an equation known
as Snell's Law:
Where:

o n = the refractive index of the material

o i = angle of incidence of the light (°)
o r = angle of refraction of the light (°)

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

 Sometimes, when light is moving from a denser medium towards a less
dense one, instead of being refracted, all of the light is reflected
o This phenomenon is called total internal reflection

 Total internal reflection (TIR) occurs when:

The angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle and the incident
material is denser than the second material

 Therefore, the two conditions for total internal reflection are:

o The angle of incidence > the critical angle
o The incident material is denser than the second material
CRITICAL ANGLE
 As the angle of incidence is increased, the angle of refraction also
increases until it gets closer to 90°
 When the angle of refraction is exactly 90° the light is refracted along
the boundary
o At this point, the angle of incidence is known as the critical
angle c

 When the angle of incidence is larger than the critical angle, the
refracted ray is now reflected
o This is total internal reflection

REFRACTIVE INDEX & CRITICAL EQUATION

Refractive Index = sine of angle between ray in air & normal/sine of angle
between ray in glass &normal

n=sin 90/sin C

n=1/sin C

 The larger the refractive index of a material, the smaller the critical
angle
 Light rays inside a material with a high refractive index are more
likely to be totally internally reflected
 FEATURES OF LENS DIAGRAM

 Lens diagrams can be described using the following terms:

o Principal axis
o Principal focus, or focal point
o Focal length

 The principal axis is defined as:

A line which passes through the centre of a lens

 The principal focus, or focal point, is defined as:

The point at which rays of light travelling parallel to the principal axis
intersect the principal axis and converge or the point at which diverging
rays appear to proceed

 Focal length is defined as:

The distance between the centre of the lens and the principal focus

CONVERGING & DIVERGING LENSES

 A lens is a piece of equipment that forms an image by refracting light

 There are two types of lens:
o Converging
o Diverging

Converging Lenses

 In a converging lens, parallel rays of light are brought to a focus

o This point is called the principal focus
 This lens is sometimes referred to as a convex lens
 The distance from the lens to the principal focus is called the focal
length
o This depends on how curved the lens is
o The more curved the lens, the shorter the focal length
DIVERGING LENSES

 In a diverging lens, parallel rays of light are made to diverge (spread

out) from a point
o This lens is sometimes referred to as a concave lens
 The principal focus is now the point from which the rays appear to
diverge from

CONCAVE & CONVEX LENSES

 REAL & VIRTUAL IMAGES

 Images produced by lenses can be one of two types:

o A real image
o A virtual image

Real Images

 A real image is defined as:

An image that is formed when the light rays from an object converge and
meet each other and can be projected onto a screen

 A real image is one produced by the convergence of light towards a

focus
 Real images are always inverted
 Real images can be projected onto pieces of paper or screens
o An example of a real image is the image formed on a cinema
screen
Virtual Images

 A virtual image is defined as:

An image that is formed when the light rays from an object do not meet
but appear to meet behind the lens and cannot be projected onto a
screen

 A virtual image is formed by the divergence of light away from a point

 Virtual images are always upright
 Virtual images cannot be projected onto a piece of paper or a screen
o An example of a virtual image is a person's reflection in a mirror

Converging Lens - Real Image

 Lenses can be used to form images of objects placed in front of them
 The location (and nature) of the image can be found by drawing a ray
diagram:
1. Start by drawing a ray going from the top of the object through the
centre of the lens. This ray will continue to travel in a straight line
2. Next draw a ray going from the top of the object, travelling parallel to
the axis to the lens. When this ray emerges from the lens it will travel
directly towards the principal focus
3. The image is found at the point where the above two rays meet

 The above diagram shows the image that is formed when the object is
placed at a distance between one focal length (f) and two focal lengths
(2f) from the lens
 In this case, the image is:
o Real
o Enlarged
o Inverted

 The following diagram shows what happens when the object is more
distanced – further than twice the focal length (2f) from the lens:

 In this case the image is:

o Real
o Diminished (smaller)
o Inverted
 If the object is placed at exactly twice the focal length (2f) from the lens:

 In this case the image is:

o Real
o Same size as the object
o Inverted

CONVERGING LENS – VIRTUAL IMAGE

 A converging lens will produce a real image of an object which is placed

at a distance greater than the focal length from the lens
 If the object is placed closer to the lens than the focal length f then
a virtual image will be formed and the converging lens ray diagram will
be drawn in the following way:

1. Start by drawing a ray going from the top of the object through
the centre of the lens. This ray will continue to travel in a straight line
 2. Draw a dashed line continuing this ray upwards
3. Next draw a ray going from the top of the object, travelling parallel to
the axis to the lens. When this ray emerges from the lens it will travel
directly through the principal focus f
4. Also, draw a dashed line continuing this ray upwards
5. The image is the line drawn from the axis to the point where the two
dashed lines meet

 In this case, the image is:

o Virtual: the light rays appear to meet when produced backwards
o Magnified: the image is larger than the object
o Upright: the image is formed on the same side of the principal
axis.

DIVERGING LENS – VIRTUAL IMAGE

 Diverging lenses can also be used to form images, although the images
are always virtual in this case
 If an object is placed further from the lens than the focal length f then a
diverging lens ray diagram will be drawn in the following way:

1. Start by drawing a ray going from the top of the object through
the centre of the lens. This ray will continue to travel in a straight line
2. Next draw a ray going from the top of the object, travelling parallel to
the axis to the lens. When this ray emerges from the lens it will travel
directly upwards away from the axis
 3. Draw a dashed line continuing this ray downwards to the focal point, f
4. The image is the line drawn from the axis to the point where the above
two rays meet

 In this case, the image is:

o Virtual: the light rays appear to meet when produced backwards
o Diminished: the image is smaller than the object
o Upright: the image is formed on the same side of the principal
axis

Comparing Converging & Diverging Lenses

 The image produced by a converging lens can be either real or virtual

o This means the image can be inverted (real) or upright (virtual)
 The image produced by a diverging lens is always virtual
o This means the image will always be upright

MAGNIFYING GLASSES

 If the object is placed closer to the lens than the focal length, the
emerging rays diverge and a real image is no longer formed
 When viewed from the right-hand side of the lens, the emerging rays
appear to come from a point on the left
o This point can be found by extending the rays backwards
(creating virtual rays)
 A virtual image will be seen at the point where these virtual rays cross
  In this case the image is:
o Virtual
o Enlarged
o Upright

 Using a lens in this way allows it to be used as a magnifying glass

 When using a magnifying glass, the lens should always be held close to
the object

CORRECTING SIGHT

 Converging and diverging lenses are commonly used in glasses to

correct defects of sight
o Converging lenses can be used to correct long-sighted vision
o Diverging lenses can be used to correct short-sighted vision

Correcting Short-Sightedness

 People who are short-sighted have eyes that are 'too large'
o This means they cannot see things that are far away, and only see
things that are close to them

 This is because the eye refracts the light and brings it to a

focus before it reaches the retina
o In other words, the focus point is in front of the retina at the back
of the eye

 This can be corrected by using a concave or a diverging lens

Correcting Long-Sightedness

 People who are long-sighted have eyes that are 'too small'
o This means they cannot clearly see things that are close, and can
only clearly see things that are far away

 This is because the eye refracts the light rays and they are brought to a
focus beyond the retina
o In other words, the focus point is behind the retina at the back of
the eye

 This can be corrected by using a convex or converging lens

DISPERSION OF LIGHT

 White light is a mixture of all the colours of the spectrum

 Each colour has a different wavelength (and frequency), making up a very
narrow part of the electromagnetic spectrum
 White light may be separated into all its colours by passing it through a prism
o This is done by refraction
o Violet light is refracted the most, whilst red light is refracted the least
o This splits up the colours to form a spectrum
 This process is similar to how a rainbow is created
 THE VISIBLE SPECTRUM OF LIGHT

 Visible light is defined as the range of wavelengths which are visible to

humans
 Visible light is the only part of the spectrum detectable by the human
eye
o However, it only takes up 0.0035% of the whole electromagnetic
spectrum
 In the natural world, many animals, such as birds, bees and certain fish,
are able to perceive beyond visible light and can see infra-red and UV
wavelengths of light
 The different colours of waves correspond to different wavelengths:
o Red has the longest wavelength (and the lowest frequency and
energy)
o Violet has the shortest wavelength (and the highest frequency
and energy)
 MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT

 Light is a transverse wave

 The different colours of light all have different wavelengths (and
frequencies)
o Red has the longest wavelength
o Violet has the shortest wavelength
 Light of a single wavelength (a single colour), or single frequency, is
known as monochromatic.