NOTES ON CHAPTER : LIGHT
LAWS OF REFRACTION OF LIGHT.
(i) The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal to the interface of two transparent media at
the point of incidence, all lie in the same plane.
(ii) The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to the sine of angle of refraction is a constant, for the
light of a given color and for the given pair of media. This law is also known as Snell’s law of
refraction. (This is true for angle 0 < i < 90o)
If n is the refractive index, i is the angle of incidence and r is the angle of refraction, then,
Refraction of light through a glass-slab with neat ray diagram
[Link] entering into the glass medium light ray bends towards the normal that is light ray gets
refracted on entering the glass medium.
2. After getting refracted this ray now travels through the glass slab and comes out of the glass slab
by refraction from the other interface boundary.
[Link] ray goes from glass medium to air it again gets refracted and bends away from normal.
The incident ray and the emergent ray are parallel to each other.
4.i is the angle of incidence, r is the angle of refraction and e is the angle of emergence.
[Link] of incidence and angle of emergence are equal as emergent ray and incident ray are parallel
to each other.
[Link] a light ray is incident normally to the interface of two media then there is no bending of
light ray and it goes straight through the medium.
Why does a light ray incident on a rectangular glass slab immersed in any medium emerges parallel
to itself? Explain using a diagram.
When a ray of light enters from one rarer medium (say air) to another denser medium (say glass),
it bends towards the normal. When the same ray of light exits from second medium into first
medium, it bends away from the normal. In this case, the extent of bending of ray at opposite
parallels (air-glass interface and glass-air interface) is same. Due to this, the emergent ray is
parallel to incident ray.
What is a Refractive Index?
The refractive index is defined as the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of the
light in the medium. The value of the refractive index varies from one medium to another. In other
words, the refractive index is the measure of the bending of the light ray during the travel from
one medium to another medium.
If "n" denotes the refractive index, speed of Light in the 1st medium is v1, speed of light in the 2nd
Medium is v2 then, the refractive index of 2nd medium with respect to 1st medium is given by.,
n21 = v1/v2
The refractive index (n) of 1st medium with respect to 2nd medium is:-
n12 = v2 / v1
Absolute refractive index
If medium 1 is vacuum or air, then the refractive index of medium 2 is considered with respect to
vacuum. This is called the absolute refractive index of the medium.
LENS:
The transparent refracting medium bounded by two surfaces in which at least one surface is curved
is called lens. Lenses are mainly two types
Convex lens and
Concave lens.
Convex Lens
The lens which is thicker at the middle than the end is called a convex lens. It is also called a
converging lens as it converges the parallel beam of light into a point.
Concave Lens
The lens which is thicker at the end than the middle is called the concave lens. It is also called
diverging lens as it spreads out the light rays that have been refracted through it. It has the ability
to diverge the parallel beam of light.
Terms used in Spherical Lens
Center of Curvature: The centres of two spheres, of which lens is part is called the centre
of curvature.
Radii of Curvature: The radii of spheres, of which lens is part is called radius of curvature.
Principal Axis: The line joining the centres of curvature of two surfaces of lens is called
principal axis.
Optical Center: It is a special point on the principal axis. Light incident on the optical
centre passes through the lens without deviation.
Principal Focus: The point on the principal axis at which all incident rays parallel to the
principal axis converge or appear to diverge after refraction through the lens.
Focal Length: The distance between optical center and focus is focal length.
Sign Convention in Lens
All the incident light travels from left to right
All the distance is measured from the optical center of the lens.
All the distance measured in the direction of the incident light (RHS of the mirror)
are taken as Positive
All the distance measured in the opposite direction of incident light (LHS of the
mirror) are taken as Negative.
The height is measured perpendicular to the principal axis.
The height measure upward to the principal axis is taken as Positive.
The height measured downward to the principal axis is taken as Negative
Focal length of convex lens = Positive
Focal length of concave lens = Negative
CONVEX LENS
IMAGE FORMATION BY CONVEX LENSES
CONCAVE LENS
IMAGE FORMATION BY CONCAVE LENS