PM SHRI JAWAHAR NAVODAYA

VIDYALAYA BANASKANTHA

ANNUAL SCHOOL PROJECT

NAME:YOGESH PARMAR

CLASS: XII SCIENCE

ROLLNO:1209

SUBJECT: PHYSICS

TOPIC: TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I owe a great many thanks to many people who

helped and supported me during this Project.
My dearest thanks to our physics
teacher,[Link] KURUDE for guiding and
correcting me when needed. I also express my
special thanks of gratitude to our principal Shri
[Link] for extending his support. This project
TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION helped me in
knowing a lot of new things.
Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents
and friends who helped me a lot in finalising
this project within the limited time frame.

THANK YOU!
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Master Yogesh Parmar of class 12th

Science of School PM SHRI Jawahar Navodaya Vidhyalaya,
Banaskantha has successfully completed and submitted
project entitled ‘total internal reflection’ under the guidance
of Ms. Sonali Kurude (PGT Physics) during the academic
year 2025-26 in the partial fulfilment of internal assessment
and project assigned by CBSE,New Delhi.
This project is absolutely genuine and helpful for the students.
The reference of different sources taken in making this project
has been decleared at the end of this project.

DATE:

Signature of internal Examiner Signature of

vice principal

Signature of external Examiner Signature

of principal
 Content
 Introduction
 Optical description
 Critical angle
 Phase shift upon total
internal reflection
 Total internal reflection in
diamond
 Applications of total internal
reflection
 Examples in everyday life
 Total Internal Reflection
using a Soda
Bottle{EXPERIMENT}
 Bibliography
 INTRODUCTION
Total internal reflection is an optical
phenomenon that happens when a ray of light
strikes a medium boundary at an angle larger
than a particular critical angle with respect
to the normal to the surface. If the refractive
index is lower on the other side of the
boundary and the incident angle is greater
than the critical angle, no light can pass
through and all of the light is reflected. The
critical angle is the angle of incidence above
which the total internal reflectance occurs.
When a light beam crosses a boundary
between materials with different kinds of
refractive indices, the light beam will be
partially refracted at the boundary surface,
and partially reflected. However, if the angle
of incidence is greater (i.e. the ray is closer
to being parallel to the boundary) than the
critical angle – the angle of incidence at
which light is refracted such that it travels
along the boundary – then the light will stop
crossing the boundary altogether and instead
be totally reflected back internally. This can
only occur where light travels from a medium
with a higher [n1=higher refractive index] to
one with a lower refractive index [n2=lower
refractive index]. For example, it will occur
 when passing from glass to air, but not when
passing from air to glass.

OPTICAL DESCRIPTION
Total internal reflection can be demonstrated using a
semi-circular block of glass or plastic. A "ray box"
shines a narrow beam of light (a "ray") onto the glass.
The semi-circular shape ensures that a ray pointing
towards the centre of the flat face will hit the curved
surface at a right angle; this will prevent refraction at
the air/glass boundary of the curved surface. At the
glass/air boundary of the flat surface, what happens
will depend on the angle? Where is θ C the critical angle
measurement which is caused by the sun or a light
source (measured normal to the surface):

• If θ < θC, the ray will split. Some of the ray will reflect
off the boundary, and some will refract as it passes
through. This is not total internal reflection.

• If θ > θC, the entire ray reflects from the boundary.

None passes through. This is called total internal
reflection.
This physical property makes optical fibres useful and
prismatic binoculars possible. It is also what gives
diamonds their distinctive sparkle, as diamond has an
unusually high refractive index.
 CRITICAL ANGLE
The critical angle is the angle of incidence above which total
internal reflection occurs. The angle of incidence is measured with
respect to the normal at the refractive boundary (see diagram
illustrating Snell's law). Consider a light ray passing from glass into
air. The light emanating from the interface is bent towards the
glass. When the incident angle is increased sufficiently, the
transmitted angle (in air) reaches 90 degrees. It is at this point no
light is transmitted into air. The critical angle is given by Snell's
law.
n1sinθi=n2sinθt
Rearranging Snell's Law, we get incidence

n2
sinθi= sinθ n1 t

To find the critical angle, we find the value for θi when θt=90° and
thus sinθt=1 .The resulting value of is equal to the critical angle θc.
Now, we can solve for θi , and we get the equation for the critical
angle:
n

θc=θi=sin−1 ( ) 2

n1

If the incident ray is precisely at the critical angle, the refracted ray
is tangent to the boundary at the point of incidence. If for example,
visible light were travelling through acrylic glass (with an index of
refraction of 1.50) into air (with an index of refraction of 1.00), the
calculation would give the critical angle for light from acrylic into
air, which is

−1
1.00

θc=sin ( )=41.8
 1.50

PHASE SHIFT UPON TOTAL

INTERNAL REFLECTION
A lesser-known aspect of total internal
reflection is that the reflected light has an
angle dependent phase shift between the
reflected and incident light. Mathematically
this means that the Fresnel reflection
coefficient becomes a complex rather than a
real number. This phase shift is polarization
dependent and grows as the incidence angle
deviates further from the critical angle
toward grazing incidence.
The polarization dependent phase shift is
long known and was used by Fresnel to
design the Fresnel rhomb which allows
transforming circular polarization to linear
polarization and vice versa for a wide range
of wavelengths (colours), in contrast to the
quarter wave plate. The polarization
dependent phase shift is also the reason why
TE and TM guided modes have different
dispersion relations.
 REFLECTION IN DIAMOND
From glass to air the critical angle is about 42o
but it varies from one medium to another. The
material that gives the smallest critical angle is
diamond. That is why they sparkle so much! Rays
of light can easily be made to 'bounce around
inside them' by careful cutting of the stone and
the refraction at the surfaces splits the light into
a spectrum of colours!
Relatively speaking, the critical angle 24.4o for
the diamond-air boundary is extremely small.
This
property of the diamond-air boundary plays an
important role in the brilliance of a diamond
gemstone. Having a small critical angle, light has
the tendency to become "trapped" inside of a
diamond once it enters. Most rays approach the
diamond at angles of incidence greater than the
critical angle (as it is so small) so a light ray will
typically undergo TIR several times before
finally
refracting out of the diamond. This gives
diamond a
tendency to sparkle. The effect can be enhanced
by the cutting of a diamond gemstone with a
'strategically' planned shape.

APPLICATIONS OF TOTAL
INTERNAL REFLECTION
Total internal reflection is the operating
principle of optical fibres, which are used in
endoscopes and telecommunications.
Total internal reflection is the operating
principle of automotive rain sensors, which
control automatic windscreen/windshield
wipers.
Another application of total internal reflection
is the spatial filtering of light.
Prismatic binoculars use the principle of total
internal reflections to get a very clear image.
Gonioscopy employs total internal reflection
to view the anatomical angle formed between
the eye's cornea and iris.
Optical fingerprinting devices use frustrated
total internal reflection in order to record an
image of a person's fingerprint without the
use of ink.
 A Total internal reflection fluorescence
microscope uses the evanescent wave
produced by TIR to excite fluorophores close
to a surface. This is useful for the study of
surface properties of biological samples.

EXAMPLES IN
EVERYDAY LIFE
Total internal reflection can be observed while
swimming, when one opens one's eyes just under
the water's surface. If the water is calm, its
surface appears mirror-like.
One can demonstrate total internal reflection by
filling a sink or bath with water, taking a glass
tumbler, and placing it upside-down over the
plug hole (with the tumbler completely filled with
water).
While water remains both in the upturned
tumbler and in the sink surrounding it, the plug
hole and plug are visible since the angle of
refraction between glass and water is not greater
than the critical angle. If the drain is opened and
the tumbler is kept in position over the hole, the
water in the tumbler drains out leaving the glass
filled with air, and this then acts as the plug.
Viewing this from above, the tumbler now
appears mirrored because light reflects off the
air/glass interface.
This is different phenomenon from reflection and
refraction. Reflection occurs when light goes
back in same medium. Refraction occurs when
light travels from different mediums. Here both
are not happening. This is due to both and a
mixture of [Link] common example of
total internal reflection is a critically cut
diamond. This is what gives it maximum spark.

TOTAL INTERNAL
REFLECTION USING A SODA
BOTTLE
Explanation
In this case, nair = 1.00 nwater = 1.33. Therefore:

In this demo light will continually reflect through

the stream of water
creating total internal
reflection (TIR). The stream of
 water will 'carry' the light though, to the end of
the stream.

Materials
• empty soda pop bottle (2 liter)
• tape
• hand drill
• drill bits
• water
• green laser  bucket
old books, etc for stands
Procedure

• First set up the soda bottle by drilling a hole

near the bottom of the bottle. Begin with a
drill bit that has a diameter which is slightly
larger than the diameter of the laser that will
be used. We used a 1/4 inch drill bit, however
sizes as small as 7/32 inch worked as well.
• First tape the hole and then fill the bottle with
water. The cap will prevent leaking because it
creates a vacuum in the bottle.
• Stand the soda bottle on top of a stack of
books so the hole is facing the bucket. The
laser should be placed in a binder clip so it
stays on, and then set on a stack of books and
papers. The laser should be lined up so that
the laser light goes through the soda bottle,
and into the center of the hole. See for
details.
• Carefully remove the tape and then unscrew
the top of the soda bottle. The light should
reflect within the stream of water so that you
could see at least a few points of reflection.
The light should be visible through the entire
stream.
 • If the reflections of the light aren’t clear, it
may be necessary to expand the hole by
drilling through the existing hole with a larger
drill bit. This process may need to be repeated
several times.

Notes
• This is an messy experiment. Be ready to
adjust the bucket which catches the stream of
water.
• Also be aware that the stream's curvature will
change as the water level decreases. It will
bend closer to the bottle, and the bucket may
need to be adjusted again. When the water
level is a little above the hole there will be no
total internal reflection although the stream
will continue. Place the cap back on, or put
the bottle inside of the bucket.
• Make sure to have lots of paper towels!
Towels or rags could be useful too. However,
this mess is water, and therefore easy to
clean up.
• Some resources suggest putting a drop of
food coloring in the bottom of the bucket to
match the laser light, giving the appearance
that the water has permanently 'trapped' the
colored light.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Following Books and websites were a source for
my project.

Wikipedia
 NCERT Physics Textbook for class 12
 Feynman Lectures on Physics