Physics Chapters 17, 18, 20, 21, and 22 Summary

By: Hassan Al-Alawi

Chapter 17:
The law of reflection states the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of
reflection. This applies to both smooth and rough surfaces.

Law of reflection θi  θr
Specular reflection is caused by a smooth surface, in which parallel light rays
are reflected in parallel.

Diffuse reflection is caused by the scattering of light off a rough surface.

A plane mirror is a flat, smooth surface from which light is reflected by

specular reflection.

An object is either a luminous source of light rays, or an illuminated source of

light rays.

The combination of the image points produced by reflected light rays forms
the image of the object.

It is a virtual image, which is a type of image formed by diverging light rays. A

virtual image is always on the opposite side of the mirror from the object.
Plane-Mirror Image Position xi   x o
Plane-Mirror Image Height hi  ho

A concave mirror has an inwardly curving reflective surface, the edges of which
curve toward the observer.

The principal axis is the line perpendicular to the mirror’s surface that divides
the mirror in half.
The focal point of the mirror (F) is the point where incident light rays that are
parallel to the principal axis converge after reflecting from the mirror.

The focal length (f) is the distance between the mirror and the focal point and
can be expressed as f= r/2.

A real image is an image formed by converging light rays.

Spherical aberration occurs because light rays do not converge at a focal point,
which makes an image look fuzzy.

A convex mirror is an outwardly curving reflecting surface with edges that

curve away from the observer.

1 1 1
Mirror Equation  
f xi xo

Magnification (m) is a property of spherical mirrors which is the ration of

image height to the object height.

hi x
Magnification m    i
ho xo

Chapter 18:
Refraction is the change in direction of waves at the boundary between two
different mediums.

The index of refraction (n) determines the angle of refraction between two
mediums.

Snell’s Law of Refraction n1 sin 1  n2 sin  2

 sin 𝜃2 𝑣2 λ2 𝑛1
= = =
sin 𝜃1 𝑣1 λ1 𝑛2

c
Index of Refraction
n 
v

Critical angle is an angle of incidence in which the refracted light ray lies along
the boundary of the two mediums.

n2
Critical Angle sin θC 
n1
Total internal refraction occurs when light traveling from a region of higher n
to a region of lower n strikes the boundary at an angle greater than the critical
angle such that all light reflects back into the region of higher n.

White light separates into a spectrum of colors when it passes through a glass
prism. This phenomenon is called dispersion.

A lens is a piece of transparent material, such as glass or plastic, that is used to

focus light and form an image.

A convex lens is thicker at the center than at the edges.

A concave lens is thinner in the middle than at the edges.

1 1 1
Thin Lens Equation  
f xi xo

hi x
Magnification m    i
ho xo
Light that passes through a lens is slightly dispersed especially near the edges,
causing an effect called chromatic aberration. This is seen as an apparent ring
of color around an object viewed through a lens.

An achromatic lens is a system of two or more lenses, such as a convex lens

with a concave lens, that have different indices of refraction.

In nearsightedness, or myopia, the focal length of the eye is too short to focus
light on the retina and images are formed in front of the retina.

Farsightedness, or hyperopia, is the condition in which the focal length of the

eye is too long and images are formed past the retina.

Chapter 20:
Electrostatics is the study of electric charges that can be collected and held in
one place.

For a neutral object, the amount of negative charge exactly balances the
amount of positive charge.

A material through which a charge will not move easily is called an electric
insulator.

A material that allows charges to move about easily is called an electric

conductor.

An electroscope consists of a metal knob connected by a metal stem to two

thin, lightweight pieces of metal foil, called leaves.

Charging a neutral object by touching it with a charged object is called

charging by conduction.

The process of charging a neutral object by bringing a charged object near it is

called charging by induction.
Grounding is the process of removing excess charge by connecting an object
to Earth.

According to Coulomb’s law, the magnitude of the force between two point
charges (qA and qB) a distance r apart can be written as follows:

qA qB
Coulomb’s Law F K
r2
The SI standard unit of charge is called the coulomb (C).

The magnitude of the charge of a single proton or electron is called the

elementary charge (1.60×10−19 C).

Chapter 21:
An electric field is a property of the space around a charged object that exerts
forces on other charged objects.

Fon q'
E 
q'
Electric Field Strength
Kq
E 
r2

An electric field line indicates the direction of the force due to the electric field
on a positive test charge.

The electric potential difference (ΔV), which often is called potential

difference, is the work (Won q’) needed to move a positive test charge from one
point to another, divided by the magnitude of the test charge.

Won q'
Electric Potential Difference ΔV 
q'
ΔV is measured in joules per coulomb (J/C). One (J/C) is called a volt (V).

Whenever the electric potential difference between two or more positions is

zero, those positions are said to be at equipotential.

Electric Potential Difference

in a Uniform Field
ΔV  Ed

Finding the charge on an oil drop:

𝐹𝑒 = 𝐹𝑔
Energy can be stored in an electric field. A device for storing electrical energy is
called a capacitor.

The slope of the line in a net charge versus potential difference graph is a
constant and is called the capacitance (C) of the capacitor.

q
Capacitance C 
ΔV

Chapter 22:
A flow of charged particles is an electric current.

Conventional current is the direction in which a positive test charge moves.

A battery is made up of several galvanic cells connected together.

Any closed loop or conducting path allowing electric charges to flow is called
an electric circuit.
The SI unit for electric current is the ampere (A), which is equal to a flow of one
coulomb per second.

Power is equal to the current times the potential difference.

Power P   ΔV 𝑃 = 𝐸
𝑡

Current
𝑞
𝐼=
𝑡

The measure of how strongly an object or a material impedes current produced

by a potential difference is resistance.

ΔV
Resistance R 

A resistor is a device designed to have a specific resistance.

Anytime the current has two or more paths to follow, the connection is a
parallel connection.

A connection with only one current path is called a series connection.

Power is equal to the current squared times resistance.

𝑃 = 𝐼2𝑅
Power is equal to the potential difference squared divided by the resistance.

(∆𝑉)2
𝑃=
𝑅
A superconductor is a material with zero resistance.

A kilowatt-hour is equal to 1000 watts delivered continuously for 3600 s (1 h),

or 3.6×106 J.