Geometrical Optics 1

PHS002

Dr. Adekola O. Adewale

Department of Physics

Twitter: @olajidenigeria
www.diplomaphysics.pbworks.com
WhatsApp: 07031113940
 Outline
• Light as E-M Wave; The E-M Spectrum
• Rectilinear propagation of light
• Laws of reflection and Refraction
• Reflection on plane and curved mirrors
• Refraction at plane surfaces
•Total Internal reflection Week6
•Critical Angle
• Dispersion by prism
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave and
the Electromagnetic Spectrum

The frequency of an
electromagnetic wave is related
to its wavelength and to the
speed of light:
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave and
the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Electromagnetic waves can have any
wavelength; we have given different names to
different parts of the wavelength spectrum.
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave and
the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Example: Wavelengths of EM waves.
Calculate the wavelength
(a) of a 60-Hz EM wave,
(b) of a 93.3-MHz FM radio wave, and
(c) of a beam of visible red light from a
laser at frequency 4.74 x 1014 Hz.
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave and
the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Example: Wavelengths of EM waves.
Solution: The wavelength is the
speed of light multiplied by the
frequency.
a. 5.0 x 106 m
b. 3.22 m
c. 6.33 x 10-7 m
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave and
the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Example: Cell phone antenna.
The antenna of a cell phone is often ¼
wavelength long. A particular cell phone has
an 8.5-cm-long straight rod for its antenna.
Estimate the operating frequency of this
phone.
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave and
the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Example: Cell phone antenna.
The antenna of a cell phone is often ¼
wavelength long. A particular cell phone has
an 8.5-cm-long straight rod for its antenna.
Estimate the operating frequency of this
phone.

Solution: The frequency is the speed of light

divided by the wavelength (which is 4 times
the antenna length): f = 880 MHz.
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave and
the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Example: Phone call time lag.
You make a telephone call from New York
to a friend in London. Estimate how long it
will take the electrical signal generated by
your voice to reach London, assuming the
signal is (a) carried on a telephone cable
under the Atlantic Ocean, and (b) sent via
satellite 36,000 km above the ocean.
Would this cause a noticeable delay in
either case?
Light as an Electromagnetic Wave and
the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Example: Phone call time lag.
Solution: The time is the distance divided
by the speed; assume the speed of light
in both cases.
a. t = 0.017 s.
b. Remember the signal must make a
round trip: t = 0.24 s, which is noticeable.
 Geometric Optics
Light very often travels in straight lines.
We represent light using rays, which are
straight lines emanating from an object.
This is an idealization, but is very useful for
geometric optics.
Several evidences suggest that light travels
in straight lines.
A train of light can be represented by means
of wave fronts.
 Geometric Optics
A wave front is defined as the locus of
points, all of which are in the same phase.
A light ray is an imaginary straight line with
arrows drawn in the direction in which the
light is travelling.
 Huygen’s principle
Huygen’s principle is a geometrical method
for finding what the shape of a wave front will
be at a particular instant in the wave’s path.
It can be stated as follows: every point of a
wave front may be considered as the source
of small secondary wavelets, which spread
out in all directions from their centres with a
velocity equal to the velocity of propagation
of the wave.
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror
Law of reflection: the angle of reflection
(that the ray makes with the normal to a
surface) equals the angle of incidence.
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror
When light reflects from a rough surface, the law
of reflection still holds, but the angle of
incidence varies. This is called diffuse reflection.
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror

There are two types of reflection: specular

reflection and diffuse reflection.
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror
Reflection from flat mirrors.
Two flat mirrors are perpendicular to each
other. An incoming beam of light makes an
angle of 15° with the first mirror as shown.
What angle will the outgoing beam make with
the second mirror?
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror
Reflection from flat mirrors.
Solution. The rays are drawn in the figure.
The outgoing ray from the first mirror makes
an angle of 15° with it, and an angle of 75°
with the second mirror. The outgoing beam
then makes an angle of 75° with the second
mirror (and is parallel to the incoming beam).
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror

 1 15  90
1  75  2 by the law of reflection
 2   3  90  180 sum of angles in a triangle
3  180  90  75  15
3   4  15 by the law of reflection
5  90  15  75
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror

What you see when you look into a plane (flat)

mirror is an image, which appears to be behind
the mirror.
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror

This is called a virtual image, as

the light does not go through it.
The distance of the image from
the mirror is equal to the
distance of the object from the
mirror.
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror
How tall must a full-
length mirror be?
A woman 1.60 m tall
stands in front of a
vertical plane mirror.
What is the minimum
height of the mirror, and
how close must its lower
edge be to the floor, if she
is to be able to see her
whole body? Assume her
eyes are 10 cm below the
top of her head.
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror
Solution:
First consider the ray that leaves her foot at A, reflects
at B, and enters the eye at E. The mirror needs to
extend no lower than B. The angle of reflection equals
the angle of incidence, so the height BD is half of the
height AE. Because AE = 1.60m – 0.10m = 1.50m, then
BD = 0.75m. Similarly, if the woman is to see the top of
her head, the top edge of the mirror only needs to
reach point F, which is 5cm below the top of her head
(half of GE = 10cm). Thus, DF = 1.55m, and the mirror
needs to have a vertical height of only (1.55m – 0.75m)
= 0.80m. The mirror’s bottom edge must be 0.75m
above the floor.
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror
The characteristics of the image formed by a
plane mirror are:
i. the image distance equals the object
distance
ii. the height of the image is the same as that
of the object
iii. the image is virtual
iv. the image is erect
v. the image is reversed
 Reflection; Image Formation by a
Plane Mirror
The ratio of image height, hi, to
object height, ho, is called the lateral
magnification m; that is
hi
m
ho

Thus, for a plane mirror the lateral

magnification m is unity.
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
Spherical mirrors are shaped like sections of
a sphere, and may be reflective on either the
inside (concave) or outside (convex).
Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
Rays coming from a faraway object are
effectively parallel.
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors

Parallel rays striking

a spherical mirror do
not all converge at
exactly the same
place if the curvature
of the mirror is large;
this is called
spherical aberration.
Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
If the curvature is small, the focus is
much more precise; the focal point is
where the rays converge.
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors

Using geometry, we find that the focal length is

half the radius of curvature:

Spherical aberration can be avoided by using a

parabolic reflector; these are more difficult and
expensive to make, and so are used only when
necessary, such as in research telescopes.
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors

We use ray diagrams to determine where an

image will be. For mirrors, we use three key
rays, all of which begin on the object:
1. A ray parallel to the axis; after reflection it
passes through the focal point.
2. A ray through the focal point; after reflection
it is parallel to the axis.
3. A ray perpendicular to the mirror; it reflects
back on itself.
Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors

The intersection of these three rays gives the

position of the image of that point on the
object. To get a full image, we can do the
same with other points (two points suffice for
many purposes).
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors

Concave
mirror
Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors

For a convex
mirror, the
image is
always virtual,
upright, and
smaller.

Convex mirror
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
Geometrically, we can derive an
equation that relates the object
distance, image distance, and
focal length of the mirror:
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
We can also find the magnification (ratio of
image height to object height):

The negative sign indicates that the image is

inverted. This object is between the center of
curvature and the focal point, and its image is
larger, inverted, and real.
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
In problem solving, :
i. Sketch a ray diagram depicting the problem.
This will serve as a check.
ii. Use the following sign conventions in the
equations:
a. When the object, image or focal point is
on the reflecting side of the mirror, the
corresponding distance is positive.
b. When the object, image or focal point is
behind the mirror, the corresponding
distance is negative.
Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
c. The image height hi is negative if the image
is inverted.
d. The object distance do is positive if the
object is real and negative when virtual.
e. The image distance di is positive if the
image is real and negative when virtual.
 Examples
17.2. An object is placed 15 cm in front of
a plane mirror, how far away would the image of
the object in the mirror from the object?

Solution

The image is 15 cm behind the mirror.

Therefore, the image is 15 cm + 15 cm = 30 cm
from the object.
 Examples
17.3. An object of height 2.5 cm is placed
20.0 cm in front of a concave mirror with radius
of curvature 30.0 cm. Describe the image
formed.

17.6. An object 5 cm high is located 30 cm

in front of a convex spherical mirror of radius 40
cm. Determine the position and height of its
image.
 Examples
17.7. An object is placed 30cm from a
concave mirror of radius 30 cm. The linear
magnification of the image produced is
A. 0 B. 2/3 C. -1 D. -2

17.8. A man standing between two parallel

mirrors will see the following number of his own
image.
A. eight B. two
C. four D. infinite
 Examples
17.11. An object is placed 100 cm in front of
a convex mirror of radius 50 cm. The image
formed is
A. virtual and 20 cm in front of the mirror
B. virtual and 20 cm behind the mirror
C. real and 20 cm behind the mirror
D. virtual and 40 cm behind the mirror.
Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors

Image in a concave mirror.

A 1.50-cm-high diamond ring is placed 20.0
cm from a concave mirror with radius of
curvature 30.0 cm. Determine (a) the
position of the image, and (b) its size.
Solution: a. Using the mirror equation, we
find di = 60.0 cm.
b. Using the magnification equation, we
find M = -3.00 and hi = -4.5 cm.
Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
Reversible rays.
If the object in this figure is placed where
the image is, where will the new image be?
Figure 32-16 goes here.
Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
Solution: The equations, and the physical
setup, are symmetric between the image
and the object. The new image will be
where the old object was.
Figure 32-16 goes here.
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
If an object is outside the center of curvature of a
concave mirror, its image will be inverted,
smaller, and real.
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
Object closer to concave mirror.
A 1.00-cm-high object is placed 10.0 cm from a
concave mirror whose radius of curvature is 30.0
cm. (a) Draw a ray diagram to locate (approximately)
the position of the image. (b) Determine the position
of the image and the magnification analytically.
 Formation of Images by Spherical
Mirrors
Object closer to concave mirror.
Solution
Object placed within the focal point F. The image is
behind the mirror and is virtual, [Note that the
vertical scale (height of object = 1.0 cm) is different
from the horizontal (OA = 10.0 cm) for ease of
drawing, and reduces the precision of the drawing.]
a. The figure shows the ray diagram and the image;
the image is upright, larger in size than the object,
and virtual.
b. Using the mirror equation gives di = -30.0 cm.
Using the magnification equation gives M = +3.00.
 Summary

• Light paths are called rays.

• Angle of reflection equals angle of incidence.
• Plane mirror: image is virtual, upright, and the
same size as the object.
• Spherical mirror can be concave or convex.
• Focal length of the mirror:
 Summary
• Mirror equation:

• Magnification:

• Real image: light passes through it.

• Virtual image: light does not pass through.
 Further Reading
Adewale, A.O. (2016). Physics for
University Beginners Vol. 2 (2nd
Edition). Lagos: LAJOM Consulting.

Giancoli, D. C. (1984). Physics for

Scientists and Engineers. New
Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.