Total Internal Reflection:

For a ray of light traveling from a denser medium of refractive index to a rarer medium of
refractive index , the angle of refraction r is larger than the angle of incidence i, starting from
the small value, if the angle of incidence is increased gradually, the angle of refraction, which
shall be the larger than the angle of incidence, also increases till for certain value of incidence (
) the angle of refraction becomes 900 ( Ray I3=R3 ). In this case the ray of entrain the rarer
medium is refracted tangentially to the interface. If the angle of incidence is further increased,
the ray does not enter the rarer medium, and it is reflected back from the interface in the denser
medium as per the law of reflection (ray I4, R4). This is called the total internal reflection.
The limiting angle of incidence for which the ray is just able to enter the rarer medium is known
as the critical angle ( ).
For
Therefore by snell’s law
or , or

Optical Fibre:
Optical fiber is a thin, flexible wire of glassy material. It can be used into human body to
examine and to photograph the internal organs for medical diagnostic. They have also found
extensive application in telecommunication.
The transmission of light signals through the cable is based on the principle of total internal
reflection. A typical fibre consists of high purity silica glass enclosed by a protective sheath. The
outer layer termed cladding, has a small refractive index than that of the inner core layer, and the
core is characterized by a critical angle ic of the total internal reflection. A light ray (signal) that
enters the core of the fiber through the cross section is incident at the core cladding interface at
an angle i greater than equal to ic. The signal undergoes multiple internal reflections with in the
layer till it emerges and received at the other end of the cable. Because of the total internal
reflections, there is no loss in the power of signal. They include a fiber with a very narrow core
(8 micron or less).

Mirages (Total internal reflection):

Mirages are the optical illusion seen in a hot desert that results from the refraction of light from a
denser medium to rarer medium.
In a hot desert one see the image of a distant tree as if the tree was reflected in a pool of water.
In the desert during day, layers of close to earth surfaces are hotter and rarer, and there is a
gradual increase in the temperature and decrease in optical density of air from high above to
below as one goes down toward the earth surface. Therefore a ray of light from top of a tree
traveling towards an observer is successively bent away from the normal as it passes through
hotter and rarer layers of air. Finally at some point along the path, where angle of incident
becomes larger than the critical angle, it undergoes total internal reflection. This is the lowest
point in the path of ray and from here it travels the observer passing from a rarer layer of air to
denser layer, bending towards the normal at each step of the way. Thus the ray reaching the
observer, on extending backward appears to come from a virtual image of the tree causing an
illusion as if there was water at the foot of the tree. Travellers and animals are known to have
died in deep desert in search of water because of this illusion.

Ex. At cold sea one sees the ghost image of a distant ship below horizon hanging upside down in
air. Explain on the bases of total internal reflection?

• The wavy lines that appear above a hot grill or a road in the middle of the summer are
caused by a phenomenon called refraction. Refraction is the bending of light waves, and
it occurs when light passes between substances with different refractive indices — in this
case, cool air and hot air. Because hot air is less dense than cool air, light speeds up when
it reaches a hot surface and then curves back upwards, causing the viewer to see an image
of the sky and the surface to appear wavy in the heat. This phenomenon is responsible for
desert mirages, as refraction and reflection look very similar to the human eye, and the
refracted image of the sky from very hot sand can look like the reflection of the sky in a
pool of water.

• The reason that things look wavy in the heat, instead of appearing as a stable image of the
sky, is that the air temperature is not stable. Hot air naturally rises, so as air comes off the
hot surface, it rises for a bit before rapidly cooling and sinking to be heated again. This
constant mixing of hot and cool air produces vibration, which translates into refracted
images looking wavy. A road that looks wavy in the heat can be dangerous, as it may
appear that water or oil has been spilled on the road, so it is important to drive cautiously
when it is hot enough for so-called "highway mirages" to appear.