8.

1 Uses of Mirror

Image is a visual representation of an object created

when the light is reflected by the mirror or refracted by
the lens or propagates through other optical devices.

1. An image is formed from an object.

2. Images can be captured with optical devices
such as cameras, mirrors, lenses and
microscopes.
3. Images can also be generated by a calm water
surface.
4. There are two types of images, which are valid
images (real images) and virtual images.

A valid image or a real

Virtual images are
image is an image that
images that cannot be
can be formed on the
formed on the screen.
screen.

5. Our eyes can see real or virtual images from refracted or reflected
objects.

Real image
1. The real image is formed when the projector screens the slide.
Real images are images that can be captured on the screen.
 2. The activity below shows how a real image is formed on the
screen.

image object

Small hole

3. Light rays from the object enter the paper cup through the small
holes and form the onscreen image (tracing paper). Images
formed on screen are real and inverse.

Virtual image
1. When you stand in front of the plane
mirror, your image will be formed on
the mirror.
2. Your image looks as though it is
behind the plane mirror.
3. However, if you place a screen
behind or in front of the plane mirror,
no image is formed on the screen.
4. The visible image but cannot be captured on the screen is called a
virtual image.
5. The image formed by the plane mirror is virtual, vertical, sideways
and equal to the size of the object.

Image features in plane mirrors, concave mirrors and convex

mirrors.
1. When light rays go to the surface of a mirror, the light cannot pass
through it but is bounced back by the mirror. This phenomenon is
known as a reflection of light.
2. The way light reflected back by the mirror is dependent on the
shape of the mirror.
3. The size of the image formed is different for different mirrors.
 4. There are three types of mirrors, which are:

● plane mirrors
●convex mirrors (bulging
outwards)

●concave mirrors (bulging inwards)

5. The size of the image formed is different for different mirrors.

Activity 8.1

Objective:
Determine the image feature when light goes to the plane mirror,
concave mirror and convex mirror.
Materials and apparatus:
Plane mirrors, concave mirrors, convex mirrors, graph paper, candles
and rulers.
Procedure:
1. Set up the apparatus as shown below. A candle is placed on a piece
of graph paper at a distance of 4 plots from the plane mirror.
2. The size of the image is formed compared to the actual object size
(the size of the candle).
3. The above activities are repeated by using concave mirrors and
convex mirrors.
4. All of the above results are listed in the table.
5. Then, the distance of the image from the plane mirror is measured
and recorded.

mirror
Position of
image
Graph Paper

Lighted Candle

Observation:
Mirror Size of image formed
Plane mirror Same size with the real object.
Concave mirror Image is bigger than the size of real object.
Convex mirror Image is smaller than the size of real object.

Image distance = 4 plot of graph paper

Discussion:
1. The size of the image formed on the plane mirror is the same as
the size of the actual object.
2. Concave mirrors enlarge the image while the convex mirrors
reduce the image.
3. The object's distance from the plane mirror is 4 plot of graph paper
while the distance of the image from the plane mirror is also 4 plot
of graph paper. Thus, the distance of the object from the plane
mirror is equal to the distance of the image from the plane mirror.
Distance object of the plane mirror =
Distance of the image from the plane mirror
Conclusion:
1. The size of the image formed on the plane mirror is the same as
the size of the object; the size of the image formed on the concave
mirror is larger than the size of the object; the size of the image
formed on the convex mirror is smaller than the size of the object.
2. The distance of the object from the plane mirror is equal to the
distance of the image from the plane mirror.
Plane mirror Concave mirror Convex mirror
Shape Horizontal Bend inward Bend outward

Light Parallel light rays The parallel light rays Parallel light rays
reflection are bounced back in are bounced back and bounce back and
parallel. converged. diverge.

The size of the The size of the image The size of the image
Size of image is as large as is larger than the size is smaller than the size
the size of the of the object. of the object.
image
object.
Application of Plane Mirror, Concave Mirror and Convex Mirror in
Life
1. Plane mirror, concave mirror and convex mirror are widely used in
daily life.
2. The diagram below shows different types of mirror applications in
daily life.

Application
of plane
mirror

Mirrors in the barbershop allow The use of a wall mirror in

customers to see their haircut a small space room makes
from various directions. the room look spacious.

Application
of concave
mirror

Dental mirror is used The mirror in the

to enlarge the image flashlight is used to
behind the teeth. increase the
brightness of the
lamp.
 Mirrors in the headlights
are used to increase the
Mirrors in solar heaters
brightness of the light.
work to collect and
converge sunlight.

Application
of convex
mirror

The small convex mirrors

Mirrors in the corner of a on the car side mirrors are
dangerous road are used mounted to widen the
to see the objects at the driver's angles.
corner of the road.
Optical Instrument Using Light Reflection Concepts
1. There are several optical devices that use the concept of light
reflection.
2. The table below shows some examples of optical devices can be
used.

Optical device Uses

Allows us to see objects that are obstructed by other
Periscope
objects.
Kaleidoscope
Allows us to see colourful virtual images.
Allows us to see small objects that are not visible to
Microscope
naked eye.
Reflection telescope Allows us to see distant objects.
Allows us to view and listen to a recorded image or
Camera
video made in the past.
Allows us to see the enlarged and projected image
Slide projector
on the screen.

Kaleidoscope and images

Periscope is used in that can be seen in the
submarines to see kaleidoscope.
the sea level.
8.2 Properties of light

1. The light moves straight and can move in the vacuum.

2. Light moves faster than sound. The speed of light is 3 x 108 ms-1
while the speed of sound is 331 ms-1. This explains why we can
see the light before hearing the sound.
3. Light is reflected when strike on flat and smooth objects such as
mirrors and metal surfaces.
4. The light moves at different speeds in different density mediums.
5. Changes in the speed of light when light travels through one
medium to another medium are known as refraction.
6. Light is an electromagnetic radiation that can be seen by the eye.
White light consists of a combination of different light with different
wave distances. The light at the shortest wavelength is seen as
purple. If it is arranged according to the wave distances, the light
consists of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple.
7. Rainbow is formed due to the reflection, refraction and spread of
sunlight when exposed to rain drops.
8. The light can penetrate the transparent and translucent object but
cannot penetrate opaque object. When the light is blocked by
opaque object, shadows are formed.

Light can penetrate the Light cannot penetrate opaque

transparent object object
9. Light can be dispersed. The scattering of the light causes the sky
to appear reddish in the evening.

Light can be dispersed

 10. Light can be added or subtract to form another coloured light.

Properties of light
Move in a straight line
Move faster than sound
Can be refracted
Can be dispersed
Can be added or removed
Can spread
Can be reflected

8.3 Reflection of Light

The image features formed by the plane mirror

In section 8.1, we have studied the features of the plane mirror image,
namely:
(a) Upright.
(b) Laterally inverted.
(c) Same size with object.
(d) Virtual image can’t be formed on screen.
(e) The distance of the image from the mirror is equal to the distance
of the object from the object.

Wrong mirror

Object image

Reflection Law
1. All objects reflect light.
2. Objects must reflect light so that it is visible.
3. Reflection of light involves two rays, i.e. incident ray and reflection
rays.
4. When a light ray fall over an object, this ray of light will be reflected
from the surface of the object. This ray is called a reflection ray.
5. The reflection law states the angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection.
Mirror

angle of reflection angle of incidence

reflection rays incident ray

 The ray of light is a ray that strikes on a surface.

 The reflection rays are the light rays that are reflected away
from surface.
 Normal is an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface of
which light is exposed to the surface.
 Reflection law states that the incidence angle (i) is equal to the
reflection angle (r).

Wrong Mirror

angle of incidence angle of reflection

reflection rays incident ray

6. When light rays strike on a flat and smooth surface, regular

reflections occur. The reflected rays are parallel to each other.
7. When light rays strike on an uneven and rough surface, uneven
reflections occur. The reflected light is scattered in various
directions.

incident ray reflection rays

(a) regular reflections (b) scattered reflections

Application of Reflection in Daily Life

1. There are various types of light reflectors used to reduce road

accidents and improve road safety features.
2. The signs on the road have light reflectors to facilitate the use of
the road to see the signboard at night.

Signs on the road have a light reflector

3. The road marker nail is installed along the dark roads to help the
driver see the road at night.

The road marker nail

4. When the light from the vehicle is hit on the road marker nail, the
light will be reflected to the vehicle.
5. One of the safety measures is the use of emergency light reflection
triangles as shown in the figure below.
 6. Triangles are used when the vehicle breakdown so as to alert
other road users about the presence of breakdown vehicles in front
of them.
7. Police, fire fighters and construction workers take a safety
measure by using of safety jacket with light reflection strip as
shown in the figure below.

8. The location of a person can be tracked according to the light track

reflected from the light reflection strip on the safety jacket worn by
the individual.
9. Safety and emergency vehicles such as ambulances and police
car are written side-by-side on the front of the vehicle.
10. This allows the front-wheel drive to see the word correctly through
the rear-view mirror of their vehicle.

8.4 Refraction of light

1. The pencil appears bent or disconnected in a glass of water and

the pond is slightly shallower than the actual depth.
2. Both of these phenomena show that light is bent or changed
direction when moving from water to air. This phenomenon is
known as a refraction of light.
 The refraction of light is the change in the direction of light when it
travels from one medium to a medium of different densities.

The larger the angle of incidence, i1 and i2, the greater the angle of
refraction, r1 and r2.
Application of Light Refraction in Daily Life
The diagram below shows an example of the application of refraction of
light in everyday life.
Example
The blinking of stars
Spoons look bent in water
Fish looks closer to the
surface of the water
The font size looks bigger by
using the magnifying glass
The object looks high in the
air
Explanation
Due to the density varies of Earth's atmospheric
layer, starlight is diffused at different angle. This
changes the quantity of starlight that goes into the
eye of the observer. So, the stars look blinking.
The light is refracted when passing less dense
medium (air) to denser medium (water). The
image of the spoon in the water looks bent and
larger than the original.
Fish in the water looks closer to the water surface
than its true position. When light rays from the
bottom of the water move from dense medium to
less dense medium, the light is bent away from
the normal line. Thus, the real position of the fish
is deeper than the position seen by the observer.
When using magnifying glass, the object will look
bigger due to the refraction of light. The light
moving from the air (less dense) changes
direction when entering the lens (denser) and also
changes direction when the light moves out of the
lens to the air again.
Someone who is under the water looks at an
object in the air further than its position. When
light rays and objects move from the air (less
dense) into the water (denser), the light will bend
to the normal line. This causes the object to look
higher than its true position.
8.5 Dispersion of light

1. Dispersion of light is the separation of white light into its colour

component.
2. Diffusion of light occurs as each component of the colour is diverged
in a refraction angle, r that is different in less dense medium.
3. The white light that moves through the glass prism will be diverged
and dispersed to seven colours in a certain order known as a white
light spectrum.
4. The diagram below shows the spread of white light to seven colour
spectrums.
5. Spectrum of white light consists of red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo and purple.

6. Red light is least refracted because red light has the highest speed.
7. Purple light is most widely refracted because purple light has the
lowest speed.
White light can be spread by glass prism to form a series of colored light.

Dispersion of Light in Daily Life

1. The rainbow is appeared when there is rain and sunlight shining
behind an observer.
2. Rainbow is generated by refraction and reflection of light in a water
drop.
3. When sunlight enters raindrops in the sky, white light will be refracted
and dispersed to seven different colours and form of rainbow.
4. Rainbow is usually formed on the side of the sky opposite the sun.
8.6 Scattering of light

1. The scattering of the light occurs when the colour in white light are
divert from their original direction by suspended particles such as dust,
water vapour and gas in the atmosphere.
2. The scattering of light depends on the light colour wavelength.
3. Purple light is most widely dispersed because its wavelength is
shortest.
Spectrum of white light
Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Purple

Longest wavelength Shortest wavelength

The dispersion and scattering increases

4. As sunlight moves through Earth's atmosphere, its colour component

is scattered in all directions by fine particles.
5. Each colour light is scattered at different rate. The light with the
shortest wavelength is scattered more than light with a long
wavelength.

Activity 8.8
Purpose To Study the Effects of Light Dispersion
The light is dispersed by the suspended particles in
Hypothesis
the solution.
Apparatus and Ray box, beaker, white screen, water and milk
materials powder.
1. Beaker filled with water.
2. A ray box switch is switched on and a light beam
is lit by the beaker.
3. The light on the white screen is observed.
4. One tablespoon of milk powder is added to the
water and stirred.
Procedure: 5. The light rays are observed from the side of the
beaker and on the white screen.
Milk powder White screen

Water
Ray box
 After the milk powder is added, the light rays look
blue when viewed from the beaker side but is red
on the white screen.
White screen

Observation:
Blue color Red light spot

Water+ milk
Ray box

Discussion:

1. The scattering of light occurs when the milk powder is added to the
water. Milk contains suspended milk particles.

2. When light rays are exposed to these suspended particles, light

rays are scattered in all directions.

3. Purple, indigo and blue light are scattered at most but purple and
indigo light are absorbed and leave blue light. Therefore, the milk
solution looks blue from the side of the beaker.

4. Red light is least scattered. Therefore, the red light moves directly
through the solution to the white screen. So, it looks red on the
screen.

Conclusion: The light is scattered by the suspended particles in the

solution.
The Scattering of Light in Daily Life

The Sky Looks Blue during the Day

1. The sun emits white light consisting of red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple
colour.
2. When sunlight moves through Earth's
atmosphere, it collides with dust and gas
molecules.
3. These gas molecules scatter the sun's light in
all directions.
4. Light blue, indigo and purple are most widely
dispersed because the distance of the
wavelength is shorter than the red light.
5. However, purple and indigo light are absorbed
by the atmosphere and leaving blue light.
6. This explains why the sky looks blue during the
day.

The Sky Looks Red at Evening

1. In the evening, the Sun is low on the horizon.
2. Sunlight is forced to go further through the atmosphere to reach
the eyes of the observer.
3. Upon reaching observers' eyes, most of the light purple, indigo and
blue have been scattered by dust and gas molecules.
4. Hence, the sky looks reddish orange.
8.7 Addition and Subtraction of Light

Addition of light
1. Addition of light is a combination of different colours of light to
produce light that has a different colour from the original colours.
2. There are two colour classes, namely primary colour and secondary
colour.

3. Primary colours are basic colours that cannot be obtained by mixing

with other colours.
4. The primary colours are red, blue and green.
5. Secondary colours are obtained by mixing two primary colours.
6. Secondary colours are cyan, magenta and yellow.
7. The addition of all primary colours or the addition of secondary
colours will result in white colour.

Primary Secondary Addition of light Colour that is

colour colour formed
Red + green Yellow Red + green + White
Red + blue Magenta blue
Green + blue Cyan Yellow + blue White
Magenta + green White
Cyan + red White
Subtraction of light
1. Subtraction of light is the absorption of light by a colour filter.
2. Colour filters are translucent pieces of material that allow certain light
colours to pass through them while other light colours are rejected or
absorbed.

Principle of subtraction on colour

1. The colour of an object depends on the light colour reflected into the
eye.

Object Explanation
Object with primary colour The primary object (red, green
observation
or blue) reflects the same
colour light with it.

Object with secondary colour The secondary object (yellow,

magenta or cyan) reflects the
same colour light on it as well
as the primary colour
component that forms it.
Yellow object

White coloured object White objects reflect all colours

in white light.

white object

Black colour object Black colour objects absorb all

colours in white light.

black object
2. Colours that can pass through a colour filter depend on the colour of
the filter.
3. Primary colour filters (red, green or blue) allow the same colour
through the filter while other colour will be absorbed.
4. Secondary colour filters (yellow, magenta or cyan) allow the same
colour and colour component to make it only through the filter while
the other colours will be absorbed.

Red
Green
White White
White

Pure red filter Pure green filter Pure blue filter

Yellow Magenta Cyan

Red Blue
White White
White
Green Blue

Red Green

Subtraction of Colour Light by Two Colour Filters.

1. White light passes through two primary colour filters.

First filter Second filter Light present on screen
Green No light
Blue
Red No light
Blue No light
Green
Red No light
Green No light
Red
Blue No light

2. White light passes through two secondary colour filters.

First filter Second filter Light present on screen
Yellow Cyan Green
Magenta Red
Cyan Yellow Green
Magenta Blue
Magenta Yellow Red
Cyan Blue
 3. White light passes through the primary colour filter followed by a
secondary colour filter.
First filter Second filter Light present on screen
Blue Magenta Blue
Cyan Blue
Yellow No light
Green Magenta No light
Cyan Green
Yellow Green
Red Magenta Red
Cyan No light
Yellow Red

4. The diagram below shows a triangular colour for the subtraction of

coloured light.
green

yellow Cyan

Red Blue

(a) Secondary colour filter subtract or absorbs the primary colour

that is contrary to it.
(b) Primary colour combination filters will not produce any light.

The Difference Between Additions and Subtraction of Light

1. Additions of light and subtraction of light are two different principles.

2. The addition of light occurs when two primary colour light overlap or
mixed to produce secondary colour light while the light subtraction
occurs when the opaque object reflects the same light of colour and
absorbs other colour light.
Examples of Additions and Subtraction of Light in Daily Life.

Television with
colour

Lighting in stage
performances

Coloured lights on
the road