Electromagnetic (EM) spectrum

 The arrangement of electromagnetic waves (EMW), that is the spectrum, is by wavelength

(in m). Examples: visible light, radio waves, heat, UV rays, X-rays.

 There is no clear cut dividing line between one nominal spectral region and the next.
 EMW propagate according to wave theory, with constant velocity of 3.0 x 108 m/s in free
space (vacuum).
 EM radiation is composed of many discrete units called photons or quanta which have a
certain energy.

 The energy of each quantum (or photon) is given as

where h is Planck’s constant, c speed of light,  and  frequency and wavelength of
the radiation, respectively.
OPTICS
Light is an electromagnetic wave but here we shall consider the geometrical (ray) optics i.e. light
traveling in straight lines known as rays. We shall consider the effect on light ray when it meets
surfaces.

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Reflection at plane surfaces
The laws of reflection:
1. The incidence ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence all lie in the
same plane.
2. The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence.

Types of Image formed by Plane mirrors

 Virtual (can not be screened)
 Same size (Object distance = Image distance, Same height)
 Upright
 Laterally inverted

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 * *
Describe images formed by curved mirrors.

Applications of reflection
1. Viewing Ourselves
2. Driving
3. Optical Instruments

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Refraction at plane surfaces

The laws of refraction:

1. The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence, all lie in the
same plane.
2. For two given media, the ratio of sine of incidence angle to sine of refracted angle is
constant (Snell's law). i.e.

where n is a constant known as refractive index with respect to air (free space).

The value of refractive index depends on the colour (wavelength) of the light used. Light is
refracted because it travels at different speeds in different media. The refractive index of
medium 2 with respect to medium 1 can also be expressed in terms of speed of light:

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Due to refraction of light, transparent substance (such as water, glass) have a real depth and an
apparent depth. For example, objects at the bottom of a swimming pool appear to be nearer than
their real depth.

Dispersion
White light has a band of wavelengths of different colours known as the spectrum of white light.
The longest wavelength is red light which has a wavelength in air of about 700 nm (700x10 -9m),
and the shortest wavelength is violet of about 450 nm (450x10-9m).

The white light band spectrum consists of seven colours. They are, in order of decreasing
wavelength: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

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In vacuum (and practically in air), all colours travel at the same speed. In a medium such as
glass, water e.t.c., the colours travel at different speeds - red being the fastest and violet the
slowest. Due to this difference in speeds, a glass prism or water drops can separate these colours,
a phenomenon known as dispersion.

Lenses

There two types of lenses: convex and concave lenses.

The convex (or converging) lens has a real principal focus and by convention, the focal length is
taken as positive in sign.
And concave (diverging) lens has a virtual focus and its focal length is taken as negative in sign.

READ
- Type of images formed by converging lens when the object is placed at the following
distances from the lens
a) u < f [upright, magnified and virtual]
b) u = f [at infinity]
c) 2f>u>f [real, inverted, magnified]
d) u = 2f [real, inverted, same size]
e) u > 2f [real, inverted, diminished]
Use ray diagrams to verify.
- Type of images by diverging lens at various object distances.

Lens Equation and Magnification Formula

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The relationship between object distance u, image distance v and focal length f of a lens is given
as:

The above equation is applied with sign rule in mind: "real is positive and virtual is negative",
for object, image and focal length distances.

Magnification m produced by a lens is defined as ratio of image distance to object distance or

ratio of image height to object height.

Problems
1. An object is placed a) 15 cm; b) 12 cm; c) 8 cm; d) 6 cm; e) 4 cm from a converging lens
of focal length 6 cm. Calculate the image position and the magnification in each case,
and draw scaled diagrams illustrating the formation of the image. Interpret signs
properly.
2. The image obtained with a converging lens is upright and three times the length of the
object. The focal length of the lens is 20 cm, Calculate the object and image distances.
[13.3, 40 cm]
3. An object 8.0 cm high is 18 cm from a converging lens having focal length of 10.0 cm.
a) How far id the image from the lens? [22.5 cm]
b) How tall is the image? [-10.0 cm]

Optical Instruments
Optical instruments utilize mirrors (plane and curved), prisms and lenses (convex and concave).
They enable us to see objects clearly:
 at a far distance (Binoculars, Telescopes, ...)
 small (Magnifying glass, Microscopes, ...)
 recording (Camera, ...)
 projecting (Projectors, ...).