Light

Chapter 10
• Light form of electromagnetic radiation
• Light : visible light- seen by human eye
• Sun – main source of light
NON-LUMINOUS OBJECTS
 Light rays and shadows

• The path of light gets blocked when an

object covers the source of light. This
is illustrated by trying to see the flame
of a candle using a straight pipe and
then with a bent pipe.
• This proves that light travels in a
straight line.
• It travels at very high speed : 300,000km/
sec.
Based on their interaction with light,
objects can be classified as:

• Transparent objects allow light to pass

through them completely. e.g : glass
• Translucent objects allow light to pass
through them partially. e.g : Butter paper
• Opaque objects do not allow any light to
pass through them. e.g: table, book, etc.
REFLECTION
When light is incident on a certain surface, it either gets
reflected or bounces back. Such surfaces are polished
and act like a mirror.

The phenomenon of light bouncing off surfaces is called

reflection.
The ray of light that strikes a reflecting
surface is called as the incident ray and
the ray that gets reflected back is
called the reflected ray

The imaginary line that is

perpendicular to the reflecting surface
at the point of incidence is called the
normal

Angle of incidence ∠i is the angle

between the incident ray and the
normal. Angle of reflection ∠r is the
angle between the reflected ray and
the normal.
 Law of reflection
Law of Reflection states that the angle of
incidence ∠i is always equal to the Angle of
reflection ∠r (∠i=∠r).
Images in mirrors
For the ray starting from point A and
travelling in a horizontal direction towards
point E, the angle of incidence is 0, and
hence it retraces its path.

The ray starting from A and travelling

towards point C follows the law of
reflection.

When these rays are produced backwards,

they appear to meet at a point E. Now this
image is known as a virtual image
It is virtual

It is erect and of the same size as the object

The distance of the object from the plane mirror is the

same as the distance of the image from the plane mirror.

It is laterally inverted.

The image is laterally inverted. It means if you raise your

left hand it would appear in the plane mirror that you
have raised your right hand.