Senior High School

General Physics 2
Second Semester - Quarter 4
Refraction and Its Applications:
Total Internal Reflection and Dispersion

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General Physics 2 – Grade 12
Alternative Delivery Mode
Second Semester - Quarter 4 : Refraction and its Applications:
Total Internal Reflection and Dispersion
First Edition, 2021
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Published by the Department of Education - Region III

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2
 Senior High School

General Physics 2
Second Semester - Quarter 4
Refraction and Its Applications:
Total Internal Reflection and Dispersion

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4
Introductory Message

This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, dear learners, can continue
your studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions, directions, exercises, and dis-
cussions are carefully stated for you to understand each lesson.
Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-step as you
discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.
Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each SLM. This will
tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if you need to ask your facili-
tator or your teacher’s assistance for better understanding of the lesson. At the end of
each module, you need to answer the post-test to self-check your learning. Answer keys
are provided for each activity and test. We trust that you will be honest in using these.
In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the Teachers are also provided to our
facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on how they can best help you on
your home-based learning.
Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any part of this SLM.
Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercise and tests. Read the instructions
carefully before performing each task.
If you have any question in using this SLM or any difficulty in answering the tasks in this
module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator.
Thank you.

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 What I Need to Know

This module encourages you to be familiar with the refraction and its applications: total
internal reflection and dispersion. Various activities are provided for you to perform to
strengthen your knowledge and skills regarding the topic. Practical work approach will
be provided as a simple activity on refraction and its applications will be included to
further improve work skills of the students. You will apply the learning by explaining the
conditions of total internal reflection and the phenomenon of dispersion using the
Snell’s law.
At the end of this module, you are expected to:
• explain what happens to light when it passes through different media;
• explain the conditions for total internal reflection (STEM_GP12OPTIVb-14);
• explain the phenomenon of dispersion by relating to Snell’s Law
(STEM_GP12OPTIVb-16);
• solve problems using Snell’s Law; and
• relate the concept of refraction to total internal reflection and dispersion.

What I Know

A. Directions: Match the ideas from Column A with the terms given in
Column B. Write your letter of your answer in a separate sheet of paper.

Column A Column B

1. First to realize the relationship of indices of A. refraction

refraction and angle of incidence and refraction.

2. Fiber optic wires B. 3.0 x 108 m/s

3. Glass fibers that carry signals over long distances C. Willebrord Snell

4. Separation of light into its different colored rays D. Optical Waveguide fi-
bers
5. No refracted light, only totally reflected light E. n2sinθ2

6. Sin θc = ? F. nair / nwater

7. Formula to find v G. total internal reflection

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 Column A Column B

8. Speed of light H. Dispersion

9. n1sinθ = ? I. Optical Fibers

10. The pencil seems to bend because of J. c / n

________.
K. c / v

B. Directions: Write True if the statement is correct, if false, underline the word/
group of words that made the statement incorrect, then write the word/group of
words that make the statement correct. Write your answer in a separate an-
swer sheet.
1. Each color do not correspond to a given wavelength.
2. The process by which light is separated into its colors
due to differences in degrees of refraction is called
dispersion.
3. Dispersion gives a diamond exquisite sparkle.
4. An application of total internal reflection is the use of
small lens to see and examine the patient’s stomach
through endoscope.
5. Red light is bent the least and violet the most.

What’s In

Directions: Identify what/who is mentioned in the following statements. Choose

among the choices in the word bank below. Write your answer in a
separate sheet of paper.
Niels Bohr ether Corpuscular Theory

Thomas Young James Clerk Maxwell A.J. Fresnel

1. He introduced the complementarity principle of light.

2. They performed experiments on the diffraction and
interference of light and interpreted in terms of wave
theory.
3. This theory states that light is composed of minute
particles called corpuscles.
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 4. He showed that electric and magnetic fields are
propagated together and that their speed is identical
to the speed of light.
5. This is considered as the hypothetical medium that
carries light waves.
What’s New

Direction: Prepare the materials for the following home-based activities.

A. B.
1. kettle/electric kettle 1. coin
2. stove 2. transparent glass with water
3. water
4.flashlight / laser pointer PLEASE OBSERVE PROPER CARE
TAKE WHEN HANDLING HOT OBJECTS.
PROCEDURE A: CARE USE GLOVES/CLOTH WHEN
HANDLING SUCH OBJECTS.
1) Boil 500 mL water in the
kettle and allow the steam to
escape.
2) Flash some light through the steam, and observe the effect.

1) What happened to the light when it passed through the steam?

2) What property of light is exhibited in the home-based activity?

Analysis Questions:
PLEASE OBSERVE PROPER CARE
TAKE WHEN USING AND HANDLING
PROCEDURE B: CARE GLASS.
1) Prepare water in a glass. Dip
a pencil into the glass of water.
2) Observe the pencil from different positions around the glass.

1) Illustrate how the pencil appears.

2) Explain your observation (above and below the water level).

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 Refraction

What Is It

Whenever you go out for a swim, you have probably noticed that the pool,
river, or sea appears shallower than it really is. If you look at the space just above
the flame, objects seem to shimmer. The stars also twinkle. Why?
These effects are all caused by refraction, “the bending of light”, as it passes
from one medium to another.

KEY IDEA NO. 1

REFRACTION - bending of light as it passes through different
media due to a change in its velocity. Willebrord Snell, a Dutch
Astronomer, was the first to realize the relationship.

This can be summed up using Snell’s Law named after Willebrord Snell, who
worked on it in 1620.

KEY IDEA NO. 2

SNELL’S LAW
n1 sinθ1 = n2 sinθ2
where the subscripts 1 and 2 refer to medium 1 and medium
2, n1 and n2 are the indices of refraction, and θ1 and θ2 are
the angles of incidence and refraction, respectively, meas-
ured with respect to the normal line.

KEY IDEA NO. 3

SNELL’S LAW STATES THAT:
For a given pair of substances, the ratio of the sine of the
angle of incidence to the sine of the angle if refraction is constant.

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 Material Index of Refraction

Air 1.0

Water 1.33

Glass 1.5

Figure 1. Refraction of Light Table 1. Index of Refraction of Some

Common Materials

Sample Problems:
1. A light ray passes through the side of a glass of water and makes an angle of 50 o
with the normal line. Find the directions of the reflected and refracted rays.

Figure 2. Illustration for Sample Problem 1

Given: Required:
n1 = glass = 1.5 θ2
n2 = water = 1.33
θ1 = 500

Solution:
According to the law of reflection, the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of
reflection. Thus, θi = θr, which means that the direction of the reflected angle is
equal to the direction of the incident angle.
To compute for the direction of the refracted ray, we can use the Snell’s Law.
n1 sin 1 = n2 sin  2 The formula for Snell’s law

n 1 sin1 You divide both sides of the equation by n2

sin  2 =
n2
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  n 1 sin1  Use the inverse arc sine to the equation.
 2 = sin -1  
 n2 

 (1.5) sin50O  Substitute the given to the equation.

 2 = sin -1 
 1.33 
 2 = 59.760 Final Answer

2. A ray of light passes from a transparent substance with a refractive index of 1.3
to another transparent substance of a refractive index of 1.8. The angle of incidence
in 35o. Find the angle of refraction.

Figure 3. Illustration for Sample Problem 2

Given: Required:
n1 = 1.3 θ2
n2 = 1.8
θ1 = 35o
Solution:  n 1 sin1  Use the new equation.
 2 = sin -1  
 n2 

 (1.3) sin35O 
 2 = sin -1  Substitute the given to the equation.
 1.8 
 2 = 24.47O Final answer

Different materials have different indices of refraction n which is the ratio of the
speed of light in a vacuum (c=3.0x108m/s) to the speed of light in that material v.
That is, n = c/v

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Sample Problem:
A crown glass has an index of refraction of 1.5. Compute for the speed of light in
glass.
Given: Required:
n = 1.5 v glass
c = 3.0x108m/s
Solution: c
n = Original Formula
v
c
vglass = Rearranged formula, to get the speed of
n
light in glass

3.0 x108 m / s Substitute the given to the equation.

vglass =
1.5

v glass = 2x108m/s Final answer

Application of Refraction:
Total Internal Reflection
Suppose that a source of light pointed upwards is submerged in a tank or a body of
water (n1). Then the angle at which the beam is directed is slowly altered as shown
on Figure 4. What would be observed?

Figure 4. An illustration showing total internal reflection

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_internal_reflection

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 The rays from the source reach the surface of the water and continue through
the air at a refracted angle. Some rays are also reflected back to the water. As the
angle of incidence increases, more and more rays are reflected into the water until
all the rays are reflected and refraction is completely eliminated. This happens
when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle θc.

KEY IDEA NO. 4

nair
sin  c =
nwater

where nair is the index of refraction of air and nwater is the index of
refraction of water

KEY IDEA NO. 5

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION—there is no refracted light,
just totally reflected light.
TWO NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR TOTAL INTERNAL
REFLECTION TO HAPPEN:
1. light must pass from an optically denser medium to a less
dense medium; and
2. the angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle.

EXAMPLE:
Medium 1 is water, n1 = 1.33
Medium 2 is air, n2 = 1
You can easily see that there is a certain angle known as critical angle θc for θ1,
where on the other side of the equation, sin θ2=1. When θ1>θc, you are forced to
obtain an absurd value of sin θ2>1, which means that there is no refracted beam.

KEY IDEA NO. 6

 n2 
 c = sin −1  
 n1 
THE EXACT FORM OF CRITICAL ANGLE

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Sample Problem:
1. A ray of light in a glass with an index of refraction of 1.5 is incident on an inter-
face with air. Find the critical angle of incidence.
Given: Required:
n1 glass= 1.5 θc
n2 air= 1.0
Solution:
 n2  Use the formula.
 c = sin −1  
 n1 

1.0  Substitute the given to

 c = sin −1  
1.5  the equation.

θ c = 41.81o Final answer

Figure 5. Illustration for Sample
Problem

At this angle, the refracted ray is perpendicular to the normal. At an angle of

incidence larger than this, total internal reflection occurs.

KEY IDEA NO. 6

APPLICATIONS OF TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
OPTICAL FIBERS - thin glass fibers for the transmission of mod-
ulated light to carry signals over long distances. It has two con-
centric cores, with the inner core having a higher index of refrac-
tion than the outer core.

KEY IDEA NO. 7

APPLICATIONS OF TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
DIAMONDS - In a diamond, the critical angle is 24o. The diamond
is cut so the angle of incidence inside the gem is greater than 24 o.
Light that enters is trapped in sparkling appearance. Diamonds
sparkle because of total internal reflection.

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 Application of Refraction:
Dispersion

White light is a mixture of several colors and each color corresponds to a par-
ticular wavelength. In a vacuum, each color of the visible light travels at the same
speed. However, in a transparent medium, each color travels at different speeds.

KEY IDEA NO. 8

THE INDEX OF REFRACTION IS WAVELENGTH-DEPENDENT;
FROM SNELL’S LAW, THE ANGLE OF REFRACTION IS ALSO
WAVELENGTH-DEPENDENT.

The index of refraction of a material decreases with increasing wavelength.

Light of longer wavelength has lower index of refraction than that of light of shorter
wavelength. This means that light of longer wavelength travels faster in that
material than light of shorter wavelength. Violet light is refracted more than red light
when passing from air into a transparent material medium. Violet has the highest
frequency and shortest wavelength among the colors.

KEY IDEA NO. 9

DISPERSION - the dependence of the index of refraction to the
wavelength of light. It is the process by which light is separated
into its colors due to differences in degrees of refraction.

One application of dispersion is the formation of rainbow. It is formed by the

dispersion of sunlight in drops of water. When sunlight passes through each
spherical raindrop, it is refracted and dispersed and then internally reflected one or
more times before it finally emerges out of the raindrop. The sunlight will now again
be reflected and refracted at different angles as it passes through other drops. Each
water droplet disperses the whole range of colors, arranged according to their
frequency.

KEY IDEA NO. 10

APPLICATION OF DISPERSION
You will usually see a rainbow in the morning or towards late af-
ternoon when the rays of the sun fall obliquely on Earth, or during
a shower when the sun is low in the sky.

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 Color Wavelength (m) Frequency (Hz)
Red 6.2 x 10-7 4.8 x 1014
Orange 6.0 x 10-7 5.0 x 1014
Yellow 5.8 x 10-7 5.2 x 1014
Green 5.4 x 10-7 5.5 x 1014
Blue 4.8 x 10-7 6.3 x 1014
Violet 4.4 x 10-7 6.8 x 1014

Table 2. The color, wavelength, and frequency of visible spectrum

Figure 6. An illustration showing white light as it enters and

leaves the prism

KEY IDEA NO. 11

The angle of deviation is defined as the angle which is obtained
from the difference between the angle of incidence and
the angle of refraction created by the ray of light travelling from
one medium to another that has a different refractive index.

KEY IDEA NO. 12

The angle subtended between the emergent violet and red rays
from a prism is called angular dispersion of prism (angle of
dispersion).

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 What’s More

Independent Activity
Explain me!
Directions: Read the following situations and relate it to the applications of
refraction: total internal reflection and dispersion, then write your
answers on a separate sheet of paper.
Note: Please refer to Appendix 2 for the Rubrics.
1. You will find rows of reflective lights that shine in the middle or at the sides of
the road at night known as “cat’s eyes’ reflectors.” This helps riders see their
way at night. The headlamps of the cars give light, while the lens and reflectors
are found inside a cat’s eye. Explain the mechanism why the lanes become
visible.

2. Is it possible to have total internal reflection for light incident from air to water?
Justify your answer.

3. Why does a diamond show flashes of color when observed under white light?

4. How do you observe a fish in a rectangular aquarium from the top? From the
side? From the corner?

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Independent Assessment
Solve Now!
Directions: Read the following problems, then solve it completely. Write your answer
in a separate sheet of paper. Box your FINAL ANSWER.
Note: Please refer to Appendix 1 for the rubrics.

1. A ray of light in a drinking glass is incident on an interface with water. Find the
critical angle if the index of refraction of the glass is 1.5.

2. A light ray passes through the side of a glass of water. The angle of refraction is
450. Find the angle of reflection.

3. Find the speed of light in a diamond if its index of refraction is 2.417.

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 What I Have Learned

Direction: Complete the following statements.

Note: Please refer to Appendix 2 for the Rubrics.
Rainbows are formed through __________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
One application of total internal reflection is _______________________________
__________________________________________________________________.

What I Can Do

Direction: Answer the question in two to three sentences ONLY.

Note: Please refer to Appendix 2 for the Rubrics.
If you are spearing a fish in the water, will you aim at the fish directly or will you aim
slightly closer to you? Why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Assessment

A. Directions: Read the following questions and answer these, then write the
letter that corresponds to your answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1) Rainbow formation is due to __________.
A. reflection of sunlight in the sky
B. refraction of sunlight in the sky
C. reflection and refraction of sunlight in the sky
D. reflection and refraction of sunlight in a raindrop
2) Snell’s law assumes that the ray striking the surface of a translucent or
transparent object_________.
A. is a colored ray of light
B. hits the object at an angle
C. consists of bundle of light rays
D. is perpendicular to the surface of the object
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3. What wave property can best explain the apparent bending of a pencil when it is
dipped into a glass of water?
A. diffraction C. refraction
B. interference D. reflection
4. What do you call the separation of light into its component colors?
A. diffraction C. polarization
B. dispersion D. sc attering
5. A beam of light travelling in air enters a glass medium. What changes does it un-
dergo?
A. change in speed only C. change in wavelength only
B. change in frequency only D. change in both speed and wavelength
6. A light ray travels from water (n=1.33) to glass (n=1.52) at an angle of incidence
other than 900. Which of the following shows the path of the light ray?

7. If the light ray is refracted on passing from medium A to medium B, one can be
sure that the speed of light in medium A ____________.
A. is greater than in medium B.
B. is smaller than in medium B.
C. is equal to that in medium B.
D. may be larger or smaller than that in medium B.
8. If a ray of light enters a transparent block at an angle of incidence of 25 0 and
emerges at an angle of refraction of 200, what is the refractive index of the block?
A. 0.80 C. 1.24
B. 0.81 D. 1.25
9. What do you call the change in speed and direction of a wave as it travels from
one medium to another?
A. diffraction C. refraction
B. interference D. reflection

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10. What do you call the dependence of the index of refraction to the wavelength?
A. diffraction C. polarization
B. dispersion D. scattering

B. Directions: Read the following problems, then solve it completely. Write your
answer in a separate sheet of paper. Box your FINAL ANSWER.
Note: Please refer to Appendix 1 for the rubrics.
 Find the index of refraction of crown glass, given that the speed of light in glass
is 2.0 x 108 m/s

Additional Activities

Directions: State the two conditions for total internal reflection to occur in your own
words. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.
Note: Please refer to Appendix 2 for the Rubrics.

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 17
WHAT I KNOW 3. Light entering the diamond is dispersed into
A. different colors, then each color is totally internally
1. C reflected.
2. D 4. From top - bigger
3. I
From the side - seems closer than if you ob-
4. H
serve on top
5. G
6. F From the corner - one fish appears to be two
7. J
8. B
INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT
9. E
10. A 1. 2.
B.
1. Do not correspond - correspond
2. True
3. Dispersion - Total internal reflection
4. True
5. True
WHAT’S IN
1. Niels Bohr
2. Thomas Young and A.J. Fresnel
3. Corpuscular Theory
4. James Clark Maxwell
5. ether
WHAT’S NEW
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
A. 3.
1. Light changed direction as it passed through the
steam
2. Refraction
B.
1. The pencil appear to be bent
2. Because of refraction, the pencil appeared to be
bent
WHAT’S MORE
INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. The lens and reflectors inside the cat’s eye turn the
incident light back by total internal reflection. This
makes the lanes visible even if the road is not illu-
minated by other light sources.
2. No, because the index of refraction of air is less
than that of water.
Answer Key
18
ASSESSMENT
1. D
2. D
3. C
4. B
5. A
6. C
7. D
8. C
9. C
10. B
11-15
Given:
speed of light in vacuum = 3.0x108 m/s
speed of light in glass = 2.0x108 m/s
Find: n
Solution:
n=speed of light in vacuum/speed of light in
another material
n=3.0x108 m/s/2.0x108 m/s
n=1.5
Answer Key
 References

Alastre-Dizon, Maville T., Katherine C. Malabanan, Donald B. Bautista. Science and

Technology for the Future IV—Physics Teacher’s Manual. Makati City: DIWA
Scholastic Press, Inc., 2004.
Diwa Learning Systems Inc. High School Science Today—Physics. Makati City:
Diwa Learning Systems, Inc., 2009.
Lozano, Lourdes F., Haydee C. Farrol, Maville T. Alastre. Frontiers in Science and
Technology IV. Makati City: DIWA Scholastic Press, Inc., 2002.
National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development. Practical
Work in High School Physics: A Sourcebook for Teachers. Quezon City: UP-
NISMED, 2007.
Padua, Alicia L., Ricardo M. Crisostomo. Practical and Explorational Physics
Modular Approach. Quezon City: Vibal Publishing House, Inc., 2003.
Silverio, Angelina A. Exploring Life Through Science—General Physics 2. Quezon
City: Phoenix Publishing House, Inc., 2017.
Silverio, Angelina A. Exploring Life Through Science—Physics. Quezon City: Phoe-
nix Publishing House, Inc., 2007.
Valdez, Bienvenido J., Delia C. Navaza. You and the Natural World Physics Third
Edition. Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House, Inc., 2010.

19
 Appendices

Appendix 1
Rubrics for Independent Assessment, Assessment (B) Problem Solving

Criteria 2 1 0
Given and Required The given are The given are Did not write the given
complete, with proper incomplete, with in the problem
units incomplete units
Solution Complete solution to Incomplete solution to No solution to the
the problem the problem problem
Final Answer Correct answer with Incorrect answer, with
proper unit improper unit

Appendix 2
Rubrics for Independent Activity, Additional Activity

Criteria 3 5 8 10

Information Information given Information given Information given

given is not is somewhat is almost is enough and
Content
enough and enough and enough and substantial.
substantial. substantial. substantial.
Ideas are Ideas are
Ideas are Ideas are almost
somewhat organized
Organization disorganized organized.
organized. properly.

20
 For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:
Department of Education, Schools Division of Bulacan
Curriculum Implementation Division
Learning Resource Management and Development System (LRMDS)
Capitol Compound, Guinhawa St., City of Malolos, Bulacan
Email address: lrmdsbulacan@deped.gov.ph