Class 10 Physics :

HUMAN EYE AND THE

COLORFUL WORLD
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Structure of a Human Eye
 Part of eye Definition Function

Cornea Transparent and bulget out Lights enters the eye through it
spherical membrane
covering the front of the eye

Iris Dark and muscular Controls the size of the pupil

diaphragm between the Color of iris is what we call color of the eye
cornea and the lens.

Pupil Small hole between the iris Modulates amount of light that enter the
eyes. In dim light it opens up completely
and in bright light it becomes small.

Ciliary Muscles Flexible muscles that hold Modifies the curvature of the eye lens to
the lens in positions see both distant and nearby objects
clearly
 Part of eye Definition Function

Retina Light sensitive surface of the Image of the object is formed here. It
eye on which the image is connected with optic nerves that send
formed. signals to brain

Cells of Retina Cells present in the retina of ● Rod Cells - Respond to intensity of
human eye light
Rod Cells >Cone Cells ● Cone cells - Respond to the
illumination (primary colors)

Aqueous Liquid between cornea and ● Helps the refracted light to be

Humour eye lens focused on retina.
● Protects the eyes.

Vitreous Jelly like fluid between eye ● Maintains the shape of the eye balls.
Humour lens and retina ● Prevents it from collapsing.
 ………… is the Transparent and
bulget out spherical
membrane covering the front
of the eye

A. IRIS

B. PUPIL

C. RETINA

D. CORNEA
 Power of Accommodation

The ability of eye lens to focus on both nearby

and distant objects by adjusting the focal
length is known as the accommodation power.

Agent - With the help of ciliary muscles

But of course there is a limit to the
accommodation of human eye. That’s
why we have :

Near Point : Minimum distance at which

an object can be seen most distinctly
without any strain.
For a normal eye of an adult, it is 25 cms

Far Point : Farthest point up to which the

eye can see clearly. It is infinity to the
normal eye.
The near point of a hypermetropic eye is 1
m. What is the power of lens required to
correct this defect? Assume that the near
point of normal eye is 25cm.
Why do human beings have and need
to two eyes instead of just one?

It serves following functions :

● Better horizontal field view of 180

degrees instead of 150 degrees with
one eye.

● Ability to detect faint objects.

● Because our eyes are separated by a

few centimetres, each eye sees a
slightly different image. Our brain
combines the two images into one,
using the extra information to tell us
how close or far away things are.

● With 2 eyes we can have three

dimensional view of the world with
depth instead of a 2D view with just one
eye.
Defects in Human Eye
 Myopia or Nearsightedness

In myopia, a person can see nearby objects

clearly but cannot see objects that are far.

Reasons :
● Excessive Curvature of the eye lens
● Elongation of the eyeball

In Myopia, image of the object is formed before

retina.
 Hypermetropia or farsightedness

In hypermetropia, a person can see distant

objects clearly but cannot see objects that are
near to her.

Reasons :
● Focal length of eye lens too large
● Shortness of the eyeball

In Myopia, image of the object is formed after

the retina.
 Presbyopia

It mostly happens in old people as near point

gradually recedes away with age.

Reasons :
● Weakness of ciliary muscles
● Hardening or loss of elasticity of lens

Sometimes a person has both myopia and

hypermetropia, in that case they are provided
with bifocal glasses.
 Cataract :
Cataract happens when eye lens becomes milky
or cloudy due to the growth of a membrane over
it.

● It generally happens in old age

● Leads to partial or complete loss of vision

● Cataract can be corrected with a surgery

 What would have been the
horizontal field of view for
humans if they had one
eye instead of two?

A. 150 degrees

B. 160 degrees

C. 180 degrees

D. 360 degrees
Refraction of Light Through a Prism
A prism is a transparent and refracting
medium with at least 2 lateral surfaces, 2
triangular bases, and 3 rectangular lateral
surfaces.

Angle between 2 lateral surfaces is known

as Angle of Prism.
Angle of deviation: is the angle which the emergent ray (extended
backwards) makes with the incident ray (extended forward).
Dispersion of White Light Through Prism

Dispersion : Splitting of white light

into its constituent colors is called as
its dispersion.

White light is made up of 7 colors.

Please note : Dispersion doesn't take place

through every medium, some special mediums
known as dispersive mediums are there. Prism
is one of them
Isaac Newton was
the first one to
obtain the
spectrum of light
using a glass
prism.
Light rays of different colors have different wavelengths
and they travel with same speed in vacuum and air, but
they travel with different in any other medium (like prism).

● Since they travel with different speeds, they are also

bent at different angles.

● Red light has the maximum wavelength and travels

faster. So it deviates the least

● Violet light has the minimum wavelength and travels

slowest. So it deviates the most.
 RAINBOW IN SKY

A rainbow is a natural spectrum appearing

in sky after a rain shower.

It happens when the white light (sunlight)

is dispersed by the tiny water droplets
after rain that act as as individual prisms.

Same phenomenon is observed by looking

at the sky through a waterfall or through a
water fountain with the sun behind us.
Assertion: The light of violet color deviates the
most and the light of red color the least while
passing through a prism

Reason: For a prism material, refractive index

is highest for red light and lowest for violet
light.

A. A is true but R is false

B. A is false but R is true

C. Both A and R are true and R is the correct

explanation of A

D. Both A and R are true but R is not the

correct explanation of A
 Atmospheric Refraction

Why does it happen :

It happens because atmosphere is not

uniform throughout, its density goes on
changing as we move up or down in
atmosphere

It is basically has layers of different

densities that are rarer/denser with respect
to each other.

Due to this, when light passes through

earth’s atmosphere, it undergoes
continuous refraction
Twinkling of Stars
 Why don’t planets twinkle?
Stars are farther to earth’s surface while most
planets are closer to us. Due to this disparity in
distance, stars appear as tiny dot in the sky
while planets appear bigger, like a collection of
million dots.

In planets, each of these tiny individual dots do

twinkle just like stars do, but their overall effect
is cancelled out since when some dots are
brighter, others are dimmer. Thus, the net
twinkling effect is zero.
ADVANCED SUNRISE AND
DELAYED SUNSETS
 Why do planets don’t
twinkle like stars do?

A. Planets are farther to us than

stars

B. Planets are closer to us than

stars

C. Planets don’t emit any light

D. Both A and C
Scattering of Light and
Tyndall effect
 Scattering of Light
When a light beam goes through a medium, it
hits the particles existing in them.

Due to this phenomenon, some of the light

rays get absorbed while a few get scattered in
various directions. The intensity of the
scattered light rays depends on the particles’
size and wavelength.
 TYNDALL EFFECT

The phenomenon
of scattering of
light by the
colloidal particles
gives rise to
Tyndall effect

This phenomenon is seen when a fine beam of

sunlight enters a smoke-filled room through a
small hole. Thus, scattering of light makes the
particles visible. The colour of the scattered light
depends on the size of the scattering particles.
Very fine particles scatter mainly blue light while
particles of larger size scatter light of longer
wavelengths. If the size of the scattering particles
is large enough, then, the scattered light may
even appear white.
Tyndall effect can also be observed when
sunlight passes through a canopy of a dense
forest. Here, tiny water droplets in the mist
scatter light.
According to Rayleigh's law for scattering

The amount of scattering of the light is inversely

proportional to the fourth power of the
wavelength.
Why is the colour of the clear Sky Blue?

The molecules of air and other fine particles in

the atmosphere have size smaller than the
wavelength of visible light. These are more
effective in scattering light of shorter
wavelengths at the blue end than light of
longer wavelengths at the red end.
What color the sky be if there wasn’t any
atmosphere?

If the earth had no atmosphere, there would

not have been any scattering. Then, the sky
would have looked dark. The sky appears
dark to passengers flying at very high
altitudes, as scattering is not prominent at
such heights
Colour of the Sun at
Sunrise and Sunset