LAWS OF REFRACTION AND

REFLECTION
PRESENTATION BY INDIRA R
 WAVE FRONT

❖Wave front is defined as the

continuous locus of all the particles of a
medium, which are vibrating in the same
phase.
i.Spherical wave front : when the source
of light is a point source, the wave front is
spherical with the source at the centre.
ii.Cylindrical wave front: when the source
of light is linear, the wave front is cylindrical.
iii.Plane wave front: when the point
source or the linear source of light is at very
large distance, a small portion of spherical or
cylindrical wave front appears to be plane.

By indira R 9/25/2023
 HUYGENS PRINCIPLE

Two parts for the principle:

1. Every point on the given wave front
(called primary wave front) acts as a
fresh source of new disturbance, called
secondary wavelets, which travel in all
directions with the velocity of light in the
medium.
2. A surface touching these secondary
wavelets, tangentially in the forward
direction at any instant gives the new
By indira R
wavefront at that instant. This is called 9/25/2023
secondary wave front.
 Refraction of a plane wave

❖ Sphere of radius 𝑣2 𝜏 is drawn in the second

medium at A to determine the shape of
refracted wave front.
𝐵𝐶 𝑉 𝜏
From fig: sin i = = 1 (I)
𝐴𝐶 𝐴𝐶
𝐴𝐸 𝑉2 𝜏
sin r = = (II)
𝐴𝐶 𝐴𝐶
sin 𝑖 𝑣1
 =
sin 𝑟 𝑣2
❖By definition, refractive index of a medium is
𝒄
n=
𝒗
sin 𝑖 𝑛2
❖=> = or 𝒏𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝒊 = 𝒏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝒓,
A plane wave AB is incident at an angle i on the surface sin 𝑟 𝑛1
PP’ separating medium 1 and medium 2. The plane wave this is Snell’s law of refraction.
undergoes refraction and CE represents the refracted
wavefront. The figure corresponds to 𝑣2 < 𝑣1 so that the
refracted waves bends towards the normal

By indira R 9/25/2023
REFRACTION OF PLANE WAVE AT A RARER MEDIUM

Note: refraction occurs

only for angles of
incidence 𝒊 < 𝒊𝒄 ,
where, 𝒊𝒄 is the critical
angle, above which TIR
happens.

Refraction of a plane wave incident on a rarer medium for which

𝑣2 > 𝑣1 . The plane wave bends away from the normal.

By indira R

9/25/2023
Reflection of a plane wave by a plane surface

In fig, BC = v 𝝉 where, v is the

velocity of wave in the medium
and 𝝉 is the time taken by
wavefront to advance from B
to C. Reflected wavefront is
constructed by drawing a
sphere of radius v𝝉 from A. CE
Reflection of a plane wave AB by the reflecting surface MN. is the tangent plane to this
AB and CE represent incident and reflected wavefronts.
sphere.
From fig, the triangles EAC &
BAC are congruent .
=> Angles i = r This is law of
reflection
By indira R

9/25/2023