REFLECTION & REFRACTION

CSEC PHYSICS
REFLECTION
Reflection occurs when a ray of light reaches a surface or boundary between materials.
Example: A reflection occurs when the light ray strikes a mirror.

• The ray striking the mirror is called the incident ray.

• The point at which the ray strikes the mirror is the point of
incidence, shown here as P.
• The ray that bounces off the mirror is the reflected ray.
REFLECTION
• The angle (i) between the incident ray and
the normal is the angle of incidence.
• The angle (r) between the reflected ray and
the normal is the angle of reflection.
LAWS OF REFLECTION
1. The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence all lie in the
same plane. This plane is called the ‘plane of incidence’.
2. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, or i = r
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IMAGE FORMED IN A PLANE
MIRROR
1. Same size as object
2. Same distance perpendicularly behind the mirror as the object is in front
3. Virtual
4. Laterally inverted
• Virtual means not real – the image cannot be formed on a screen, and light does not come from
where the image appears to be.
• Laterally inverted means reversed side to side, so that the image of
a word placed to face a mirror is reversed as shown:
REFLECTION
RAY
DIAGRAMS
Exercise
Key Points
• Angles are always measured from the normal.
• The angles of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence for all reflections.
• The image in a plane mirror is virtual and the same distance behind the mirror as
the object is in front of the mirror.
Past Paper Question – Jan 2013 Paper 2 Q. 3
When a ray of light enters a glass block it slows down and this
causes the ray to change in direction or refract relative to the
normal at the point of refraction.
• If the ray slows down, its path will turn towards the normal
at the point of refraction.
• If the ray speeds up, its path will turn away from the normal
at the point of refraction.
• The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal, at the point of incidence are on the
same plane.
sin i
• The ratio sin r is a constant for a given pair of media, where i is the angle of incidence
and r is the angle of refraction. This is Snell’s law.
 REFRACTIVE INDEX, η
sin 𝑖
For light travelling from one medium to another, the ratio is the refractive index of
sin 𝑟
η₂
the second medium relative to the first (η₁).
REFRACTIVE INDEX, η
For light travelling from one medium to another, the ratio

is also equal to the refractive index of the second medium relative to the first:
REFRACTIVE INDEX, η
Refractive indices of common materials
When light enters a second medium perpendicular to its
interface:
• It does not deviate – the angles of incidence and refraction
are both zero.
• Its speed is greater in the less optically dense medium.

When light enters a more optically dense medium other than

perpendicularly:
• It refracts towards the normal, the angle between the ray
and the normal decreases.
• Its speed decreases.
When light enters a less optically dense medium other than
perpendicularly
• It refracts away from the normal, that is the angle
between the ray and the normal increases.
• its speed increases.
• When the light enters the glass block it slows down
and this causes the ray to refract, to change its path
towards the normal.
• When the light ray leaves the glass block it speeds
up and refracts away from the normal.
• Because the two boundaries are parallel, the ray
ends up travelling in the same direction as it was
originally but it is laterally displaced.
Example 1
Solution
Example 2
Solution
The dispersion of white light is the separation of white light into its constituent
colours.

• All electromagnetic radiation travels at the same speed in a vacuum but will travel at
different speeds in other mediums.
• In particular different colours of light travel at different speeds in glass or other
transparent materials.
• The size of the change in direction during refraction depends on the change in the speed
of light at the boundary and so different colours of light will refract by different amounts.
• For example, violet light refracts to a greater degree than red light as it has a greater
change in speed.
Newton’s experiment on dispersion of white light
Newton’s experiment on dispersion of white light
Newton’s experiment on dispersion of white light
Newton’s experiment on dispersion of white light

Newton made a number of changes to the experiment in order to prove that the origin of
the coloured light was not within the prism. He:
• changed the size of the slits of the collimator
• used prisms of different types
• altered the distance between the light source and the prism
• isolated a colour and showed that it was not affected by another prism
• added a second prism to show that the colours can be recombined
• When light is directed into a medium of lesser optical density (smaller refractive index)
it is partly reflected and partly refracted.
• At small angles of incidence the reflected ray is weak and the refracted ray is strong.
• As the angle of incidence increases, the angle of refraction also increases and the
reflected ray becomes slightly stronger.
• At a certain angle of incidence, c, the refracted ray passes just along the surface, and
for angles greater than this particular angle, called the critical angle, there is total
internal reflection.
• The critical angle of a material is the largest angle at which a ray can approach an
interface with a medium of smaller refractive index and be refracted into it.
• The critical angle of a material is the smallest angle at which a ray can approach an
interface with a medium of smaller refractive index and be totally internally reflected
by it.
Conditions necessary for total internal reflection
• The ray must travel from a denser medium to less dense medium.

• The angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle.

Relation between critical angle and refractive index
If one of the media is air, then the relation is:
1
sin c =
η
Relation between critical angle and refractive index
If neither medium is air, or if the question involves wavelength or velocity, then this general
relation is used:
EXAMPLE 3
The light bulb under the water in the figure below produces an illuminated disc on the
water surface of diameter 20 m. The refractive index of water is 1.33.
Calculate:
a) the critical angle of water
b) the depth of the water
SOLUTION
FORMATION OF A MIRAGE
FORMATION OF A MIRAGE
Cold Sky

Moderate

Hot

Very Hot

Road Image of sky

FORMATION OF A MIRAGE
• During the day, the temperature of the air directly above the surface of a road increases
due to conduction of heat from the asphalt.
• A ray of light from low in the sky will refract away from the normal as it enters the
hotter, less dense air.
• The deviation continues until the ray is totally reflected just above the road.
• It is then continuously refracted towards the normal as it enters the cooler, denser, air
above.
• An observer receiving this ray will see a virtual image of the sky and may interpret it as
a pool of water.
The diagram below shows a light source at the bottom of a large swimming pool.
When viewed from above, one would see light leaving the water from within a circle of a
certain diameter, d.
Rays reaching the surface outside of this circle are totally internally reflected, because their
angles of incidence are greater than the critical angle (x > c and y > c).
Light entering through one end of a thin, transparent, glass fibre will mainly be totally
internally reflected until it emerges from the other end.
This the principle of an optical fibre.

• Scratches on the outside of the fibre could cause light to exit through the sides.
• A cladding of a different type of glass is placed around the core in order to protect
it.
• Since the light is transmitted through the core, scratches on the outside of the
cladding are unimportant.
• For total internal reflection, the refractive index of the cladding must be less than
that of the core.
• Telecommunications: Electronic communications for cable TV, telephone and the
internet are largely transmitted by means of light pulses in fibre-optic cables.
• Endoscopes
1. Diagnostic imaging: Light is transmitted into the patient through a bundle of
optical fibres. The reflected light then returns through another bundle of fibres
connected to a video camera which displays the image on a screen.
2. Therapy: Tumours in solid organs are difficult to remove by surgery. A laser beam
can be directed to destroy such tumours by means of optical fibres.
• A mirror reflects only about 90% of the light incident to it.
• Utilising total internal reflection in optical devices allows 100% of the radiation to be
reflected and therefore produces a stronger image.
• Right-angled, isosceles-triangular glass prisms are used in many optical
instruments
e.g. periscopes and binoculars, to reflect light.
• When light enters the prism perpendicularly through one of the shorter sides, it
meets the opposite wall at 45° which is more than the critical angle of glass (45°).
• There is therefore total internal reflection.
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