Light Waves

10 IGCSE Physics
 Table of Contents

Reflection Refraction Lens Dispersion

Mirror, Images, Snell’s Law, Image formed Dispersion of
and Law of Critical Angle, and its Light and Prism
Reflection and total internal characteristics
reflection
Reflection
Well, you can’t see in the dark..

You can see an object only if

lights from it enters your
eyes.
Luminous Objects: Objects
that can make their own
light
How can we see non-luminous object?
The Law of Reflection

The Angle of Incidence (i)

equals The Angle of
Reflection (r)
 Two Types of Reflection

(a) Regular Reflection (b) Diffuse/Irregular Reflection

 Checkpoint!
Given figure shows a ray of light PQ striking a
mirror AB. The mirror AB and the mirror CD are at
right angles to each other. QN is a normal to the
mirror AB.
a. What is the value of the angle of incidence of
the ray PQ on the mirror AB?
b. Copy the diagram, and continue the ray PQ to
show the path it takes after reflection at both
mirrors.
c. What are the values of the angle of reflection
at AB, the angle of incidence at CD and the
angle of reflection at CD?
d. What do you notice about the path of the ray
PQ and the final reflected ray?
A Plane Mirror

Can you tell me the

differences between you
and your image in the
mirror?
Properties of Mirror Images

- Virtual Images
- Same size as the actual object
- Same distance away from the
mirror as the actual object
- Laterally inverted
 Virtual VS Real Image

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
riaRXjZr7_c

Real Images Virtual Images

Images that can be projected onto Images that cannot be projected
the screen. onto the screen. Those images can
only be seen in mirrors (or through
lenses)
How images are formed in the mirror

Mirror reflect light coming from objects

which then enter our eyes

Ray diagrams Method:

1. Trace 2 incident rays from object
2. Trace The reflected rays
3. Trace back the reflected rays into the
mirror
4. The point of intersection between two
rays behind the mirror is where the
image is formed
 Checkpoint!

In the given figure at which of the points A to E will

the observer see the image in the plane mirror of
the object?
 Checkpoint!

Given figure shows the image in a plane mirror of a

clock. The correct time is
A. 2.25
B. 2.35
C. 6.45
D. 9.25
 Checkpoint!

A girl stands 5 m away from a large plane mirror. How far must she walk
to be 2 m away from her image?
Refraction
Refraction

The bending of light when it

passes from one material
(called a medium) to another
Refraction
Main Characteristics of Refraction

1: A ray of light is bent towards the normal

when it enters an optically denser medium at
an angle, for example from air to glass. The
angle of refraction r is less than the angle of
incidence i.
Main Characteristics of Refraction

2: A ray of light is bent away from the normal

when it enters an optically less dense medium,
for example from glass to air.
Main Characteristics of Refraction

3: A ray emerging from a parallel-sided block is

parallel to the ray entering, but is displaced
sideways.
Main Characteristics of Refraction

4: A ray travelling along the normal direction

at a boundary is not refracted
 Checkpoint!

a. What two things happen to the light falling on

AB?
b. When the ray enters the glass at AB, is it bent
towards or away from the part of the normal in
the block?
c. How is it bent at CD?
d. What can you say about the direction of the
ray falling on AB and the direction of the ray
leaving CD?
e. What happens if the ray hits AB at right
angles?
 Checkpoint!

a. A glass block ABCD is surrounded by air. A ray

of red light, PQ, is incident on face CD of the
block
b. Draw the normal at Q and the refracted ray
inside the block so that it meets face AB
c. Draw the ray emerging from face AB of the
block and the normal where the ray emerges,
d. Between the rays and the normals you have
drawn, label two equal angles X
Refractive Index

Light is refracted because

its speed changes when it
enters another medium
 Refractive Index

Example;
Snell’s Law
 Checkpoint!

Light travelling in air strikes the edge of the glass.

Figure shows a ray of light at an angle of 40o to the
normal. The light passes from the air into the glass.
Calculate the angle that the ray makes with the
normal in the glass! (n = 1.5)
 Critical Angle

When the light travel from an

optically dense to a less dense
medium and when you find your
angle of refraction is 90o , your
angle of incidence is called
Critical Angle.
 Critical Angle

Example:

Find the critical angle for the

air-glass boundary! (n=1.5)
 Total Internal Reflection

For angles of incidence greater

than c, the refracted ray
disappears and all the incident
light is reflected inside the
denser medium. The light does
not cross the boundary and is
said to undergo total internal
reflection
 Application: Optical Fibres

An Optical Fibre is a thin rod of

high-quality glass
Light can be trapped by total
internal reflection inside a bent
glass rod and ‘piped’ along a
curved path
 Long Distance Communication
In communications systems, a
glass fibre is used to transmit
optical pulses over very long
distances.

A very short pulse of light is

produced at one end of the
fibre. The pulse travels along
the fibre and, if it reaches a
boundary, totally internally
reflects back into the fibres core
and so does not leave the fibre.
 Endoscope

This device allows doctors to see deep inside

the body. Endoscopes have several optical
fibres bound together in a bundle so that light
can travel into and out of the body.

White light is sent along one fibre into the body

and then reflects off the internal organs and
into a bundle of organised fibres back to the
outside of the body. The external end of the
endoscope is connected to a camera so the
surgeon can see an image of the internal
organs as they operate.
lens
Lens

A lens is a shaped piece of

transparent material
designed to refract beams
of light in a particular way.

Made of: Glass, Plastic, etc

 Two Types of Lenses

Diverging (Concave) Lens Converging (Convex) Lens

: spreading out light : bringing towards a point
 Converging Lenses

The More Curved

the lens faces
are, the smaller is
f and the more
powerful is the
lens

All parallel rays will be refracted and all will be brought together at a point called the Principal focus

Focal Length: The distance between the centre of the lens and the principal focus (in m or cm)

Principal Axis: A line which passes through the centre of a lens and the principal focus
 Images formed by a Converging Lens

Object Position Image Enlarged/Diminish Upright/Inverted Virtual/Real

Position ed/Same Size

Between F and Lens

Between F and 2F

At 2F

Beyond 2F
 General Rules for image formation using ray diagrams

1. A ray parallel to the principal axis will be refracted through the principal focus, F.
 General Rules for image formation using ray diagrams

2. A ray through the optical centre, C is undeviated for a thin lens.

 General Rules for image formation using ray diagrams

3. A ray through the principal focus, F, will be refracted parallel to the principal axis.
 Example: Object between F and lens

Image: Same side as the object, Enlarged, Upright, and Virtual

A Virtual image is formed when diverging rays are extrapolated backwards and does not form a visible
projection on a screen. It can be seen through the lens.
 Example: Object between F and 2F

Image: Beyond 2F, Enlarged, Inverted, and Real.

A Real images can be projected onto a screen and is formed from the intersection of converging rays.
Please try drawing the image using a ray diagram:
1.Object at 2F
2.Object beyond 2F
 Example: Object at 2F

Image: At 2F, Same Size, Inverted and Real.

 Example: Object Beyond 2F

Image: Between F and 2F, Smaller, Inverted and Real.

 Example: Object Beyond 2F

Image: Between F and 2F, Smaller, Inverted and Real.

 Images in diverging lenses

Diverging lenses can only produce one type of image, no matter where the object is.

Images: Virtual, Diminished, Upright

 Application: Magnifying Glass

A magnifying glass uses single convex lens.

Place your object between lens and F and it will produce a virtual, upright, enlarged image.
 Application: Sight Correction

The human eye has two parts which act as converging lenses:

The outer part of the eye is the cornea . This acts as a converging lens of fixed focal length and produces most of the
focusing of light as it enters the eye.

The lens. This is a converging lens made from a tough, transparent material. Tiny muscles which surround it can be used to
stretch it to make it thinner. This increases its focal length and allows us to focus on objects which are further away.
 Application: Sight Correction

For a perfectly functioning adult eye, the lens can be adjusted so that we can clearly focus on objects from around 25 cm
away to an infinite distance.

The most distant point you can focus your eye to is known as the far point.
The closet point you can focus on is known as the near point.
 Application: Short-sightedness Correction

The lens in your eye may become difficult to stretch and so it cannot be made thin enough by the eye muscles.

The thick lens causes light for distance objects to be focused in front of the retina so we cannot see them clearly.

The far point of the eye is no longer at infinity and may only be a few metres away.
 Application: Short-sightedness Correction

The effect of the lens is to reduce the focusing power of the eye and allow it to focus a clear image onto the retina for
distant objects.
 Application: Long-sightedness Correction

This is a condition where the lens cannot be made thick enough, or the eyeball is too short.

The result is that the light from nearby objects is focused on a point behind the retina giving a blurred image.

The near point becomes further away from the eye

 Application: Long-sightedness Correction

Long sightedness can be corrected by using a converging lens in front of the eye, increasing its overall focusing power and
bringing the near point back to about 25 cm.
Dispersion
 Dispersion

All electromagnetic radiation travels at the same

speed in a vacuum, but not if the radiation is
moving through another material. Each different
wavelength (or frequency) will travel at a different
speed.

A beam of white light is made up from a range of

different frequencies of light (the visible spectrum).
White light is a polychromatic.

When white light enters a block of glass, each of the

different parts of the spectrum will slow down to a
different speed. This means that each colour
refracts differently.
 Dispersion

White light may be separated into all its colours by

passing it through a prism:

This is done by refraction

Violet light is refracted the most, whilst red light is

refracted the least

This splits up the colours to form a spectrum.

Light of a single wavelength (a single colour), or

single frequency, is known as monochromatic.
the visible light spectrum - ROY.G.BIV