Sacred Heart Convent Senior Secondary School

Notes for Class 7 Physics

Chapter – Light
1 What is light?
Light is a form of energy which gives the sensation of sight. The speed of light in vacuum is
3*108m/s.
2 What is a ray?
It is the path of light. A ray can be represented by a single line.

3 What is a beam?
It is a combination of rays. It is of 3 types.
Parallel beam: The rays are parallel to each other.

Convergent beam: The rays seem to meet at a point.

Divergent beam: The rays come from a single point.

4 What is an optical medium?

Any medium through which light can pass is called optical medium.
5 What is incident ray?
It is a ray which strikes a surface.
6 What is reflected ray?
It is a ray which bounces back from a surface.
7 What is normal?
It is a line which is perpendicular to a surface.
8 What is angle of incidence?
It is the angle between the incident ray and the normal.
9 What is angle of reflection?
It is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal.
10 What is reflection?
When an incident ray strikes a plane and polished surface, it bounces back into the same
optical medium. This phenomenon is called reflection.
11 What are the laws of reflection?
There are two laws of reflection. They are –
a. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
b. The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal, at the point of incidence, all lie in the
same plane.

12 How many types of reflection are there? Explain with the help of diagrams.
There are two types of reflection.They are –
a. Regular reflection:When a parallel beam of light is incident on a polished surface, it will
be reflected parallel.
b. Irregular or diffused reflection:When a parallel beam of light is incident on a rough
surface, it will not be reflected parallel.

(Note: Laws of reflection are valid in both the cases)

13 Draw a ray diagram for image formed by a plane mirror.

14 Characteristics of image formed by a plane mirror.

The characteristics of an image formed by a plane mirror are
a. The distance of the image from the mirror is the same as the distance of the object from
the mirror.
b. The image lies on the perpendicular dropped from the object on the mirror.
c. The size of the image is the same as the size of the object.
d. The image is laterally inverted, that is the left side appears right and vice versa.
e. The image is coloured.
f. The image is virtual.
15 Differentiate between a real and virtual image.

Real image Virtual image

1 It is formed in front of the mirror It is formed behind the mirror
2 It is inverted (not straight) It is erect (straight)
3 It can be taken on a screen It cannot be taken on a screen
4 Image is formed when light rays Image is formed when the light rays seem to
actually meet at the location of meet at a point.
the image

16 Define mirror
It is a piece of glass with a shiny metal painted at the back, that reflects light , producing an
image.
17 Mention the different types of mirrors.
There ae two types of mirrors –
a. Plane mirror – It has a flat or plane reflecting surface.
b. Spherical mirror – It has a curved reflecting surface.
18 What are the different types of spherical mirrors?
There are two types of spherical mirrors.
a. Concave mirror – It is a spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved inwards.
b. Convex mirror - It is a spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved outwards.
19 With help of diagram show concave and convex mirror.
20 What do you understand by converging and diverging mirrors? Expalin with the help of
diagrams.
A concave mirror is a converging mirror because it converges the light rays, that is, it brings
the light rays together.

A Convex mirror is a diverging mirror because it diverges the light rays , that is, it spreads
out the light rays.

21 What is refraction?
It is a phenomenon due to which light deviates ( moves away) from its path when it travels
from one optical medium to another optical medium. The light ray deviates from its path at
the point of separation of the two media.
22 What is a lens?
It is a piece of transparent material bound by two spherical surfaces.
23 What are the two types of lenses? Explain with the help of diagrams.
There are two types of lenses. They are –
Convex lens or converging lens –
These lenses are thick at the centre and narrow at the edges.

Concave lens or diverging lens -

These lenses are thin in the middle and thick at the edges.

24 With the help of a diagram show that convex lens is converging.

25 With the help of diagram show that concave lens is diverging.

26 What do you understand by Dispersion of light?

It is the phenomenon of splitting up of white light into seven colours.
27 What do you understand by Spectrum?
The band of seven colours which is got after dispersion is called a spectrum.
28 How is a rainbow formed?
Just after the rain, small droplets of water are suspended in the air. Rainbow is formed by
the dispersion of white light by the droplets of water present in the atmosphere. A long arch
(curve) of seven colours is formed in the sky. This arch of seven colours in the sky is the
rainbow.
29 What is a Vibgyor?
After dispersion, white light breaks up into seven colours. These seven colours are –
Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red.
Vibgyor is a word which helps us to remember the seven colours in order by using the first
letter of each colour.
30 What is a Newton’s disk?
It is a disk which is divided into seven equal segments.Each segment is coloured with the
seven colours of the rainbow. When the disk is rotated very fast, we see white colour,
proving that white light is made up of seven colours.

31 Write the uses of concave and convex mirrors and lenses.

Uses of Concave mirror -
Shaving and makeup mirror ( because concave mirror enlarges the image of the skin )
Used by dentist ( concave mirror enlarges the image of the tooth)
ENT specialist ( concave mirror enlarges the view inside the ear, nose and throat)
Solar cooker (concave mirror focuses the rays at one point)
Torch, head light, flood light(in all three cases the light gets focussed from the bulb)
Uses of convex mirror
Rear and side view mirror( because the mirror allows us to see a wider view)
Reflector in street lamp( because it spreads out light)
Super markets and all large buildings( because the mirror allows us to see a wider view)
On roads at the turns( because the mirror allows us to see a wider view)
In sunglasses(all the rays are directed away from the person’s eyes)
Uses of Convex lens
microscope
Magnifying glass
Camera, projectors
Spectacles (For correction of long sightedness)
Uses of concave lens
Telescope
Spectacles(To correct short sightedness)
Flashlight lights(because it diverges the beam)
32 Types of images formed by mirrors and lenses.
Plane mirror – The image is always erect, virtual, same size as object
Concave mirror – Image can be real, virtual, erect, inverted, diminished (smaller in size),
same size or magnified (larger in size) depending on the position of the obect.
Convex mirror – The image is always virtual, erect, diminished
33 What is lateral inversion?
It is a phenomenon in which left appears right and vice versa. Example of this is seen in the
image formed by a plane mirror (A pencil being held in the left hand appears to be in the
right hand in the mirror) . Another example is – the letter b when laterally inverted becomes
the letter d.
34 Why is the word AMBULANCE written in a strange manner on the vehicle?( page 178 of
NCERT)
The vehicle in front of the ambulance will read the word AMBULANCE correctly and easily
because of lateral inversion and give way to it.
35 What is a prism?
It is a transparent solid piece having triangular surfaces.It can be used to break white light
into its seven constituent colours.
36 Some definitions related to spherical mirrors
Centre of curvature (C): Centre of the sphere of which the mirror is a part.
Radius of curvature (R): Radius of the sphere of which the mirror is a part.
Pole (P/O): Geometric centre of the spherical surface of the mirror.
Principal axis: Straight line joining the pole of the mirror to its centre of
curvature.
Focus(F): For a concave mirror. The rays traveling parallel to the principal
axis of a mirror after reflection pass through (converge at) a point F This point
F is known as the principal focus of the concave mirror. It is a real point in
front of a mirror.
Focal length(f): The focal length (f) is the distance between the lens and the
focal point
37 Rules of reflection for spherical mirrors
 Any incident ray traveling parallel to the principal axis on the way to
the mirror will pass through the focal point upon reflection.
 Any incident ray passing through the focal point on the way to the
mirror will travel parallel to the principal axis upon reflection

38 Diagrams for images formed by concave mirrors.

a) When object is beyond C

b) When object is between Fand C