Announcements

-Todays material WILL NOT be covered on Exam 3!

Material for Exam 3:
Chapters 8, 9, 10
- Reminder: Special Homework #7 is due tomorrow.
(download and print if you need it)
- Friday, November 8, is the last day to withdraw.
- Exam 3 is one week from tomorrow. I will need to know by
Wednesday of any students who have special needs different
than for exam 2.

Todays agenda:

Introduction to Light.
You must develop a general understanding of what light is and how it behaves.

Reflection and Refraction (Snells Law).
You must be able to determine the path of light rays using the laws of reflection and
refraction.

Total Internal Reflection and Fiber Optics.
You must be able to determine the conditions under which total internal reflection occurs,
and apply total internal reflection to fiber optic and similar materials.

Dispersion.
You must understand that the index of refraction of a material is wavelength-dependent.

Light
How many physicists does it take to change a light bulb?

Normally, light refers to the type of electromagnetic wave
that stimulates the retina of our eyes.
Light acts like a wave except when it acts like particles.
LightWaves or Particles?*
http://www.nearingzero.net (quantum007.jpg)
*Light is both! Take Physics 107 for enlightenment!
Light is a type of electromagnetic wave and travels with the
speed c = 2.9979x10
8
m/s in a vacuum. (Just use 3x10
8
!)
The Speed of Light
How many physicists does it take to change a light bulb?
Eleven. One to do it and ten to co-author the paper.
Visible light is a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
News Flash!
Light slows down when it passes from
a vacuum into matter!
Details beginning on slide 16!
Although light is actually an electromagnetic wave, it generally
travels in straight lines (like particles do!).
We can describe many properties of light by assuming that it
travels in straight-line paths in the form of rays.
A ray is a straight line along which light is propagated. In
other contexts, the definition of ray might be extended to
include bent or curved lines.
Geometric Optics
http://www.lab-initio.com (nz341.jpg)
A light ray is an infinitely thin beam of light. Of course, there
really isnt such a thing, but the concept helps us visualize
properties of light.
http://www.lab-initio.com (nz342.jpg)
thankfully, there really isnt such a thing
Light rays from some
external source strike an
object and reflect off it in all
directions.
We only see those light rays
that reflect in the direction
of our eyes.
If you can see something, it
must be a source of light!
Zillions* of rays are simultaneously reflected in all directions
from any point of an object. Later, when we study mirrors and
lenses, we wont try do draw them all! Just enough
representative ones to understand what the light is doing.
*one zillion = 10
a big number


Todays agenda:

Introduction to Light.
You must develop a general understanding of what light is and how it behaves.

Reflection and Refraction (Snells Law).
You must be able to determine the path of light rays using the laws of reflection and
refraction.

Total Internal Reflection and Fiber Optics.
You must be able to determine the conditions under which total internal reflection occurs,
and apply total internal reflection to fiber optic and similar materials.

Dispersion.
You must understand that the index of refraction of a material is wavelength-dependent.

Light striking a surface may be reflected, transmitted, or
absorbed. Reflected light leaves the surface at the same angle
it was incident on the surface:
u u
i r
=
u
i
u
r
Reflection
Real Important Note: the angles are measured relative to the surface normal.
Possible homework hint: the sum of the angles in a 4-sided polygon is 360.
Reflection from a
smooth surface is
specular (mirror-
like). Reflection
from a rough
surface is diffuse
(not mirror-like).
http://acept.la.asu.edu/PiN/rdg/reflection/reflection.shtml
http://www.mic-d.com/java/specular/
Light travels in a straight line
except when it is reflected or
when it moves from one
medium to another.
Refractionthe bending of light rays when light moves from
one medium to a different onetakes place because light
travels with different speeds in different media.
Refraction
http://id.mind.net/~zona/mstm/physics/light/rayOptics/refraction/refraction1.html
The speed of light in a vacuum is c = 3x10
8
m/s. The index of
refraction of a material is defined by
c
n = ,
v
where c is the speed of light in a vacuum and v is the speed of
light in the material.
The speed and wavelength of light change when it passes
from one medium to another, but not the frequency, so
.

n
c
v = and =
n n
If you study light in advanced classes,
youll find it is more complex than this.
Because light never travels faster than c, n > 1.* For water, n =
1.33 and for glass, n ~1.5. Indices of refraction for several
materials are listed in your text.
c
v =
n
8
310 m/s
v =
2.42
8
v = 1.2410 m/s
Example: calculate the speed of light in diamond (n = 2.42).
*Actually, not true but dont worry about it unless you take advanced courses in optics.
Because n > 1, we
see this:
If n < 1, we would
see this:
Thanks to Dr. Xiaodong Yang for the images.
When light moves from one medium into another, some is
reflected at the boundary, and some is transmitted. Toy
The transmitted light is refracted (bent).
u
a
is the angle of incidence, and u
b
is the angle of refraction.
Snells Law
air (n
a
)
water (n
b
)
u
a

u
b

n
b
>n
a
air (n
b
)
water (n
a
)
u
b

u
a

n
a
>n
b
( ) ( )
a a b b
n sin = n sin
air (n
a
)
water (n
b
)
u
a

u
b

n
b
>n
a
Light passing from air (n ~ 1) into water (n ~ 1.33).
Light bends towards the normal to the surface as it slows
down in water.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
a b
(1) sin = (1.33) sin
a b
>
( ) ( )
a a b b
n sin = n sin
air (n
b
)
water (n
a
)
u
b

u
a

n
a
>n
b
Light passing from water (n ~ 1.33) into air (n ~ 1).
Light bends away from the normal to the surface as it
speeds up in air.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
a b
(1.33) sin = (1) sin
a b
<
( ) ( )
a a b b
n sin = n sin
Snells law, also called the law of refraction, gives the
relationship between angles and indices of refraction:
( ) ( )
a a b b
n sin = n sin .
u
a
u
b
water (n
b
)

air (n
a
)

u
a
u
b
water (n
b
)

air (n
a
)

u is the angle the ray makes with the normal!
You are free to choose which is a and which is b.
Interactive applet: Fun with Snells Law.
Same applet as slide 20, try glass into water.

Todays agenda:

Introduction to Light.
You must develop a general understanding of what light is and how it behaves.

Reflection and Refraction (Snells Law).
You must be able to determine the path of light rays using the laws of reflection and
refraction.

Total Internal Reflection and Fiber Optics.
You must be able to determine the conditions under which total internal reflection occurs,
and apply total internal reflection to fiber optic and similar materials.

Dispersion.
You must understand that the index of refraction of a material is wavelength-dependent.

Suppose n
2
<n
1
. The largest possible value of sin(u
2
) is 1
(when u
2
= 90). The largest possible value of sin(u
1
) is
( ) ( )
1 1 2 2
n sin = n sin
( ) ( )
2
1 2
1
n
sin = sin
n
( )
2
1,max
1
n
sin = .
n
This value of u is called the critical angle, u
C
. For any angle of
incidence larger than u
C
, all of the light incident at an interface
is reflected, and none is transmitted.
Total Internal Reflection; Fiber Optics
For u
1
larger than this, Snells
Law cannot be satisfied!
u
1
< u
C
u
1
close to u
C
u
1
> u
C
u
1
u
1
u
1
n
2
n
1
>n
2
Ray incident normal to surface is not bent.

Ray incident normal to surface is not bent. Some is reflected, Ray incident normal to surface is not bent. Some is reflected,
some is transmitted.
n
2
n
1
>n
2

Increasing angle of incidence
n
2
n
1
>n
2

Increasing angle of incidencemore
n
2
n
1
>n
2

Increasing angle of incidencemorecritical angle reached Increasing angle of incidencemorecritical angle reached
some of incident energy is reflected, some is transmitted
along the boundary layer.
n
2
n
1
>n
2

Light incident at any angle beyond u
C
is totally internally
reflected.
application: fiber optics
http://laser.physics.sunysb.edu/~wise/wise187/janfeb2001/reports/andr
ea/report.html
u
i
u
f
n
i
=1 (air)

n
f
>1

Light is incident at
an angle u
i
on a
transparent fiber.
The light refracts at an angle u
f
.
( ) ( )
i i f f
n sin = n sin
( ) ( )
i f f
sin = n sin
Example: determine the incident angle u
i
for which light strikes
the inner surface of a fiber optic cable at the critical angle.
u
i
u
f
90-u
f
n
i
=1 (air)

n
f
>1

Light strikes the fiber
wall an an angle of
90-u
f
normal to the
surface.
At the critical angle, instead of exiting the fiber, the refracted
light travels along the fiber-air boundary. In this case, 90-u
f
is
the critical angle.
( ) ( ) ( )
=
f f f c a
n sin 90- =n sin =n sin 90 1
( )
f
f
1
sin 90- =
n
90

Solve the above for u
f
and use to solve for
u
i
.
( ) ( )
i f f
sin = n sin
u
i
u
f
90-u
f
n
i
=1 (air)

n
f
>1

Numerical example:
what is critical angle if
n
f
=1.4?
( )
f
1
sin 90- =
1.4
90

f
90- =45.58
f
=44.41
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

i f
1 sin = 1.4 sin = 1.4 sin 44.41 =0.980

i
=78.5
This is a very large angle of incidence! If you want the incident light to be
nearly parallel to the fiber axis, you must surround the fiber with a coating
with n
outside
<n
coating
<n
fiber
.
application: swimming underwater
If you are looking up from underwater, if your angle of sight
(relative to the normal to the surface) is too large, you see an
underwater reflection instead of whats above the water.
application: perfect mirrors
(used in binoculars)
application: diamonds

Todays agenda:

Introduction to Light.
You must develop a general understanding of what light is and how it behaves.

Reflection and Refraction (Snells Law).
You must be able to determine the path of light rays using the laws of reflection and
refraction.

Total Internal Reflection and Fiber Optics.
You must be able to determine the conditions under which total internal reflection occurs,
and apply total internal reflection to fiber optic and similar materials.

Dispersion.
You must understand that the index of refraction of a material is wavelength-dependent.

Dispersion
Weve treated the index of refraction of a material as if it had a
single value for all wavelengths of light.
In fact, the index of refraction is generally wavelength- (or
color-) dependent.
Picture from the Exploratorium (http://www.exploratorium.edu/).