2.

2 Total internal reflection

Disappearing pencil
Criteria for total internal reflection
Critical angle and refractive index
Check-point 5
Examples of total internal reflection
Check-point 6

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
Disappearing pencil
Insert a pencil into an empty
test tube.

Put the test tube in a container

filled with water,
the pencil disappears!

But it reappears if you add water

into the test tube!

Video 2.5 Disappearing pencil

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
2.2 Total internal reflection

Simulation 2.4 Total internal reflection

Expt 2b Total internal reflection

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
1 Criteria for total internal reflection
Three rays hitting the inside face of a
semicircular glass block at different angles:

The incident ray splits into two rays:

a reflected ray inside the glass and
a refracted ray in the air.
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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
1 Criteria for total internal reflection

The incident ray also splits into two rays.

Angle of refraction = 90
The refracted ray just manages to leave
the glass surface.
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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
1 Criteria for total internal reflection

The incident ray is totally reflected inside

the glass.
There is no refracted ray.
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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
1 Criteria for total internal reflection

Critical angle (C ) :
angle of incidence at
which the r = 90

If i > C , the light ray will be totally reflected

inside the glass block.
the surface acts like a mirror.
total internal reflection
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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
1 Criteria for total internal reflection
Note:
Total internal reflection only occurs for an
incident ray in an optically denser medium.
It does not occur when light passes from
an optically less dense medium to an
optically denser medium,
no matter how large i is.

Video 2.7 Total internal reflection in water

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
2 Critical angle and refractive index
Angle of incidence in a medium = C when
angle of refraction in air = 90,
i.e. n sin C = 1 sin 90

1 1
n= or C = sin1
sin C n

n: refractive index of the medium

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
2 Critical angle and refractive index
The following figure shows how the reflected and
refracted rays change:

Example 7 Finding the path of a light ray

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
2 Critical angle and refractive index

Video 2.8 Disappearing button

Video 2.9 Magic Cube

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
Check-point 5 Q1
Which of the following angles indicates
the critical angle for a glass-air interface?

A B

C D

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
Check-point 5 Q2
Complete the following table.

Medium Refractive index Critical angle

Water 1.33 48.8
Perspex 1.50 41.8
Glass 1.50 1.70 36.0 41.8
Crystal 2.00 30.0
Diamond 2.42 24.4
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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
3 Examples of total internal reflection
a Optical fibres
A light ray can pass along a glass
fibre from one end to the other.

The fibre guides light by a series

of total internal reflections.
Light bounces along the inner walls.

Video 2.10 Simple optical fibre

Video 2.11 Water light guide

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
a Optical fibres
Optical fibres
made of very pure glass
very thin and flexible
used in telecommunications
(flashes of light from a laser
send signals at high speed)
used as light guides for doctors to see inside
the human body

Video 2.12 Endoscope

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
a Optical fibres

Example 8 Optical fibres

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
3 Examples of total internal reflection
b Using prisms as mirrors

A plane mirror consists of:

a glass sheet coating
a reflective material
(silvering) on the back
surface
Multiple reflections between the front and the
back surfaces form fainter images (I1, I3, )
making the main image I2 less clear.
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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
b Using prisms as mirrors

A prism works like a mirror if light

rays are incident on its inside face
at an angle > C.

Prisms do not form multiple images

used in many optical
instruments for quality
images
e.g. cameras, periscopes
and binoculars.

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
b Using prisms as mirrors

Prisms can also be found in

headlight reflectors in cars
and cats eyes on the road.

Simulation 2.5 Light maze

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
3 Examples of total internal reflection
c Mirages
On a hot day, sometimes the
road at a distance ahead
appears wet and reflective
the reflection of the sky
mirage (commonly
occurs in deserts)

Video 2.13 Mirage in a water tank

Video 2.14 Mirage at the airport

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
 c Mirages
Air near the ground: hotter, lower refractive index
light from the sky is gradually refracted more
towards the horizontal.
total internal reflection finally occurs
see the image of the sky when looks down
light from the sky
cool air
total internal
reflection
warm air occurs here

hot air

image of the sky

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
3 Examples of total internal reflection
d Diamonds
large refractive index
easily reflect light which
goes into them
sparkle
facets have to be cut at
carefully chosen angles, or
light may escape through
the bottom or sides
Example 9 Superior mirage
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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
3 Examples of total internal reflection

Example 10 Diamond and glass jewellery

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
3 Examples of total internal reflection
e Fish-eye view
A fish or a diver underwater
can see everything above the
water surface, but the view is
squeezed into a cone with an
angle ~ 98.
Outside the cone, water
surface looks like a mirror.

Video 2.15 Total internal reflection in a fish tank

Example 11 Diameter of the divers view

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
Check-point 6 Q1
Some optical fibres are attached to a torch.
What happens to the fibres when the torch
is switched on?
A B

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
Check-point 6 Q2
A horizontal light ray is incident on a prism.
Which ray diagram is correct?
(Critical angle of the prism = 42)

A B C

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection
 The End

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Book 3A Section 2.2 Total internal reflection