Light and Optics

Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which
involves the behavior and properties of light.
 A Beginning Definition
All objects are
emitting and absorbing
EM radia-tion.
Consider a poker
placed in a fire.
As heating occurs, the 1
emitted EM waves have 2
higher energy and 3
eventually become 4
visible. First red . . .
then white.
Light
Light may
may bebe defined
defined as
as electromagnetic
electromagnetic
radiation
radiation that
that is
is capable
capable of
of affecting
affecting the
the
sense of sight.
 The Nature of Light
By the 17th century,
light had been observed to…

1. travel in straight lines

2. reflect
3. refract
4. transmit energy from
one place to another
 Two theories could explain
these phenomena..

• The WAVE THEORY,

advocated by
Christian Huygens and
Robert Hooke, said that
light was a wave.
• The PARTICLE (corpuscular) THEORY,
advocated by Isaac Newton and later by
Pierre Laplace, said that light was made up
of a stream of tiny particles called
corpuscles.
The more popular theory was the particle
sifjrnm theory
because of the fneu
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Newton’s particle theory could easily explain the
straight line travel of light, reflection, and energy
transmission, but had trouble explaining refraction.

Newton’s explanation of refraction required that

light must travel faster in water than in air.

Huygen’s wave theory could easily explain reflection,

energy transmission, and refraction, but had difficulty
explaining the straight line travel of light.

The wave theory’s explanation of refraction

required that light must travel
slower in water than in air.
Although we still commonly characterize
light as a wave, it is actually neither a
wave nor a particle. It seems to have
characteristics of both.

The modern view of the nature of

light recognizes the dual character:
Light is radiant energy transported
in photons that are guided along
their path by a wave field.
 This leads us to the
Wave-Particle Duality Principle:

Light is ...
•a wave when it acts like a wave
•a particle when it acts like a
particle
• What we know as light or
VISIBLE LIGHT is actually a type
of something called
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION.

• It is that portion of the

electromagnetic spectrum which
stimulates the retina of the human
eye.
Visible spectrum
wavelengths range
from about 400 nm
(violet) to 760 nm
(red).
 Where does light come
from?
Light is produced by one of two methods …
• Incandescence - the emission of light
from "hot" matter (T ≳ 800 K).
• Luminescence - the emission of light
when excited electrons fall to lower
energy levels
(in matter that may or may not be
"hot").
If you add energy to an atom (heat it
up), the electrons will jump to bigger
orbits. When atom cools, electrons
jump back to original orbits. As they
jump back, they emit light, a form of
energy (Thermionic Emission).
 Speed of E/M Wave

V = fl
Where,
V = Speed of E/M Wave (m/s)
f = Frequency (s -1 or 1/s or Hz)
l = wavelength (m)
• the speed of a wave in a certain medium
is always constant.

• it has been found that the speed of E/M

waves and light (in vacuum) is ..

c = 3 x 108 m/s
= 300,000,000 m/s
=671,000,000 mph
= 186,000 miles per second
 c =
fl
• c is constant throughout the universe, as
long as light is in a vacuum.
• when it is in other materials, c can change,
but can never be larger than its value in
a vacuum.
• since c is constant, all of E/M waves will
have a corresponding frequency to go along
with their wavelength.
Example: What is the
frequency of light Solution:
having a wavelength of
500 nm?
c = fl
Given: f = c/l
c = 3x108 m/s f = 3x108 m/s /
l = 500 nm = 500x10-9 m 500x10-9 m

Required: f = ?
f= 6.0x10-14 Hz
 Properties of Light
• Reflection – the bouncing back of
light from a surface that it strikes
into the medium through which it has
traveled.
 • Reflection from a mirror:

Normal

Incident ray Reflected ray

Angle of Angle of
incidence reflection

Mirror
 The Law of Reflection

Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection

In other words, light gets reflected from a surface

at ____ _____angle it hits it.

The same !!!

As long as
the surface
is smooth
 Clear vs. Diffuse Reflection
• Smooth, shiny surfaces have
a clear (specular)
reflection.
• In specular reflection, the
reflected rays are parallel to
each other.

• Rough, dull surfaces have a

diffuse reflection.
• Diffuse reflection is when
light is scattered in different
directions
 The Laws of Reflection
1. The angle of inci- Ai N reflectio
dence qi is equal r q qn
to the angle of i r

reflection qr :
Wate
qqi i == qqrr r
All ray angles are measured with respect to
normal N.
2. The incident ray, 3. The rays
the reflected ray, are
and the normal N completely
all lie in the same reversible.
plane.
• Refraction - the bending back of
light on passing obliquely from one
medium into a second medium in which
its speed is different.
 Refraction Distorts Vision
Ai Ai
r r

Wate Wate
r r

The
The eye,
eye, believing
believing that
that light
light travels
travels in
in
straight
straight lines,
lines, sees
sees objects
objects closer
closer to
to the
the
surface
surface due
due toto refraction.
refraction. Such
Such
distortions
distortions are
are common.
common.
The Law of Refraction
Snell’s Law:

n1sinθ1 = n2sinθ2

Where,
n1 = index of refraction ( 1st
medium)
n2 = index of refraction ( 2nd
medium)
θ1= angle of incidence
θ2 = angle of refraction
Index of Refraction of Common Materials
 The Index of Refraction
The
The index
index of
of refraction
refraction for
for aa material
material is
is the
the ratio
ratio
of
of the velocity of light in a vacuum (3 x 10 m/s)
the velocity of light in a vacuum (3 x 10 88
m/s)
to
to the
the velocity
velocity through
through the
the material.
material.

Index of refraction c
c c
n n
v v
v
Examples:
Examples: Air
Air n=
n= 1;
1; glass
glass nn == 1.5;
1.5; Water
Water nn == 1.33
1.33
 Example 1. Light travels from air (n = 1) into glass, where
its velocity reduces to only 2 x 108 m/s.
What is the index of refraction for glass?
8
vair = c c 3 x 10 m/s
Air n  8
v 2 x 10 m/s
Glass
vG = 2 x 10 m/s
8 For glass: n = 1.50

If the medium were water: nW = 1.33. Then

you should show that the velocity in water
would be reduced from c to 2.26 x 108 m/s.
 Example 2: A laser beam in a darkened room strikes
the surface of water at an angle of 300. The velocity
in water is 2 x 108 m/s. What is the angle of
refraction?
The incident angle is:
qA Air
300 qA = 900 – 300 = 600
H2 qW sin  A v A

O sin W vW

vW sin  A (2 x 10 m/s) sin 60

8 0
sin W   8
qqWW == 35.3
35.3
00
vA 3 x 10 m/s
 Example:
3.A light ray of wavelength 589nm travelling through air is incident on a
smooth, flat slab of crown glass at an angle of 30.00 to the normal.
nair = 1.00
nglass = 1.52

a. Find the angle of refraction.

b. If the glass of ex. 1 is replaced by a transparent material

with a smaller index of refraction will the refraction angle θ2 be
smaller? larger? or unchanged
 
c. If the light ray moves from the inside of the glass toward air
interface at an angle of 30.00 to the normal, determine the angle
of refraction?
 Analogy for Refraction
3 x 108 m/s
Air Pavement

Glass 2 x 108 vs < vp

m/s
Sand

3 x 108 m/s

Light
Light bends
bends into
into glass
glass then
then returns
returns
along
along original
original path
path much
much as
as aa rolling
rolling
axle
axle would
would when
when encountering
encountering aa strip
strip
• Dispersion - the splitting of light
into its different components.

If a beam of white light

enters a glass prism, what
emerges from the other
side is a spread out beam
of many colored light. The
various colors (ROYGBIV)
are refracted through
different angles by the
glass, and are “dispersed”,
or spread out.
WHITE light is not a single color, it
is made up of a mixture of the seven
colours of the rainbow.

THE COLOR OF THE RAINBOW

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
is the order of
increasing frequency
or decreasing wavelength.

Frequencies directly above this spectrum are

ultraviolet.
Frequencies directly below this spectrum are
infrared.
We can
demonstrate this
by splitting white
light with a prism:

This is how
rainbows are
formed: sunlight
is “split up” by
raindrops.
 Adding Colors
• White light can be split up to make separate
colours. These colours can be added together
again.
• The primary colours of light are red, blue and
green:

Adding blue and red Adding blue and green

makes magenta makes cyan (light blue)
(purple)

Adding red and Adding all three

green makes makes white
yellow again
 Seeing Color
• The color an object appears depends on the
colours of light it reflects.

For example, a red book only reflects red light:

White Only red light

light is reflected
A pair of purple trousers would reflect purple light
(and red and blue, as purple is made up of red and
blue):

Purple light

A white hat would reflect all seven colours:

White
light
 Using Colored Light
• If we look at a coloured object in coloured
light we see something different. For
example, consider a football kit:

Shirt looks red

White
light

Shorts look blue

• In different colours of light this kit would look
different:

Red
Shirt looks red
light

Shorts look
black

Shirt looks
Blue black

light

Shorts look
blue
 Using Filters
• Filters can be used to “block” out different colours of
light:
Red
Filter

Magenta
Filter
END