Lecture Outline

Chapter 22

College Physics, 7th Edition

Wilson / Buffa / Lou

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 Reflection and
Refraction of Light

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 Wave Fronts and Rays

A wave front is the line or

surface defined by
adjacent portions that are
“in phase”
Along a wave front, all the
waves have the same
phase.
An easy way to think of
this, is that each “wave
front” separates
wavelengths. 3
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 Wave Fronts and Rays
Waves propagate outward from a source.
Waves move at a certain speed and that speed
is greatest in a vacuum. C = 3.0 x 10 8 m/s
Rays are used to show the direction of energy
flow.

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 Wave Fronts and Rays
Why do we see objects?
Because rays from
objects, or appearing to
be from them, enter our
eyes and converge
where?
Our brains cannot tell
whether rays actually
come from objects.

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 Reflection
Reflection involves the
absorption and reemission of
light by means of complex
electromagnetic oscillations
in the atom of the reflecting
object.
The basic rule of reflection is
that the angle of incidence
equals the angle of
reflection. Note that the
angles are measured from
the normal to the surface.

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 Reflection

Law of Reflection states that

the angle of incidence (ϴi)is
equal to the angle of
reflection (ϴr).
The incident ray, the normal
and the reflected ray all lie in
the same plane known as the
plane of incidence.
The incident ray and the
reflected ray are both
opposite the normal.

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 Types of reflection

regular and irregular reflections

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 Regular reflection

Specular reflection
is reflection from a
smooth surface.
In this case,
incident rays are all
parallel to one
another, and
reflected rays are
parallel to one
another.
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 Irregular reflection
Diffuse (irregular) reflection is reflection from a
rough surface. The reflected rays are not
parallel.

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 Reflection: Send in your opinion to
me as class participation
• Driving on a dry
night vs. driving on
a dark, rainy, night.

• Specular Reflection
is a major cause of
accidents on rainy
nights.

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 Reflection
Reflected rays are
• Two mirrors are perpendicular to
each other, with a light ray incident drawn using
on one the mirror. Sketch the path of
the reflected ray. Find where the
reflected ray would go.

• Let’s Draw This:

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Follow steps 1–4 for the by Drawing:

(a) 1. Since the incident and reflected rays are measured from the normal (a line
perpendicular to the reflecting surface), we draw the normal to mirror M1 at the point
where the incident ray hits M1.
From geometry, it can be seen that the angle of incidence on M1 is 60o .

2. According to the law of reflection, the angle of reflection from M1 is also 60o
Next, draw this reflected ray with an angle of reflection of 60 o, and extend it until it hits
M2.

3. Draw another normal to M2 at the point where the ray hits M2. Also from geometry
(focus on the triangle in the diagram), the angle of incidence on M2 is 30o.
(b) The angle of reflection off M2 is 30o (Step 4). This is the final direction of
•the ray reflected after both mirrors.

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 Refraction

Refraction occurs because the speed of light is

different in different media. As light travels
across a boundary between media, it bends.
Thus, there is a change in direction of a wave
when the medium changes.
The relationship between the angle of
incidence and the angle of refraction is:

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 Refraction
Again, the angles are measured from the normal
to the surface. Direction of incident is different
from the direction of the transmitted.

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 Refraction
The index of refraction is the ratio of the speed
of light in vacuum to the speed of light in the
medium.

The index of refraction is always equal to or

greater than 1.
The index of refraction is also a measure of
optical density. 16
 Refraction

The frequency of the wave stays the same, but

the wavelength of the light is shorter where
the index of refraction is greater.

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Refraction

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 Refraction
Snell’s law can be rewritten using the index of
refraction:

A ray bends toward the normal if the second

medium has a larger index of refraction, and
away from it if it is smaller.

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 Refraction
Solution

• Light in water is incident on a piece

of crown glass at an angle of 37 ng is greater than nw so it will bend
degrees. towards the normal
– A) Will the transmitted ray be
• Bent toward the normal?
• Bent away from the normal?
• Not be bent at all?
– B) What is the angle of
refraction? Taken n2 to be 1.5

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 To do

• A simplified representation of the crystalline

lens in a human eye shows it to have a
cortex (outer layer) on n = 1.386 and a
nucleus (core) of n = 1.406.
– If a beam of monochromatic light of wavelength
590 nm is directed from air through the front of
the eye and into the crystalline lens, calculate the
frequency, speed, and wavelength of light in the
cortex and in the nucleus.

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 To do
• A beam of light traveling in air strikes the glass top of a
coffee table at an angle of incidence of 45 degrees. The
glass has an index of 1.5. What is the angle of refraction for
the light transmitted into the glass?

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 Refraction
Mirages are formed by light refracting
through air of different temperatures (and
therefore densities).

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 Refraction
Refraction can distort underwater views, make
straight objects appear bent, and make
submerged objects appear shallower than they
really are.

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 Refraction
Refraction through the atmosphere can make
the Sun appear flattened at sunset, and
increase the length of the day.

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 Total Internal Reflection and Fiber
Optics
There’s a limit of how
far the refracted ray
can bend.
If the incident angle is
large enough (critical
angle), the angle of
refraction is 90
degrees, at this angle
of larger, light is no
longer refracted, but it
is internally reflected.
Total Internal
Reflection 26
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 Total Internal Reflection and Fiber
Optics
The angle for which this occurs is called
the critical angle:

Light impinging on the boundary at this or

a larger angle will be reflected; this is
called total internal reflection.

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 Refraction

• What is the critical • Imagine a beautiful

angle for light beachy scene…
traveling in water
and incident on a
water-air boundary?

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 Total Internal Reflection and Fiber
Optics

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 Total Internal Reflection and Fiber
Optics
Fiber optics use total internal
reflection to guide light along
the fiber. The reflection means
that there are no losses out the
sides of the fiber.
Low energy losses, not
affected by electromagnetic
disturbances, can change light
energy into electrical energy –
used in phone and computer
lines. 30
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 Dispersion
Dispersion occurs because the index of
refraction depends slightly on wavelength. White
light is composed of all colors.
Dispersion varies with different media.

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 22.5 Dispersion
The index of refraction of a
particular transparent
material is 1.4503 (640 nm)
for the red end of the
visible spectrum and
1.4698 (434 nm) for the
blue end. White light is
incident at an angle of 45
degrees.

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Inside the prism, is the angle of refraction of the red light larger than,
smaller than, or the same as the angle of refraction of the blue light?
What is the angular separation of the visible spectrum inside the prism?

solution

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