Wave optics

Grade 9
Ray model
Wave front model
a model of waves in which you draw
only the moving crests of a wave.
Ray model
a model of waves that uses an arrow called
a ray to represent the direction the wave is
traveling. Rays are always drawn
perpendicular to the wave fronts. Ray
models look similar to electric fields and
magnetic fields.
Diffraction
01
If you stand near the corner of a
building, you can hear someone
who is talking around the corner, but
you cannot see the person. The
reason is that sound waves are able
to bend around the corner.
02
In a similar fashion, water waves
bend around obstacles, such as the
barriers
03
. Light waves can also bend around
obstacles, but because of their short
wavelengths, the amount they bend
is too small to be easily observed.
 Diffraction : A
change in the
direction of a wave
when the wave
encounters an
obstacle, an opening,
or an edge
Wave front , and ray model represent
wave but don’t explain diffraction
• Huygens’ wave model is a
model that represents every
point on a wave front as a
source of semicircular wavelets
that spread out in the forward
direction at the speed of the
wave. A new wave front is
tangent to all of the wavelets.
You can use Huygens’ wave
model to understand diffraction
and other wave phenomena.
Sound Bends Around Corners If someone is playing music in another
room, you can hear the music even if you are not standing at the doorway.
Sound (longer wavelength)

•Light Does Not Bend Around Corners For

light, large obstructions cast sharp shadows.
The light waves do not bend around the corner
as sound waves do.
•The wavelength of light is very small
compared to the door—less than a millionth
the size!
 Light
• 1
• 2

interactions • 3
• 4
 Reflection

The change in direction of light waves at a surface

that causes it to move away from the surface
 The texture of a surface affects how it reflects light

The manner in which light is reflected from a surface depends on the surface’s
smoothness.
rough, textured surface, smooth, shiny surfaces

Ex: paper, cloth, or unpolished wood a mirror or water

Light reflected in many different is reflected in one direction only

directions

This type of reflection is called diffuse This type of reflection is called

reflection specular reflection
Incoming and reflected angles are equal

when incoming rays of light strike a smooth reflecting surface,

such as a polished table or mirror, at an angle close to the surface,

Normal Line :Is a straight line is drawn perpendicular to the

reflecting surface at the point where the incoming ray strikes the
surface,
angle of incidence angle of reflection
the angle between a ray that the angle formed by the line
strikes a surface and the line perpendicular to a surface and
perpendicular to that surface at the direction in which a
the point of contact reflected ray moves