10 SC Phy Light

LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION
REFLECTION OF LIGHT
A highly polished surface, such as a mirror, reflects most of the light
falling on it.
Laws of Reflection:
(i) The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, and
(ii) The incident ray, the normal to the mirror at the point of incidence
and the reflected ray, all lie in the same plane.
These laws of reflection are applicable to all types of reflecting surfaces

including spherical surfaces.
Plane Mirror:
Image formed by a plane mirror is always virtual and erect. The size of the image
is equal to that of the object. The image formed is as far behind the mirror
as the object is in front of it. Further, the image is laterally inverted.
Spherical Mirror:
1. Concave Mirror: A spherical mirror, whose reflecting surface is curved
inwards,
that is, faces towards the centre of the sphere, is called a concave mirror.
2. Convex Mirror: A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved
outwards, is called a convex mirror.
Key Terminologies:
1. Pole: The centre of the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is called the
pole. It is represented by 'P'.
2. Centre of Curvature: The centre of the sphere is called the centre of
curvature. The spherical mirror is part of a big sphere. The centre of
curvature lies outside the mirror. In case of concave mirror it lies in front of
the reflective surface. In case of convex mirror it lies behind the reflective
surface.
3. Radius of Curvature: The radius of the sphere is called the radius of
curvature. It is represented by 'R'.
4. Principal Axis: The line joining the pole and the center of curvature is
called the principal axis.
5. Principal Focus: In mirrors with small aperture (diameter) roughly half of
the radius of curvature is equal to the focus point. At focus point all the
light coming from infinity converge, in case of concave mirrors. The light
seem to diverge from f, in case of convex mirrors.
Image Formed by Concave Mirror:

(S here stands for distance between object and mirror.)
1.When S < F, the image is: Virtual, Upright , Magnified (larger)

2. When S = F, the image is formed at infinity. In this case the reflected light rays
are parallel and do not meet the others. In this way, no image is formed or more
properly the image is formed at infinity.
3. When F < S < 2F, the image is: Real, Inverted (vertically), Magnified (larger)
4. When S = 2F, the image is: Real, Inverted (vertically), Same size
5.When S > 2F, the image is: Real, Inverted (vertically), Diminished (smaller)
Use of Concave Mirrors: They are used in torches, searchlights, to reflect a

beam of light to great distance. Doctors use concave mirrors to throw beam of
light inside ears and mouth to examine patients. Headlights of automobiles use
concave mirrors for better visibility.
Image Formed By Convex Mirror: The image is always virtual (rays haven't
actually passed though the image), diminished (smaller), and upright . These
features make convex mirrors very useful: everything appears smaller in the
mirror, so they cover a wider field of view than a normal plane mirror does as the
image is "compressed".
Use of Convex Mirrors: Rear-view mirrors of automobiles are convex mirrors.

They enable the driver to see through a wider vision field without craning his
neck. At hairpin bends on hilly roads convex mirrors are installed for motorists to
see the traffic on the other side of the bend.
Sign Convention for Reflection by Spherical Mirrors

While dealing with the reflection of light by spherical mirrors, we shall
follow a set of sign conventions called the New Cartesian Sign
Convention. In this convention, the pole (P) of the mirror is taken as the
origin. The principal axis of the mirror is taken as the x-axis (X’X) of the
coordinate system. The conventions are as follows –
(i) The object is always placed to the left of the mirror. This implies
that the light from the object falls on the mirror from the left-hand
side.
(ii) All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the
pole of the mirror.
(iii) All the distances measured to the right of the origin (along
+ x-axis) are taken as positive while those measured to the left of
the origin (along – x-axis) are taken as negative.
(iv) Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis
(along + y-axis) are taken as positive.
(v) Distances measured perpendicular to and below the principal axis
(along –y-axis) are taken as negative.
Mirror Formula and Magnification
In a spherical mirror, the distance of the
object from its pole is called the object
distance (u). The distance of the image from
the pole of the mirror is called the image
distance (v). You already know that the
distance of the principal focus from the pole
is called the focal length (f). There is a
relationship between these three quantities
given by the mirror formula which is
expressed as
1/v + 1/u = 1/f
Magnification
Magnification produced by a spherical mirror gives the relative extent to
which the image of an object is magnified with respect to the object size.
It is expressed as the ratio of the height of the image to the height of the
object. It is usually represented by the letter m.
If h is the height of the object and h ′ is the height of the image, then
the magnification m produced by a spherical mirror is given by
m =Height of the image (h')
----------------------------
Height of the object (h)
m = h'/h
The magnification m is also related to the object distance (u) and

image distance (v). It can be expressed as:
Magnification (m) = h'/h = -v/u
REFRACTION OF LIGHT
Light does not travel in the same direction in all media. It appears that when
travelling obliquely from one medium to another, the direction of propagation of
light in the second medium changes. This phenomenon is known as
refraction of light.
Laws of refraction of light.

(i) The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal to the
interface of two transparent media at the point of incidence, all
lie in the same plane.
(ii) The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to the sine of angle of
refraction is a constant, for the light of a given colour and for
the given pair of media. This law is also known as Snell’s law of
refraction.
If i is the angle of incidence and r is the angle of refraction, then,
sin i/ sin r = constant
This constant value is called the refractive index of the second medium
with respect to the first.
The Refractive Index

A ray of light that travels obliquely from one transparent medium into another will
change its direction in the second medium. The extent of the change in direction
that takes place in a given pair of media is expressed in terms of the refractive
index.
The refractive index can be linked to an important physical quantity,
the relative speed of propagation of light in different media. It turns out
that light propagates with different speeds in different media. Light travels
the fastest in vacuum with the highest speed of 3×108 m s–1. In air, the
speed of light is only marginally less, compared to that in vacuum. It
reduces considerably in glass or water. The value of the refractive index
for a given pair of media depends upon the speed of light in the two
media, as given below:
Speed of Light in Air = c
Speed of light in a medium = v
Then refractive index of medium

nm = c/v
The speed of light is higher in a rarer medium than a denser medium. Thus, a ray
of light travelling from a rarer medium to a denser medium slows down and
bends towards the normal. When it travels from a denser medium to a rarer
medium, it speeds up and bends away from the normal.
Refractive Index
Medium Index
Air 1
Canada 1.53
Balsam
Ice 1.31
Water 1.33
Rock salt 1.54
Alcohol 1.36
Kerosene 1.44
Carbon 1.63
Refraction by Spherical Lenses
A transparent material bound by two surfaces, of which one or both surfaces are
spherical, forms a lens. This means that a lens is bound by at least one spherical
surface. In such lenses, the other surface would be plane. A lens may have two
spherical surfaces, bulging outwards. Such a lens is called a double convex lens.
It is simply called a convex lens. It is thicker at the middle as compared to the
edges.
Convex lens converges light rays, hence convex lenses are called converging
lenses. Similarly, a double concave lens is bounded by two spherical surfaces,
curved inwards. It is thicker at the edges than at the middle. Such lenses diverge
light rays as shown and are called diverging lenses. A double concave lens is
simply called a concave lens.
A lens, either a convex lens or a concave lens, has two spherical surfaces. Each of
these surfaces forms a part of a sphere. The centres of these spheres are called
centres of curvature of the lens.
The nature, position and relative size of the image formed by convex
lens for various positions of the object is summarised in Table 10.4.
Let us now do an Activity to study the nature, position and relative
size of the image formed by a concave lens.
Image formed by convex lens
Position of Object Position of Image Relative size of image Nature of Image

At infinity At focus F2 Highly reduced Real and Inverted
Beyond 2F1 Between F2 & 2F2 Reduced Real and Inverted
At 2F2 At 2F2 Same Size Real and Inverted
Between F1 & 2F1 Beyond 2F2 Enlarged Real and Inverted
At focus F1 At Infinity Infinitely large Real and Inverted
Between F1 & Optical On the same side of the Enlarged Virtual and erect
Centre lens as the object
Image Formed by Concave Lens

Position of Object Position of Image Relative size of image Nature of Image
At infinity At F1 Highly reduced Virtual & erect
Between and Optical Between F1 & O Diminished Virtual & erect
Center O
Sign Convention for Spherical Lenses

According to the convention, the focal length of a convex lens is positive and that
of a concave lens is negative. Appropriate signs for the values of u, v, f, object
height h and image height h′.
Lens Formula and Magnification
This formula gives the relationship between objectdistance

(u), image-distance (v) and the focal length (f ). The lens formula
is expressed as
1/v – 1/u = 1/f
Magnification
The magnification produced by a lens, similar to that for spherical
mirrors, is defined as the ratio of the height of the image and the height
of the object. It is represented by the letter m. If h is the height of the
object and h ′ is the height of the image given by a lens, then the
magnification produced by the lens is given by,
m =Height of the Image/Height of the object = h'/h = v/u
Where object-distance is u and the image-distance is v.
Power of a Lens
The degree of convergence or divergence of light rays achieved by a lens is
expressed in terms of its power. The power of a lens is defined as the reciprocal of
its focal length. It is represented by the letter P. The
power P of a lens of focal length f is given by
P =1/f
The SI unit of power of a lens is ‘dioptre’. It is denoted by the letter D.

If f is expressed in metres, then, power is expressed in dioptres. Thus,
1 dioptre is the power of a lens whose focal length is 1 metre. 1D = 1m–1. Power
of a convex lens is positive and that of a concave lens is negative.
Opticians prescribe corrective lenses indicating their powers.
Let us say the lens prescribed has power equal to + 2.0 D. This means the lens
prescribed is convex. The focal length of the lens is + 0.50 m. Similarly,
a lens of power – 2.5 D has a focal length of – 0.40 m. The lens is concave.
Many optical instruments consist of a number of lenses. They are combined to
increase the magnification and sharpness of the image. The net power (P) of the
lenses placed in contact is given by the algebraic sum of the individual powers P1,
P2, P3, … as
P = P1 + P2 + P3 +…

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LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION

These laws of reflection are applicable to all types of reflecting surfaces

Image Formed by Concave Mirror:

1.When S < F, the image is: Virtual, Upright , Magnified (larger)

Use of Concave Mirrors: They are used in torches, searchlights, to reflect a

Use of Convex Mirrors: Rear-view mirrors of automobiles are convex mirrors.

Sign Convention for Reflection by Spherical Mirrors

1/v + 1/u = 1/f

The magnification m is also related to the object distance (u) and

Magnification (m) = h'/h = -v/u

Laws of refraction of light.

The Refractive Index

Then refractive index of medium

Refraction by Spherical Lenses

Image formed by convex lens

Position of Object Position of Image Relative size of image Nature of Image

Image Formed by Concave Lens

Sign Convention for Spherical Lenses

Lens Formula and Magnification

This formula gives the relationship between objectdistance

1/v – 1/u = 1/f

m =Height of the Image/Height of the object = h'/h = v/u

Where object-distance is u and the image-distance is v.

The SI unit of power of a lens is ‘dioptre’. It is denoted by the letter D.

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