Chapter 10

Reflection and Refraction

of Light
Rays

Wave fronts

FIGURE 10.1 A plane wave

propagating to the right. Note
that the rays, which always point
in the dire ction of wave motion,
are straight lines perpendicular to
the wave fronts.
 d

<< d ≈d

>> d

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 10.2
A plane wave is incident on a barrier in which an opening exists. (a) When the wavelength of the light is much smaller than
the size of the opening, almost no observable diffraction takes place and the ray approximation remains valid. (b) When the
wavelength of the light is comparable to the size of the opening, diffraction becomes significant. (c) When the wavelength of
the light is much larger than the size of the opening, the opening behaves as a point source emitting spherical waves.
 (a) (b)
(c, d, Courtesy of Henry Leap and Jim Lehman)

(c) (d)

F I G U R E 10.3 Schematic representation of (a) specular reflection, in which the reflected rays are all parallel, and
(b) diffuse reflection, in which the reflected rays travel in scattered directions. (c) and (d) Photographs of specular and
diffuse reflection using laser light.

(David Parker/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

FIGURE 10.4 This photograph, taken in

Salamanca, Spain, shows the reflection of the New
Cathedral in the Tormes River. Because the water is so
calm, the reflection is specular.
 Normal
Incident Reflected
ray ray

θ1 θ 1′

Figure 10.5
According to the law of
reflection, 1 1 . The
incident ray, the reflected ray,
and the normal all lie in the
same plane.

F I G U R E 10.6 (a) An array of mirrors on

the surface of a digital micromirror device.
(Courtesy of Texas Instruments)

Each mirror has an area of about 16 mm2. To

provide a sense of scale, the leg of an ant
appears in the photograph. (b) A close-up
view of two single micromirrors. The mirror
on the left is “on,” and the one on the right is
“off.”
(a) (b)
 55

55
M2
65 35
65 120
25

M1
F I G U R E 10.7 (Example 10.1)
Mirrors M1 and M2 make an angle
of 120° with each other.
 Incident Normal Reflected
ray ray

(Courtesy of Henry Leap and Jim Lehman)

θ1
θ1

Air v1
Glass v2

θ2

B
Refracted
ray (b)
(a)
(a)
Figure 10.8
(a) A light ray obliquely incident on an air – glass interface. The refracted ray is deviated toward the normal because
v2 v1. All rays and the normal lie in the same plane. (b) (Quick Quiz 10.2) Of light rays x through b, which are reflected and
which are refracted?

Normal Normal

θ1 > θ2 θ1 < θ2
v1
θ1 v1 θ1

Air Glass
Glass Air v2 > v1 Figure 10.9
v2 < v1 θ2
θ2 (a) When the light ray moves from air into
glass, its path deviates toward the normal.
(b) When the ray moves from glass into air,
its path deviates away from the normal.
(a) (b)
 A B

F I G U R E 10.10 Light passing

from one atom to another in a
medium. The dots are atoms, and the
vertical arrows represent their
oscillations.
 n1 = c
v1

1
A
1 v1
2 v2
2
B

n2 = c
v2

F I G U R E 10.11 As a wave
front moves from medium 1 to
medium 2, its wavelength changes
but its frequency remains
constant.
 F I G U R E 10.12 (Example 10.3)
θ1 θ1
When light passes through a flat slab of
material, the emerging beam is parallel
n1
to the incident beam and therefore
θ2 γ 1 3 . The dashed line parallel to the
t n2
θ2 t θ2
a ray coming out the bottom of the slab
d represents the path the light would take
n1
if the slab were not there. (b) A magnif
θ3 d ication of the area of the light path
inside the slab.
(a) (b)
 n
1.54

Crown glass
1.52

1.50
Acrylic

1.48

Fused quartz
1.46

400 500 600 700

l, nm

F I G U R E 10.13 Variation of
index of refraction with vacuum
wavelength for three materials.

Φ
δ

F I G U R E 10.14 A prism
refracts single wavelength light and
deviates the light through an angle d.
The apex angle F is the angle
between the sides of the prism
through which the light enters and
leaves.
(David Parker/Science Photo Library/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

F I G U R E 10.15 White light enters a glass prism at the

upper left. A reflected beam of light comes out of the
prism just below the incoming beam. The beam moving
toward the lower right shows distinct colors. Different
colors are refracted at different angles because the index
of refraction of the glass depends on wavelength. Violet
light deviates the most; red light deviates the least.
 Sunlight

40 42
R
V

V
R
Figure 10.16
Path of sunlight through a
spherical raindrop. Light following
this path contributes to the visible
rainbow.

White
42
40

White
42
40

FIGURE 10.17 The

formation of a rainbow.
 A B

c ∆t

Old wave c ∆t New wave Old wave New wave

front front front front

FIGURE 10.18 Huygens’s

construction for (a) a plane wave
propagating to the right and (b) a
A B
spherical wave.
(a) (b)

(Erich Schrempp/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

F I G U R E 10.19 Water waves in a ripple tank

demonstrate Huygens wavelets. A plane wave is
incident on a barrier with two small openings. The
openings act as sources of circular wavelets.
 2
F IGURE 10.20 (Example 10.4) (a)
1
Huygens’s construction for proving the law of
reflection. At the instant ray 1 strikes the
B B D surface, it sends out a Huygens wavelet from
D
θ1 A and ray 2 sends out a Huygens wavelet
θ1
from B. We choose a radius of the wavelet to
A C be c Dt, where Dt is the time interval for ray 2
A C to travel from B to C. (b) Triangle ADC is
γ γ
(a) (b) congruent with triangle ABC.

2
1
B
θ1
θ1 C
A
D θ2
θ2

F I G U R E 10.21 (Example
10.4) Huygens’s construction for
proving Snell’s law of refraction.
At the instant ray 1 strikes the
surface, it sends out a Huygens
wavelet from A and ray 2 sends
out a Huygens wavelet from B.
The two wavelets have different
radii because they travel in
different media.
 Normal

1 n1>n2

θ2 3

n2 4
n1 θ1
5

(a)

Normal

n1>n2

n2
n1
θc

(b)

Figure 10.22
(a) Rays travel from a medium of
index of refraction n1 into a medium
of index of refraction n2, where n1
n 2. As the angle of incidence
increases, the angle of refraction 2
increases until 2 is 90° (ray 4). For
even larger angles of incidence, total
internal reflection occurs (ray 5). (b)
The angle of incidence producing an
angle of refraction equal to 90° is the
critical angle c .

F I G U R E 10.23 (Example 10.5) A fish looks

upward toward the surface of the water.
Figure Q10.3
 45

90
45

45
90

45

Figure Q10.13

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Figure Q10.14

Light
2 beam

40.0

P
1.25 m

Figure P10.1
 Mirror Mirror

1.00 m

Incident beam
5.00

1.00 m

Figure P10.3

12.0 cm

50.0

Liver

Tumor

Figure P10.15

30.0

2.00 cm

Figure P10.16 Problems

10.16 and 10.17.
 θ
Air

N Linseed oil
20.0

Water

θ
N

Figure P10.18

a
b b
layer

t
n =1.55
(Courtesy of Sony Disc Manufacturing)

u2 u2

w
Air
u1 u1

(a) (b)
Figure P10.19 (a) A micrograph of a DVD surface showing pits along each track. (b) Cross-section of a
cone-shaped laser beam used to read a DVD.

Figure P10.21

Φ
θ1

Figure P10.24 Problems 10.24

and 10.25.
 (Ray Atkeson/Image Archive)

Figure P10.26

Figure P10.30
(Courtesy of Henry Leap and Jim Lehman)

F I G U R E 10.1 (Quick Quiz 10.6) Five nonparallel rays of

light enter a glass prism from the left.