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Optics For Dummies Cheat Sheet - For Dummies

ReflectionandRefractionEquationsforPredicting
Light'sDirection
Reflectionandrefractionaretwoprocessesthatchangethedirectionlight
travels.Usingtheequationsforcalculatingreflectionandrefraction,youcan
predictwhereraysencounteringasurfacewillgowhethertheyreflector
refract(bounceoffthesurfaceorbendthroughit)whichisanimportant
conceptinthestudyofoptics.Thefollowingequationshelpyoudetermine
reflectionandrefractionangles:
Thelawofreflection:Thelawofreflectionshowstherelationshipbetween
theincidentangleandthereflectedangleforarayoflightincidentona
surface.Theanglesaremeasuredrelativetothesurfacenormal(alinethat
isperpendiculartothesurface),notrelativetothesurfaceitself.Here'sthe
formula:
Theindexofrefraction:Thisquantitydescribestheeffectofatomsand
moleculesonthelightasittravelsthroughatransparentmaterial.Usethis
basicformulafortheindexofrefraction:

Snell'slaworthelawofrefraction:Snell'slawshowstherelationship
betweentheincidentangleandthetransmittedangle(refractedangle)fora
rayoflightincidentonasurfaceofatransparentmaterial.Youcanseehow
Snell'slawworksinthefollowingformula:
Thecriticalanglefortotalinternalreflection:Totalinternalreflectionis
thesituationwherelighthitsandreflectsoffthesurfaceofatransparent
materialwithouttransmittingthroughthesurface.Itutilizesthecritical
angle(theminimumangleofincidencewheretotalinternalreflectiontakes
place.).Fortotalinternalreflectiontooccur,thelightmuststartinthe
materialwiththehigherindex.Here'stheformula:

EquationsforOpticalImaging
Imagingisakeyfunctionofoptics.Specificopticsequationscanhelpyou
determinethebasiccharacteristicsofanimageandpredictwhereitwillform.
Usethefollowingopticsequationsforyourimagingneeds:
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Lateralmagnification:Lateralmagnificationisonewayyoucandescribe
howbigtheimageiscomparedtotheoriginalobject.Herearethe
equations:

Locatingimagesformedbymirrors:Anobjectplacedacertaindistance
awayfromamirrorwillproduceanimageatacertaindistancefromthe
mirror.Insomecaseswherethemirrorsarecurved,youmaybegiventhe
focallengthofamirror.Usetheseequations:

Locationofimagesformedbyarefractingsurface:Anobjectplaceda
certaindistanceawayfromarefractingsurfacewillproduceanimageata
certaindistancefromthesurface.Theequationforthisis

Thelensmaker'sformula:Thisequationallowsyoutocalculatethefocal
lengthofalensifallyouknowisthecurvatureofthetwosurfaces.Here's
thelensmaker'sformula:

Thethinlensequation:Anobjectplacedacertaindistanceawayfroma
lenswillproduceanimageatacertaindistancefromthelens,andthethin
lensequationrelatestheimagelocationtotheobjectdistanceandfocal
length.Thefollowingisthethinlensequation:

OpticalPolarizationEquations
Opticalpolarizationistheorientationoftheplanesofoscillationoftheelectric
fieldvectorsformanylightwaves.Opticalpolarizationisoftenamajor
considerationintheconstructionofmanyopticalsystems,soequationsfor
workingwithpolarizationcomeinhandy.Thefollowingequationshighlight
someimportantpolarizationconcepts.Theequationslistedhereallowyouto
calculatehowtomakepolarizedlightbyreflectionandtodeterminehow
muchlightpassesthroughmultiplepolarizers:
PolarizingangleorBrewster'sangle:Thisangleistheangleofincidence
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wherethereflectedlightislinearlypolarized.Here'stheequation:

Malus'law:Thisequationallowsyoutocalculatehowmuchpolarizedlight
passesthroughalinearpolarizer.TheequationforMalus'lawis
Phaseretardationinabirefringentmaterial:Abirefringentmaterialhas
twoindexesofrefraction.Whenyousendpolarizedlightintoabirefringent
material,thetwocomponentstravelthroughthematerialwithdifferent
speeds.Thisdiscrepancycanresultinachangeinthepolarizationstateor
simplyrotatethepolarizationstate.Usethisequation:

OpticalInterferenceEquations
Opticalinterferenceisjusttheinteractionoftwoormorelightwaves.Optical
interferenceisusefulinmanyapplications,soyouneedtounderstandsome
basicequationsrelatedtothisopticalphenomenon.Thefollowingequations
allowyoutocalculatevariousquantitiesrelatedtoopticalinterferenceinthe
twomostcommoninterferencearrangements.
ThelocationofthebrightanddarkfringesinYoung'stwoslit
interferencearrangement:Thefollowingequationsallowyoutocalculate
thelocationofthebrightfringes(whereconstructiveinterferenceoccurs)
anddarkfringes(wheredestructiveinterferenceoccurs):

Thephaseshiftduetothefilmthicknessinthinfilminterference:When
lightisincidentstraightontoathinfilm(suchasanoilslickonthesurfaceof
apoolofwater),lightraysreflectingfromthetopandthebottomofthefilm
interfere(eitherconstructivelyordestructivelydependingonthefilm
thicknessandthewavelengthofthelight).Thefollowingequations
determineconstructiveordestructiveinterferencedependingonwhether
thephaseshiftproducedbyreflectionneedstobeshiftedbyhalfthe
wavelength(thefirstequation)ormaintained(thesecondequation):

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OpticalDiffractionEquations
Diffractionislight'sresponsetohavingsomethingmesswithitspath,so
diffractionoccursonlywhensomethingblockspartofthewavefront.
Diffractionisthephenomenonwherelightbendsaroundanobstacle(this
bendingisnotduetorefraction,becausethematerialdoesn'tchangeas
refractionrequires).Thefollowingequationscoverthemostcommon
situationsinvolvingdiffraction,includingresolution.
Resolution:Resolutionistheminimumangularseparationbetweentwo
objectssuchthatyoucantellthattherearetwodistinctobjects.Here'sthe
equationfordeterminingresolution:

Thelocationofthedarkfringesproducedbydiffractionthrougha
singleslit:Becauseaslithasawidthlargerthanthewavelength,lightrays
fromdifferentpartsoftheslitinterferewitheachother,creatingafringe
pattern.Youcanrelativelyeasilylocatethepointswherethelight
destructivelyinterferesbyusingthefollowingequation:

Thelocationofthedifferentdiffractionordersfromadiffraction
grating:Adiffractiongratinghasaverylargenumberofslitsspacedclosely
together,suchthatthelightfromeachoftheseslitsinterfereswiththelight
fromtheothers.Youcanprettyeasilyidentifywherethelightconstructively
interferesbyusingthefollowingequation:

EquationsfortheCharacteristicsofFiberOpticFibers
Besidesimaging,fiberopticnetworksareprobablythelargestapplicationof
optics.Fiberopticsareverylong,thinglassfibersthattransferinformation
bearinglightfromoneplacetoanother,butthatmaynotbeindirectsightof
eachother.Youneedtobeawareofafewcharacteristicsoftheparticular
fiberyou'reusingsothatyoucanensuretheinformationisaccurately
transmittedfromoneendofthefibertotheother.Thefollowingequations
coverthreeofthebasicparametersnecessaryforproperuseofopticalfibers.
Themaximumacceptanceangleforafiber:Thisangleisthelargest
angleofincidenceatwhichlightcanentertheendofthefiberandbetotally
internallyreflectedinsidethefiber.Anglesofincidencelargerthanthisangle
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willtransmitthroughthesidesofthefiberandnotmakeittotheotherend.
Theequationforthisangleis

Thenumericalapertureforafiber:Thenumericalapertureisameasure
ofthelightgatheringpowerofthefiber.Ithasamaximumvalueof1(allthe
lightremainstrappedinsidethefiber)andaminimumvalueof0(onlylight
incidentatanangleof0degreesontheendofthefiberremainstrappedin
thefiber).Usethisequation:

Intermodaldispersioninafiber:Thischaracteristicmeasuresthe
differenceintimethatdifferentfibermodestaketoreachtheendofthe
fiber.Thelargerthistimedifference,theshorterthefiberhastobesothat
theinformationonthislightdoesn'tturnintojunk.Here'stheequation:

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