1

LIGHT
Sec 3 Exp
3
Recall Basic Ideas of Light
Light travels in a straight line.
Light is a form of energy that allows us to see
things
Light is transmitted from one place to another, in
the form of waves.
Light waves are transverse in nature.
It is part of the e.m. wave spectrum.
A bundle of light rays are called light beam.
Light travels at speed = 3 x 10
8
m/s
4
Luminous & Non-luminous object
Luminous objects
Are those that give out light
Can be seen directly
Ex: Sun, light bulb, traffic light, some
chemicals like phosphurus

Non-luminous objects
Are those that cannot give out light by
itself
It can only be seen when light from
luminous object reflects from it
surfaces
5
Which of the above object is considered:
luminous : lamp
non-luminous : picture, eye
6
Reflection
Light can bounce off a surface, like a basketball bouncing
from a floor.




This property of light is known as reflection of light.
Unlike a basketball, when light bounces off a surface, it does
not slow down.
Reflected light remains at the same speed.
7
Reflection of Light
Surface
i
r
Incident
Light ray
Reflected
Light ray
Normal line
8
Terms used in Reflection
Normal Line : An imaginary line drawn 90
o

(perpendicular) to surface at the point where light
ray is reflected away
Incident Ray: Ray of light striking surface
Reflected Ray: Ray of light reflected from surface
i = angle of incidence: Angle between incident ray
and normal line
r = angle of reflection: Angle between reflected
ray and normal line
9
Law of Reflection
States that angle of incidence is equal to angle
of reflection (i = r)





Angle of reflection = 30
o
Surface
30
o
r
Incident
Light ray
Reflected
Light ray
Normal line
10
Determining Angles of Reflection
Apparatus: Protractor, Ruler, Pencil
First draw normal line at where light ray strikes
surface.
Place protractor as shown.
Next, measure angle from light ray to normal line.
11
Image of object on Plane Mirror
A mirror will show an image of an object placed in
front of it.
This image is formed due to reflection of light.
Properties of this image are:
Same size as object
Image distance to mirror is the same as object
distance to mirrror
Left-right inverted
Upright
Virtual (cannot be formed on a screen)
12
13
Ray Diagram
You must learn how to draw image of an
object as seen by an observer, when object
is placed in front of one or more mirrors.
To do this successfully, you will need to
understand how to draw a ray diagram.
A ray diagram obeys Law of Reflection.
Apparatus: protractor, ruler and pencil.
16
Steps to drawing a ray diagram
1. Pick a point on object to start. (Corner of
object.)
2. Draw a line from corner of object and
perpendicular to mirror.
3. Measure distance of object to mirror. Use
this distance and make a mark as shown.
4. Draw a line from mark to middle of eye.
5. Draw a line perpendicular to surface at
spot where line in step 4 cuts mirror. This
is the normal line.
6. Draw reflected ray from normal to eye.
7. Draw incident ray from corner of object to
normal.
8. Draw image of object (Must be same size)
Mirror
Object
Protractor is needed
if asked to measure
angles of incidence
reflection.
17
Ray diagram for slanted object
For slanted objects like this, the idea
Behind drawing of ray diagram is
Still the same. Start first with the
Distance of image followed by ray
to eye. Just repeat for next point.
18
Ray diagram - multiple images
Removed from O Levels syllabus
19
Uses of reflection
Periscope
Rear view mirror of vehicles
Make-up mirror
20
Short Quiz 1
1. A ray of light is reflected by a mirror. If the angle between incident
and reflected light rays is 76
o
, what is the angle of incidence?
A. 14
o
B. 38
o
C. 76
o
D. 104
o


2. A red light ray traveling at speed of 3x10
8
m/s is incident on a mirror
and is reflected away. What is the most likely speed of the reflected
red light ray?

A. 2.998x10
8
m/s B. 3x10
8
m/s C. 3.012x10
8
m/s D. unknown

3. The image formed by a plane mirror is always
i. upright ii. virtual iii. same size as the object
A. i only. B. iii only. C. ii and iii. D. i, ii and iii.
76
o
21
4a. Which of the angles is:
i. Angle of incidence: _____
ii. Angle of reflection: _____
4b. If angle a = 35
o
, what is the angle of reflection? ______
4c. According to the law of reflection, which angle must be
equal? ___________

5. A car plate has the numbers SFA 37Z. Write down the number
as seen by another driver from his rear-view mirror.

6. There are 11 letters in the word EXAMINATION. How many of
these are not changed when the word is seen by reflection?
Write down the letters that are laterally inverted.
a
b c
d
22
7. A person standing at pt A in the figure below sees the
reflection in a shop window of a person standing at pt B.




a) On the figure, draw a ray of light to show how, by reflection, the
person at A sees the person at B.
b) On the figure, mark with a letter I, the position of the image of B
formed by reflection in the shop window.
c) Measure and write down the angle of reflection.
d) (i) Person at A moves away from B towards Y in the direction
shown in the figure. Mark with a letter X the furthest position along
Y to which the person A can moves so that the two people will still
be able to see each other by reflection in the shop window.
(ii) Explain how you decided on the position of X.
wall wall
Shop window
B A Y
23
Optical Density
Optical density of an object can be understood as
how transparent an object is.
Objects with low optical density is highly
transparent. These objects or substances allows
light to travel through at very fast speed.
Example: Air
Objects with high optical density is not very
transparent. These objects or substances allows a
small amount of light to travel through it, at slow
speed.
Example: Red plastic bag used to pack food
24
Refraction
Refraction is the bending of light when it moves
from one substance to another substance of
different optical density.
The bending of light is caused by changes in speed
of light.
Speed of light changes in different medium.
In vacuum or air, speed = 3 x 10
8
m/s
In water, speed < 3 x 10
8
m/s

In general, medium with high optical density slows
down speed of light greatly.
25
Refraction
When light travels from a
lower dense to a higher dense
medium, it slows down,
causing it to bend towards the
normal.
When light travels from a
higher dense to a lower dense
medium, it speeds up, causing
it to bend away from the
normal.

water
Incident
light ray
Normal line
Air
Refracted
light ray

glass
Incident
light ray
Normal line
Air
Refracted
light ray
26
Refractive Index
Refractive index is an indication of bending of
light when it travels from one medium to another.
It has a symbol, n and has no unit. If a medium
has value
n just > 1 means that light is bent slightly
n >> 1 means that light is bent greatly
n = 1 means that light is not bent

27
Refractive Index

High values of n means that the medium has
caused light to be bent greatly.
There are 2 ways to find n of a medium.
diamond glass water air
Refractive index,
n
2.4 1.5 1.33 1
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Finding Refractive Index, n (1)
Using angles:
n of a medium = sin i i, r are in degrees
sin r
Note that light ray must be from air to medium
Medium
Air
Incident
light ray
i
r
i : Angle of Incidence
r : Angle of Refraction
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Finding Refractive Index, n (2)
Using speed of light:
n of a medium = c c = speed of light in air
v v = speed of light in medium

Note again, it is assumed that light ray traveled from
air to medium.
30
Law of Refraction (Snells Law)
States that for a particular medium,
the value of = constant.

This constant is the refractive index, n.
For a particular medium, its refractive index is
always the same.
Note that r here refers to angle of refraction, not
reflection. Both symbols are the same.
r
i
sin
sin
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Conditions for No Refraction
No refraction will occur if light ray makes a
incident angle of 0
o
with surface.
Glass
32
Principle of Reversibility of Light
The equation sin i/sin r is meant for light travelling
from air to a denser medium
How is n calculated when light travels from other
medium to air?
We have to use the principle of reversibility (P.o.R)
here.
The idea here is that a light ray moving from A to B,
is the same as from B to A, since light move only in
straight line and is bent in the same manner.
33
If case A is given, applying P.o.Reversibility, we can
assume that light travels in the opposite direction, as
shown in B.
As a result, i
A
= r
B
and r
A
= i
B
.

n for glass =
Glass
i
r
Glass
r
i
By Principle of

Reversibility
A B
A
A
B
B
i
r
r
i
sin
sin
sin
sin

34
Ray Diagram for Refraction
You are required to calculate angle of
refraction and draw refracted ray
Apparatus: Protractor, ruler, pencil
Steps:
Calculate refractive index from given information
Use ruler to draw normal line (if needed)
Use protractor and mark on angle of refraction
Draw a straight line to indicate refracted ray
35
Calculate angle of refraction


Marking with protractor at 35.3
o
(3 s.f.)
Draw refracted ray
r
i
n
sin
sin

60
o
Glass, with n = 1.5
577 . 0
5 . 1
60 sin sin
sin
o
n
i
r
o
r 3 . 35 577 . 0 sin
1


36
Effect of Refraction
Appearing and disappearing act of objects
Movie
37
Bent objects in liquid.
A stick partially submerged in water appears bent.
The refraction makes the part of the stick under water
appear shallower.
38
Fish appears nearer to surface
Fish appears nearer to surface of water than it
actually is. Refraction causes a distortion of depth.
From the given information of apparent depth and actual depth,
can you calculate refractive index of water?
39
Short Quiz 2
1. Light can travel from one end of an optical fibre to the other
end, even if the fibre shows a curved path. This is due to
____.
A. dispersion of light B. refraction of light
C. the use of plane mirror D. total internal reflection
2. Find the refractive index of medium Z given a light ray from
air enters the medium with angle of incidence and refraction
of 50
o
and 32
o
respectively.
A. 0.64 B. 0.69 C. 1.45 D. 1.56
3. Given that the index of refraction of a tinted glass is 1.6, find
the critical angle of this glass.
A. 35.0
o
B. 36.9
o
C. 38.7
o
D. 45.0
o
40
4.(a) A ray of light is traveling from air to glass as shown in
the figure. Write down the refractive index of glass in
terms of angles a, and g.



(b) If a = 64
o
and g = 41
o
, calculate n of glass.
5.(a) A ray of light is incident on surface of water at an
incident angle of 50
o
. If n of water is 1.34, calculate the
angle of refraction.
(b) Draw a ray diagram to scale to show how the light ray
above is refracted when entering water from air.

air
glass
a
g
air
water
41
6. Find the index of refraction of polished glass.



7. A swimming pool is lit by a lamp in the bottom of the pool.
The direction of 3 rays from the lamp are shown.




(a) Which of the marked angles is the critical angle of water.
(b) Complete the ray diagram for the light ray labeled Y.
Polished glass
air
33
o
65
o
A
B
C
D
Y