LIGHT

Light is a form of energy which allows us to see when it is reflected into our eyes. Light, or visible light,
is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the human eye (about 400–700 nm). It can
exhibit properties of both waves and particles (photons). This property is referred to as wave–particle
duality. The speed of light in a vacuum is 3.0 x 108 ms-1. There are two sources of light which are as
follows:
1. Luminous sources – these are objects which create or make their own light e.g. sun, light bulb,
fire, stars, torches, etc.
2. Non-luminous sources – these are objects which when illuminated reflect light into our eyes e.g.
moon, mirrors, water, desks, walls, shiny surfaces, trees, etc.

Rays & beams

Light travels in a straight line in a uniform medium. The evidence which supports the above statement is
listed below:

 Cannot see around corners

 Existence of shadows
 Sunbeams & projectors
 Eclipses

Rays – A ray is the direction of the path taken by light. It is represented by a straight line with an
arrowhead on it.

Beams – A beam of light is a collection of light rays. These light rays may be parallel, convergent or
divergent as shown below.

When received over a relatively small area the light emitted from a point on a distant object may be
considered to consist of parallel rays.
Shadows
Shadows are formed when light falls on an opaque object which casts an image onto a screen. This is
because some rays of light continue to travel forward in straight lines while others are stopped by the
object.

Eclipses
A solar eclipse forms when the sun, moon and earth are all in a straight line respectively. The sun acts as
the extended source. It occurs when there is a new moon.

Since the earth is not a perfect sphere, the distance between the moon and the earth is sometimes
greater. Thus, the umbra does not always reach the earth. As a result, those at A still see a partial eclipse
whilst those at B see an annular eclipse (i.e. only the central region of the sun is hidden).

A Total eclipse in the umbra.

B Annular eclipse in the antumbra.
C Partial eclipse in the penumbra

Solar eclipses may last up to 7 minutes. During this time the sky becomes dark, stars are visible and the
temperature falls.

Lunar eclipse
A lunar eclipse occurs whenever the Moon passes through some portion of the Earth's shadow. This can
occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the
middle. Hence, there is always a full moon the night of a lunar eclipse.

Reflection of light

Laws of reflection
1. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
2. The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal all lie on the same plane.

The normal is always 90o to the surface and is represented by a dotted line.
i = angle of incidence i.e. the angle between the incident ray and the normal
r = angle of reflection i.e. the angle between the reflected ray and the normal

When reflection occurs, the end result is an image of the object. This image may either be real or virtual.

A real object
This is one which emits light for one of two reasons. It may be self luminous or it may reflect light falling
on it from other sources.
A real image is formed by rays of light which actually converge at a point and thus can be focused onto a
screen.

A virtual image
This is one formed at a point from which the rays only seem to appear or diverge. These rays are
divergent and thus cannot be focused on a screen.
Regular & Diffused Reflection
Regular – This occurs when the reflecting surface is flat

Diffused or scattered – This occurs when the surface is rough or not uniform.

Properties of a virtual image formed by a mirror

1. It is erect i.e. right-side up
2. It is laterally inverted
3. It forms an equal distance behind the mirror as the object is in front
4. It is the same size

Applications of reflection
Periscope
A simple periscope consists of a tube containing two plane mirrors fixed parallel to and facing each
other.

Light from the object is turned through 90o at each reflection thus enabling an observer to see over a
crowd or over the top of obstacles. Periscopes are often used in submarines but instead of using two
plane mirrors, prisms are used.

Mirrors
The image formed by a plane mirror is virtual. The light rays do not pass through the image as they do
for real images. The reflected rays both seem to come from the point behind the mirror when the eye
imagines the rays to intersect when produced backwards.

Curved Mirrors

Here, the reflected rays converge to a real point. The image can be seen on a screen placed at that
point.

Parabolic mirror
A parabolic concaved mirror focuses all the rays in a wide parallel beam to a point. It is used as solar
reflectors and wide dish aerial for collecting microwave signals from communication satellites.

REFRACTION
When light passes from one substance to another, it may also change direction. When light rays pass
from air to water, they bend as they pass through the surface of the water. This bending is called
refraction. In other words, refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another
e.g. from air to water or from air to glass. This bending is due to a change in speed.

The amount of light that is refracted depends on two things. The first is the colour of the light. Red light
bends less than other colours and violet bends more. The second is the angle at which the light reaches
the surface of the second substance. This is the angle of incidence. The angle at which the light leaves
the second substance is called the angle of refraction.

The diagram below shows refraction as light enters a more optically dense medium. The ray must enter
the second medium at an angle  to its surface.

Note
 The emergent ray is parallel to the incident ray.
 A ray is bent towards the normal when it enters an optically denser media at an angle. It bends
away from the normal when it enters an optically less dense media.
 A ray travelling along the normal is not refracted.

The image formed by refraction

Refraction gives rise to the following effects:
1. Apparent depth
2. Objects appear bent when partially immersed in water
3. Dispersion of white light

Laws of refraction
1. The incident and refracted ray are on opposite sides of the normal and all lie on the same plane.
2. Snell’s Law – For light passing from one medium to another, the ratio of the sine of the angle of
incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction.
e.g. for refraction from medium 1 to medium 2
n2 sin 1
1n2 =
n1 = sin  2 ;where n = refractive index

sin i
sin r = n (constant)

Velocity of light in first medium (air) =n

Velocity of light in second medium (water)
Refractive index, n
The refractive index of a medium for light passing from a vacuum into the medium is defined as
the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction.

sin  a
nm = anm = sin  m

nm nm
= na = 1 ; where a is the angle inthe vacuum & m is the angle in the media

The refractive index of air is so close to unity (na = 1) that the absolute refractive index (nm) is
usually measured for light going from air into the medium. The refractive index can be given in
terms of the ratio of the speed of light in air to the speed of light in the medium.

va
nm = anm = speed of light in air = vm
speed of light in medium

Lenses
Lenses are mainly of two general types. They are:
1. Convex (converging)
2. Concave (diverging)

A convex lens
A convex lens is thickest at the centre and bends light inwards. It is used in magnifying glasses
etc.

A concave lens
A concave lens is thinnest at the centre and bends light outwards i.e. it spreads the light.
 An optical centre, C is found at the centre of a lens.

The principal axis is the line through the optical centre which is perpendicular to the lens.

The principal focus, F is the point on the principal axis where all the light rays meet or converge.
It is a real focus for a convex lens. A concave lens has a virtual principal focus behind the lens
from which the refracted beam seem to diverge.

Focal length, f is the the distance CF i.e. the distance between the optical centre, C and the
principal focus, F.

Focal plane is the plane perpendicular to CF, containing F.

Magnification, m is the ratio of the height of the image to the height of the object.

m = image height OR m = distance of image from lens = v

object height distance of object from lens u

Formation of Image by a Convex Lens

When an object is placed in front of a lens, light rays coming from the object fall on the lens and get
refracted. The refracted rays produce an image at a point where they intersect or appear to intersect each
other. The formation of images by lenses is usually shown by a ray diagram. To construct a ray diagram we
need at least two rays whose paths after refraction through the lens is known. Any two of the following rays
are usually considered while constructing ray diagrams.

 A ray of light passing through the optical centre of the lens travels straight without suffering any
deviation. This holds good only in the case of a thin lens.

 An incident ray parallel to the principal axis after refraction passes through the focus.

 An incident ray passing through the focus of a lens emerges parallel to the principal axis after

refraction.

The nature of images formed by a convex lens depends upon the distance of the object from the optical
 centre of the lens. Let us now see how the image is formed by a convex lens for various positions of the
object.

Formation of Image by a Convex Lens

In each ray diagram two rays are drawn from the top A of an object AB and the image A' B' is formed at
the point of intersection of these two rays.

When the Object is Placed Between F1 and O

The image is -

 Formed behind the object

 virtual
 erect
 magnified

When the Object is placed at 2F1

The image is -

 formed at 2F2
 real
 inverted
 same size as the object

When the Object is Placed Between F1 and 2F1

The image is

 formed beyond 2F2

 real
 inverted
 magnified

 When the Object is Placed at F1

The image is -

 formed at infinity
 real
 inverted
 magnified

When the Object is Placed Beyond 2F1

The image is -

 formed between F2 and 2F2

 real
 inverted
 diminished

When the Object is placed at Infinity

When the object is at infinity, the rays coming from it are parallel to each other.

The image is -

 formed at F2
 inverted
 real
 highly diminished

The table shows what happens to the image as an object is brought from infinity toward a
convex lens.

Object Position Image Position Image Characteristics

At infinity At focal point Image is a point

Increasing in size, real, inverted, smaller than

Moving toward 2F Moving from F toward 2F
object

At 2F At 2F Real, inverted, same size as object

Moving from 2F Moving from 2F toward

Real, inverted, larger than the object
toward F infinity

At F At infinity Infinitely big

Moving from F Moving from -infinity Decreasing in size, virtual, upright, larger
toward lens toward lens than the object

Simple optical instruments

Some of the simplest optical instruments used today are:

1. the camera
2. the projector and
3. the magnifying glass
Previously the ray diagram for a projector was drawn using only half of the object and lens, thus
resulting in half the image being formed. The object is referred to as the slide. The image may be called
the picture. The full size of the image can be found simply by doubling the height of the image obtained.

In order to obtain an upright image on the screen the slide must be placed upsided-down.

THE EYE

Parts and functions of the eye

Cornea This is the transparent part of the eye that the ray meets first. Its purpose is to
refract the incoming light.

Aqueous humour This is a watery liquid found behind the cornea and is also used to refract light
rays.

Pupil This is the space or hole at the centre of the iris through which rays pass to
enter the lens.

Iris This is the coloured part of the eye (controls the size of the pupil).

Ciliary muscles These are muscles attached to the ends of the lens and are used to change the
shape and thus the focal length of the lens.

Vitreous humour This is a jelly-like substance found behind the lens which also aid in refraction.

Retina This is found at the back of the eye onto which the image is formed.

Accomodation

This occurs when a person leaves a brightly lit room and enters a dimly lit one or vice-versa (e.g.cinema).
The eye has to adjust so that it allows more light to enter in the dark or less light when it is brightly lit. It
does this by varying the size of the pupil.