It is a branch of physics that studies light and its interaction with matter, including phenomena like reflection, refraction, and dispersion. It also explores the use of devices like lenses and prisms to manipulate light, playing a key role in technologies such as eyeglasses, cameras, microscopes, and telescopes."
1.The medium is isotropic.
2.The obstacle or opening through which light passes is not very small.
3.Bending is negligible if . If this condition is fulfilled, light is said to move rectilinearly.
Beam : A bundle or bunch of rays is called a beam. It is of following three types
(a) Convergent beam:Diameter of beam decreases in the direction of ray.
(b) Divergent beam: Diameter of beam goes on increasing as the rays proceed forward.
(c) Parallel beam:The beam moves parallel to each other and the diameter of the beam remains the same.
(1) Speed of light in vacuum, denoted by approximately.
(2) Light is an electromagnetic wave .It consists of varying electric fields and magnetic fields.
(3) Light carries energy and momentum.
(4) The formula is applicable to light.
(5) When light is reflected within the same medium, its frequency, speed, and wavelength remain unchanged.
(6) The frequency of light stays the same during reflection or refraction.
When light rays hit the boundary between two media, such as air and glass, some of the light is reflected back into the original medium.
(a) Regular Reflection:"Regular reflection occurs when light reflects off a smooth, flat surface."
(b) Diffused Reflection:When light reflects off a rough surface, scattering in multiple directions.
(a) The incident ray, reflected ray, and the normal at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane, known as the plane of incidence (or plane of reflection).
This condition can be expressed mathematically as
(b)The angle of incidence (the angle between the normal and the incident ray) is equal to the angle of reflection (the angle between the reflected ray and the normal), i.e., i.e.
In Vector form
Deviation by two plane mirrors
Rotation of reflected rays
(1) If the incident ray's direction remains constant and the mirror is rotated by an angle around an axis in its plane.
As the mirror turns through , the reflected ray turns through 2.
(2) If the mirror is kept fixed and the incident ray is rotated then the reflected ray will rotate in the opposite direction by the same angle.
Note: Intersection point of converging reflected/refracted rays is called real image and that of diverging reflected/refracted rays is called virtual image.
Point object
Extended object:
For x-Axis
for y axis and z axis
== velocity of image with respect to ground.
Number of images formed by two inclined mirrors
(1) If
(2)If , if the object is placed on the angle bisector.
(3) If , if the object is not placed on the angle bisector.
(4) If Integer ,then count the number of images as explained above.
Important terms related with spherical mirrors
(a) Center of Curvature (C) : The center of curvature is the center of the sphere from which a spherical mirror is made.
(b) Pole (P) :The center of the mirror, known as the pole, is represented by point P on the mirror APB.
(c) Principal Axis :The principal axis is a line perpendicular to the mirror's plane, passing through the pole.
(d) Aperture (A) :The aperture is the part of the mirror that reflects light; in the figure, APB represents the aperture.
(e) Focal Length:When a parallel beam of light strikes a concave mirror, reflected rays converge at the principal focus (F). For a convex mirror, the rays appear to diverge from F. If the light strikes at an angle, the rays converge or diverge from a point in the focal plane, perpendicular to the principal axis.
Mirror formulae:
If one dimensional object is placed with its length along the principal axis then linear magnification is called longitudinal magnification.
For small objects only:
If a 2D object is placed perpendicular to the principal axis, its magnification is called superficial magnification.
For small cubical objects only, all dimensions will be magnified equally because all dimensions are almost at the same distance from the mirror, hence the final image is also a cube.
(a) Velocity component along axis (Longitudinal velocity)
velocity of image along principal axis
velocity of object along principal axis
(b) Velocity component perpendicular to axis (Transverse velocity)
Optical power of a mirror (in Dioptre)
f = focal length with sign and in meters.
Newton's Formula:
Refraction occurs when light changes mediums, causing a shift in speed and direction. If light strikes at an angle (0° < i < 90°), ( 0^{\circ}<\mathrm{i}<90^{\circ} ) it bends due to this speed change. Light incident normally passes straight but is still refracted. Refraction without reflection is impossible, and as the angle of incidence increases, more energy is reflected. The refractive index is the ratio of light speed in vacuum to its speed in the medium.
Relative refractive index
(a) "The incident ray, the normal at the point of incidence, and the refracted ray all lie in the same plane, known as the plane of incidence."
(b)
Refractive Index of the second medium with respect to the first medium.
Special Cases
1. When Normal incidence : i = 0 ; from Snell’s law : r = 0
2. When light moves from an optically denser to an optically rarer medium, it bends away from the normal.
4. When light moves from an optically rarer to an optically denser medium, it bends towards the normal.
Where is the refractive index of the slab, and is the angle of incidence at the slab.
Principle of Reversibility of Light Rays:
(a) A ray following the reflected path will reflect back along the incident ray’s path.
(b) A reversed refracted ray will refract along the incident ray’s path, showing that incident and refracted rays are reversible.
Apparent Shift=
Refraction through a Parallel Slab
"When light passes through a parallel slab with the same medium on both sides, the emergent ray is parallel to the incident ray. If the mediums differ, the emergent ray won't be parallel."
(b) Light is shifted laterally, given by
t=thickness slab
Apparent Shift:
(a) for converging rays:
When a slab of thickness t and refractive index is placed in the path of a convergent beam, then the point of convergence is shifted by
(b) for diverging rays:
When the same slab is placed in the path of divergent beam, then the point of divergence is shifted by,
Note:
(1) The shift ‘S’ is always in the direction of light.
(2) If the slab is made of air and surrounding medium is of refractive index . Then the apparent shift would be
(3) If n number of slabs with different thickness and refractive index are placed between the observer and the object, then the total apparent shift is equal to the summation of the individual shifts.
(4) If there are n number of slabs with different thickness and refractive index, one over the other then
Conditions of T. I. R.
(a) Light is incident on the interface from denser medium.
(b) Angle of incidence should be greater than the critical angle
Deviation ():
A=Refracting angle or the Angle of Prism( Apex angle)
== Angle of Deviation
Angle of Deviation ()
Condition of No Emergence
For face AB is
Critical Angle
Condition of Grazing Emergence
Note: The light will emerge out of a given prism only if the angle of incidence is greater than the condition of grazing emergence.
Condition of Maximum Deviation
Note: This situation is the reverse of grazing emergence and may also be viewed as deviation at grazing incidence.
Condition for Minimum Deviation
Minimum deviation happens when the angle of incidence equals the angle of emergence.
Note: In the condition of minimum deviation the light ray passes through the prism symmetrically, i.e., the light. The ray in the prism becomes parallel to its base.
Graphical Representation of angle of deviation
Thin Prisms
,therefore both are small and the same is true for
Deviation,
Note: The deviation for a small angled prism is independent of the angle of incidence.
Image formation by small angled prism
If object is real
1. Image is virtual
2. Shifting of image is OI
Note: Such a phenomenon is not presented by sound waves. The angle between the rays of the extreme colors in refracted light is called the angle of dispersion."
For prism of small ‘A’ and with small ‘i’
Deviation of beam (also called mean deviation)
Note: Fig (a) and (c) represents dispersion, whereas in fig. (b) there is no dispersion.
Numerical data reveals that if the average value of is small is also small and if the average value of is large is also large. Therefore, a greater mean deviation results in a higher angular dispersion.
Dispersive power ():
Dispersive power () of the medium of the material of prism is given by:
is the property of a medium.
For small angled prism with light incident at small angle i
== Refractive index of the medium for the corresponding colour.
Dispersion without deviation (Direct Vision Combination)
Deviation without dispersion (Achromatic Combination)
Sign convention
(1) All distances are quantified from the pole (P).
(2) Distances along the course of the incident rays are considered positive.
(3) Distances above the principal axis are taken as positive.
Terms related to refraction at spherical surfaces
(A) Centre of curvature (C): It is the centre of a sphere of which the surface is a part.
(B) Radius of curvature (R): It is the radius of the sphere of which the surface is a part.
(C) Pole (P) :It is the geometrical centre of the spherical refracting surface.
(D) Principal Axis : Straight line joining the centre of curvature to the pole.
(E) Focus :"When a parallel beam of paraxial rays hits a spherical refracting surface, the rays converge or diverge depending on the surface's curvature and refractive indices. The point of convergence or apparent divergence on the principal axis is called the focus."
Note:(1) It is not always necessary that for a convex boundary the parallel rays always converge. Similarly, for concave boundaries the incident parallel ray may converge or diverge depending upon the refractive index of two media.
(2) Laws of refraction are valid for spherical surfaces also.
(3) Pole, centre of curvature, Radius of curvature, Principal axis etc. are defined as spherical mirrors except for the focus.
Lateral Magnification
Depending upon the shape of the refracting surfaces following types of lenses can be formed:
It relates the focal length of the lens to the relative refractive index of the lens material and the radii of curvature of the two surfaces.
is the radius of curvature of first surface and is the radius of curvature of the second surface from where light emerges out in the first medium.
Note:
(1) The Lensmaker’s formula is applicable for thin lenses only. The values of and are to be put in accordance with the cartesian sign convention.
(2) Position of object and image are interchangeable.These positions are called conjugate positions.
Lens formula
Lateral magnification
Note:
(1) If converging rays fall, the focus is on the other side of the direction of incidence and for diverging rays focus is on the same region of the direction of incidence.
(2) m has negative and positive values for real virtual pairs.
(3) Use cartesian sign convention with optical centre of lens as origin.
When focal length is written in metre then is known as the power of the lens. Where D is (diopter) unit of power.
Displacement Method
Lateral magnification
(A) Net magnification, m=m1 ✕ m2 ✕ m3 ✕ ...............
(B) If thin lenses are kept close together with their principal axis coincide then,
f = (+) ve gives equivalent converging lens
= (–) ve gives equivalent diverging lens
versus Graph:
(a) Velocity component along the principal (Optical) axis
(b) Velocity component perpendicular to the principal axis
Velocity of image w.r.t. lens perpendicular the principal axis.
Velocity of object w.r.t. lens perpendicular the principal axis.
When one surface of a thin lens is silvered, then the focal length F of the effective lens-mirror combination is expressed as,
Angle of deviation of a ray when it passes a lens
O is the object and I is the image is the angle of deviation
(1) It is a single convex lens of lesser focal length.
(2) Also called magnifying glass or reading lens.
(3) Magnification’s, when final image is formed at
Note:
If lens is kept at a s a from the eye then
(1) Consist of two converging lenses called objective and eye lens.
(2)
(3) The final image is magnified, virtual and inverted.
Magnification
Length of the tube
1. When final image is formed at D
2. When final images is formed at ∞
Note:
(1) For maximum magnification both must be less.
(2)
(3) If objective and eye lens are interchanged, practically there is no change in magnification.
(3) Resolving limit and resolving power : The minimum separation between two lines at which they are still distinguishable is known as the Resolving Limit (RL), and its reciprocal is referred to as the Resolving Power (RP).
A telescope allows distant objects to be viewed.
(1) Used to see heavenly bodies.
(2)
(3) The intermediate image is real, inverted and small.
(4) The final image is virtual, inverted and small.
(5)
(6)
(1) Used to see far off objects on the earth.
(2) It consists of three converging lenses : objective, eye lens and erecting lens.
(3) It’s final image is virtually erect and smaller.
(4)
(5)
(1) It is also a terrestrial telescope but of much smaller field of view.
(2) The object is a converging lens while the eye lens is a diverging lens.
(3)
(4)
Note:
Least distance(d) between objects, so they can just resolved by a telescope is where r = separation of objects from telescope.
Q-1.For what angle of incidence ,the lateral shift produced by a parallel sided glass plate is maximum?
Solution:
Lateral shift is maximum
Q-2.A substance has critical angle of 45° For yellow light what is its refractive index?
Solution:
Q-3. Although the surface of sunglasses are curved it does not have any power.Why?
Solution:
The two surfaces of the sunglasses lens are parallel i.e. one surface convex and other concave thus the power of the two surfaces is equal but of opposite sign.
Q-4.Prove that the limiting value of the prism angle is twice the critical angle of the material.
Solution:
Angle of Prism
For Limiting
Value of angle of prism for
But When
Q-5.A reflecting telescope uses a concave mirror with a radius of curvature of 120 cm. Find the focal length of the eyepiece to obtain a magnification of 20?
Solution:
M=20
R=120 cm (for concave reflector)
(Session 2025 - 26)