Jh Venkateshwar International School

Sector-18, Dwarka, New Delhi-78

LEARNING MATRRIAL
CHAPTER – 10
LIGHT (REFRACTION)
Refraction of light:
Bending of the light ray as it passes from one medium to another medium is known as
refraction of light.
Cause of refraction of light: Refraction of light takes place because speed of light in
different media is different.
Optically denser medium: The optical medium in which particles are closure to each
other than other medium is called optically denser medium.
Or
The optical medium in which speed of light is lesser than other medium is called optical
denser medium.
e.g. (i) from air and glass, glass is the denser medium because the speed of light in
glass is lesser than that of the speed of light in air.
(ii) from water and air, water is the denser medium because speed of light in water is
lesser than that of speed of light in air.
Optically rarer medium: The optical medium in which particles are farther from each
other than other medium is called optically rarer medium.
Or
The optical medium in which speed of light is more than other medium is called optical
rarer medium.
e.g. (i) from air and glass, air is the rarer medium because the speed of light in air is
more than that of the speed of light in glass.
(ii) from water and air, air is the rarer medium because speed of light in air is more than
that of speed of light in water.
NOTE: (i). When a ray of light passes from a rarer medium to a denser medium say
from air to water or from water to glass then it bends towards normal because when ray
of light passes from rarer to denser medium then speed of light decreases.
(ii). When a ray of light passes from a denser medium to a rarer medium say from water
to air or from glass to water then it bends away from normal because when ray of light
passes from denser to rarer medium then speed of light increases.

Laws of Refraction of light:

(i) Incident ray, refracted ray and normal all lie in the same plane.
(ii) The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to the sine of angle of refraction is constant.
This law is also known as Snell’s law of refraction.

This constant is called refractive index of a medium with respect to another medium.
Refractive Index:
When light passes from one medium to another medium, it changes its direction. The
extent to which the direction changes is expressed in terms of refractive index. The
value of refractive index is dependent on the speed of light in two media. v1 is the speed
of light in medium 1 and v2 is the speed of light in medium 2. The refractive index of
medium 2 with respect to medium 1 is represented as n21.

Absolute Refractive Index:

If medium 1 is vacuum or air, then the refractive index of medium 2 with respect to
vacuum is known as absolute refractive index of the medium.

Where c is the speed of light in air, v is the speed of light in other medium and nm is the
refractive index of the medium.
Relative Refractive Index: Refractive index of a medium (other than air/vacuum) with
respect to another medium (other than air/vacuum) is called relative refractive index.
Numerical Problems based on Refractive Index:

1. Refractive index of glass is 1.5. If the speed of light in vacuum is 3 X 108

m/s, find velocity of light in medium.

SOLUTION: Refractive index, µ = C / v

= Velocity of light in vacuum / Velocity of light in medium
v=C/µ
= 3 X 108 / 1.5
= 2 X 10 m/s.

2. Speed of light in glass is 2 X 108 m/s. Find the refractive index of glass.
SOLUTION: Refractive Index of glass (µ) = C / v
= 3 X 108 / 2 X 108
= 1.5

3. If refractive index of water is 4/3 and that of glass is 3/2. Find the refractive index of
glass w.r.t. water and the refractive index of water w.r.t. glass.

SOLUTION: µw = 4/3, µg = 3/2

Refractive index of glass w.r.t. water ( wµg ) = aµg / aµw
= 3/2 / 4/3
= 3/2 X 3/4
= 9/8
Refractive index of waters w.r.t. glass(𝑔𝜇 𝑤 ) = aµw / aµg
4/3
= 8/9
3/2

4. An object at the bottom of a beaker filled with a liquid up to height of 10 cm. If the
refractive index of liquid w.r.t. air ( aµw ) is 4/3, find the apparent depth of the object.

SOLUTION: Real depth = 10 cm

a
µw = 4/3
µ = Real depth / Apparent depth
4/3 = 10 / Apparent depth
Apparent depth = 10 X 3 / 4
= 30 / 4

= 7. 5 cm
Refraction through a rectangular glass slab

• To understand the refraction of light through a glass slab consider the figure
given below which shows the refraction of light through a rectangular glass slab.

• Here in this figure AO is the light ray traveling in air and incident on glass slab at
point O.
• Now on entering the glass medium this ray bends towards the normal NN’ that is
light ray AO gets refracted on entering the glass medium.
• After getting refracted this ray now travels through the glass slab and at point B it
comes out of the glass slab as shown in the figure.
• Since ray OB goes from glass medium to air it again gets refracted and bends
away from normal N1N'1 and goes in direction BC.
• Here AO is the incident ray and BC is the emergent ray and they both are parallel
to each other and OB is the refracted ray.
• Emergent ray is parallel to incident ray because the extent of bending of the ray
of light at the opposite parallel faces which are PQ (air-glass interface)
and SR (glass-air interface) of the rectangular glass slab is equal and opposite.
• In the figure i is the angle of incidence, r is the angle of refraction and e is the
angle of emergence.
• Angle of incidence and angle of emergence are equal as emergent ray and
incident ray are parallel to each other.
• When a light ray is incident normally to the interface of two media then there is
no bending of light ray and it goes straight through the medium.
 To Prove that the incident angle and the emergent angle in a rectangular
glass slab are equal

o In the figure given above ABCD is a rectangular glass slab of thickness

AD=BC=t. A ray PQ is incident on it an face AB at point Q, making an
angle PQN1=i, called angle of incidence.
o This ray refracts in the glass slab and goes along QR as refracted ray (as
shown in the figure) and becomes incident on face DC at point R from
inside the slab.
o ∠RQN2=∠QRN3=r and is called angle of refraction (but for face DC it is
called angle of incidence)
o Now the ray emerges or comes out of the slab along RS
making ∠SRN4=e, called the angle of emergence and the rayRS is called
emergent ray.
o This emergent ray is parallel to the incident ray. This can be proved as
follows.
o For refraction at Q, from air to glass, 𝑛𝑔𝑎 =sini/sin r ----- (1)
o For refraction at R, from glass to air 𝑛𝑔𝑎 =sine/sinr ----- (2)
From (1) and (2)
sini/sin r = sine/sinr
o sini = sine or i = e
i.e. angle of incidence = angle of emergence

Note: Lateral displacement or lateral shift is the perpendicular distance between

incident ray produced and emergent ray.
Refraction by Spherical Lenses:

Rules for drawing the ray diagrams are as follows:

1. A ray of light which is parallel to the principal axis will pass through the principal focus
after refraction from the convex lens.

2. A ray of light passing through principal focus, will emerge parallel to principal axis
after refraction from the convex lens.

3. A light ray passing through optical centre will emerge out without any deviation.
Image formation in Lenses using Ray Diagrams:
Image formed by the Convex Lens:

Position of the Position of the Relative size of Nature of the

object image the image image
Highly Real and
At infinity At focus F2
diminished inverted
Between F2 and Real and
Beyond 2F1 Diminished
2F2 inverted
Real and
At 2F1 At 2F2 Same size
inverted
Between F1 and Real and
Beyond 2F2 Enlarged
2F1 inverted
Real and
At focus F1 At infinity Infinitely large
inverted
Between focus On the same
F1 and optical side of the lens Enlarged Virtual and erect
centre O as the object
Image formed by the Concave Lens:

Object
Image location Image nature Image size
location

Infinity At F2 Virtual and Erect Highly Diminished

Beyond infinity Between F1 and

Virtual and Erect Diminished
and 0 Optical centre

Lens formula:
The distance of the object from its optical centre is known as object distance (u),
whereas distance from optical centre of the lens is known as image distance (v). The
lens formula is given by

1 1 1
= −
𝑓 𝑣 𝑢
Magnification:
It is defined as relative extent to which an object is magnified in comparison to its object
size.
h′ v
M= =
h u
Power of a Lens:
The degree of convergence or divergence of light rays is expressed in terms of power.
So, the reciprocal of focal length is known as its power. It is represented by letter P. The
1
power is given by P = f
The SI unit of power is dioptre. It is represented by D. Power of concave lens is
negative and power of convex lens is positive.
One Dioptre: One diopter is the focal length of a lens whose focal length is 1 metre.
Numericals based on Lens Formula:

1. An object is placed at 30 cm in front of a convex lens of focal length 20 cm. Find

the position, nature and size of the image formed by the lens.

Solution: Here,
Focal length f = +20 cm
Object distance u = -30 cm
Image distance v = ?
Using lens formula,
(1/f) = (1/v) - (1/u)
∴ (1/v) = (1/u) + (1/f)
∴ (1/v) = (1/-30) + (1/20)
∴ (1/v) = (-2 + 3)/60
∴ (1/v) = (1/60)
∴ v = 60 cm.
𝑣
m=𝑢
60
= −30 = -2
The real and inverted image is formed at 60 cm on the right side of lens from the
center of the lens whose size is double than the size of object..

2. At what distance the object should be placed so that the image will be formed at
a distance 10 cm from a concave lens? Focal length of the lens is 20 cm.

Solution: Since the lens is concave, the image will be formed on the same side
as that of the object.
Image distance v = -10 cm
Focal length f = -20 cm
Object distance u = ?
Using lens formula,
(1/f) = (1/v) - (1/u)
∴ (1/u) = (1/v) - (1/f)
∴ (1/u) = (1/-10) - (1/-20)
∴ (1/u) = (-2 + 1)/20
∴ (1/u) = -(1/20)

∴ u = -20 cm

Thus the object should be placed 20 cm from the concave lens on the left side of
the lens.
3. An object of 5 cm height is placed at a distance of 15 cm from a convex lens.
Find the position, height and nature of its image. The focal length of the lens is
10 cm.

Solution:
height of object, h = 5 cm
Distance of object, u = -15 cm
Focal length of convex lens, f = 10 cm
Distance of image, v = ?
Using lens formula,
(1/v) - (1/u) = (1/f)
∴ (1/v) = (1/f) + (1/u)
∴ (1/v) = (1/10) + (1/-15)
∴ (1/v) = (1/10) - (1/15)
∴ (1/v) = (3 - 2)/30 = (1/30)
∴ v = 30 cm
∴ (h'/h) = (v/u)
∴ (h'/5) = (30/-15)
∴ h' = -10 cm
Hence the image is formed at a distance of 30 cm ; its height is 10 cm and it is
real and inverted.

4. An object of 10 cm height is placed at a distance of 10 cm from a convex lens.

The focal length of lens is 15 cm. Find the position, height and nature of its
image.

Solution:
Height of object, h = 10 cm
Distance of object, u = -10 cm
Focal length = 15 cm
Distance of image, v = ?
Using lens formula,
(1/v) - (1/u) = (1/f)
∴ (1/v) = (1/f) + (1/u)
∴ (1/v) = (1/15) + (1/-10) = (1/15) - (1/10)
∴ (1/v) = (2 - 3)/30 = (-1/30)
∴ v = -30 cm
Also,(image height)/(object height) = (-v/u)
∴ (h'/h) = (v/u)

∴ (h'/10) = (-30/-10)

∴ h' = 30 cm

Hence , a virtual and erect image of height 30 cm is formed at the distance of 30

cm on the left of the lens.
5. An object is placed perpendicular to the principal axis of a convex lens of focal
length 10 cm at a distance of 20 cm from the lens. Find the position, nature and
the size of the image formed by the lens.

Solution:
Focal length of convex lens, f = 10 cm
Distance of object, u = -20 cm
Distance of image, v = ?
Using lens formula,
(1/f) = (1/v) - (1/u)
∴ (1/v) = (1/f) + (1/u)
∴ (1/v) = (1/10) + (1/-20) = (1/10) - (1/20)
∴ (1/v) = (2 - 1)/20 = (1/20)
∴ v = 20 cm
m = v/u
= 20/(-20)
= -1
Hence the real and inverted image of same size as object is formed at the
distance of 20 cm from the lens.

6. An object is placed perpendicular to the principal axis of a concave lens of focal

length 30 cm at a distance of 20 cm from the lens. Find the position, nature and
size of the image formed by the lens.

Solution:
Focal length of concave lens, f = -30 cm
Distance of the object, u = -20 cm
Distance of the image, v = ?
Using lens formula,
(1/f) = (1/v) - (1/u)
∴ (1/v) = (1/f) + (1/u)
∴ (1/v) = (1/-30) + (1/-20) = (-2 - 3)/60
∴ (1/v) =(-5/60) = (-1/12)
∴ v = (-12) cm
m = v/u = -12/(-20)
= 3/5 0r 0.6
Hence the virtual and erect image is formed at the distance of 12 cm from the
lens on the same side of the object whose size is 3/5th of the size of the object.

7. Find the power of a convex lens with focal length 0.4 m

Solution:
Power of lens, p = (1/f)
∴ p = (1/0.4) (for convex lens f is +ve)
∴ p = 2.5 D
Hence the power of lens is 2.5 D (dioptre).