Topic-Reflection of Light Page | 1

Reflection of Light
Incidence & Reflection

• Light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum – a family of transverse waves.

• As with all wave, when light reflects:

angle of incidence, i = angle of reflection, r

Mirrors

• When an object is placed in front of a mirror, an image of that object can be seen in the mirror.
• The image:
o Is the same size as the object
o Is the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front of it.
o Is directly in line with the object.

Virtual Image & Ray Diagram

• The formation of this image can be understood by drawing a ray diagram.

Diagram showing the formation of an image in a mirror by the reflection of light

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• Light from the object hits the mirror, and reflects from it.
(i=r)
• To an observer, the reflected ray appears to have come from the right-hand side of the mirror.
The reflected ray can be traced back in this direction, forming a virtual ray.
• This can be repeated for another ray travelling in a slightly different direction.
• An image of the object will appear where these two virtual rays cross.

• The type of image formed in the mirror is called a virtual image.

• A virtual image is formed by the divergence of rays from the image, and cannot be projected onto
a piece of paper (because the rays don’t actually go through the image).

Refraction of Light

• When light enters a glass block, it slows down, causing it to change direction.
• When it leaves the block it speeds up again, changing direction once more.

Diagram showing the refraction of light as it passes through a rectangular block

• As the light enters the block it bends towards the normal line.
(Remember: Enters Towards)
• When it leaves the block it bends away from the normal line.
(Remember: Leaves Away)

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Investigating Refraction

• In your examination you might be asked to write a method explaining how you might investigate
the refraction of light through differently shaped blocks.
• As part of this method you should describe:
o What equipment you need
o How you will use the equipment
o How you will trace the rays of light before, while and after they pass through the block.

Diagram showing a ray box alongside three differently shaped glass blocks

Method:

1. Place the glass block on a sheet of paper, and carefully draw around the block using a pencil.
2. Take a ray box and carefully aim the box so that a single ray of light passes through the block.
3. Using a pencil, mark some points along the path of the ray:
a) Before it reaches the block;
b) Where it hits the block;
c) Where it leaves the block;
d) After it has left the block.

4. Now remove the block from the paper and, using a ruler and pencil, draw straight lines connecting
points: a and b; b and c; c and d. The resulting line will show the path of the ray.
5. Replace the block within its outline and repeat the above process for a ray striking the block at a
different angle.

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Snell’s Law
When light enters a denser medium (such as glass) it slows down and bends towards the normal.

Diagram showing the angle of incidence, i, and the angle of refraction, r, of a ray of light entering a
glass block

• Snell’s law gives the relationship between the angle of incidence i, and the angle of refraction r:

Where n is the refractive index of the material

• You can rearrange this equation with the help of the formula triangle:

Use the formula triangle to help you rearrange the equation

• The refractive index is related to the speed of light in the material (which is less than its speed in a
vacuum):

• The refractive index is a number that is always bigger than 1 and is different for different
materials (n is about 1.5 for glass).

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Topic-Reflection of Light Page | 5

Total Internal Reflection

How does Total Internal Reflection Occur?

• When light is moving from a denser medium towards a less dense one, most of the light is
refracted, but a small amount of it can be internally reflected.
• However, if the angle of the light is great enough then instead of being refracted, ALL of the light
is reflected.
• This is called total internal reflection and happens when the angle of the incident ray is greater
than the critical angle for that material.

Diagram showing refraction, the critical angle and total internal reflection

• Two conditions are necessary for total internal reflection to occur:

o The light must be going from a more dense medium towards a less dense one.
o The angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle.

Refractive Index & Critical Angle Equation

• The critical angle, c, of a material is related to its refractive index, n.

Optical Fibres
Total internal reflection is also used to reflect light along optical fibres, allowing the high-speed
transmission of data on the internet.

Light travelling down an optical fibre is reflected each time it hits the edge of the fibre

• Additionally, optical fibres can be used in medicine in order to see within the human body.

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Topic-Thin Converging Lens Page | 6

Thin Converging Lens

• When parallel rays of light (travelling parallel to the principal axis) pass through a lens, they are
brought to a focus at a point known as the principal focus.

A converging lens brings parallel rays of light to a focus

• The distance of the principal focus from the lens is called the focal length, and depends on how
curved the lens is.

Forming a Real Image

• Lenses can be used to form images of objects placed in front of them.

• The location (and nature) of the image can be found by drawing a ray diagram:

Diagram showing the formation of a real image by a lens

1. Start by drawing a ray going from the top of the object through the centre of the lens. This ray will
continue to travel in a straight line.
2. Next, draw a ray going from the top of the object, travelling parallel to the axis to the lens. When
this ray emerges from the lens it will travel directly towards the principal focus.
3. The image is found at the point where the above two rays meet.

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Topic-Thin Converging Lens Page | 7

• The above diagram shows the image that is formed when the object is placed a distance between
one focal length (f) and two focal lengths (2f) from the lens.
• In this case, the image is:
o Real
o Enlarged
o Inverted

• The following diagram shows what happens when the object is more distance – further than twice
the focal length (2f) from the lens:

• In this case the image is:

o Real
o Diminished (smaller)
o Inverted

• If the object is placed at exactly twice the focal length (2f) from the lens:

• In this case the image is:

o Real
o Same size as the object
o Inverted

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Features of a Real Image

• A real image is one formed by the convergence of rays of light.

• A real image can be projected onto a screen

Magnifying Glasses

• If the object is placed closer to the lens than the focal length, the emerging rays diverge and a real
image is no longer formed.
• When viewed from the right-hand side of the lens, the emerging rays appear to come from a
point on the left. This point can be found by extending the rays backwards (creating virtual rays).
• A virtual image will be seen at the point where these virtual rays cross.

A virtual image is formed by the divergence of rays from a point

• In this case the image is:

o Virtual
o Enlarged
o Upright

• Using a lens in this way allows it to be used as a magnifying glass.

• When using a magnifying glass, the lens should always be held close to the object.

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Topic-Dispersion of Light Page | 9

Dispersion of Light

• When light enters a denser medium, such as glass, it slows down (refracts), which causes it to
bend.
• Different colours, however, slow down by different amounts, which causes them to bend by
different amounts.
• This effect is known as dispersion and can be used to separate white light into its individual
colours.

When white light is shone through a prism it is dispersed into its individual colours

• The seven colours of the spectrum are:

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

You can remember these colours either by remember the name:ROY G. BIV
(Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain)

Light as a Wavelength

• Light is a transverse wave.

• The different colours of light all have different wavelengths (and frequencies).
o Red has the largest wavelength
o Violet has the shortest wavelength
• Light of a single wavelength (a single colour) is known as monochromatic.

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Topic-The Electromagnetic Spectrum Page | 10

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

• Visible light is just one small part of a much bigger spectrum: the electromagnetic spectrum.
• The different parts of the spectrum have different names (and some different properties).
• These parts are shown in order below, going from the longest wavelength (and lowest frequency)
to the shortest wavelength (and highest frequency).

Visible light is just one small part of a much bigger spectrum: the electromagnetic spectrum

• All electromagnetic waves share several properties:

o They are all transverse.
o They can all travel through a vacuum
o They all travel at the same speed in a vacuum.

The Speed of Electromagnetic Waves

• The speed of light, in a vacuum, is approximately 3 x 108 m/s.

• The speed of light in air is approximately the same.

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Topic-The Electromagnetic Spectrum Page | 11

Uses of Electromagnetic Waves

• Electromagnetic waves have a large number of uses. The main ones are summarised in the table
below:

• Radio waves and microwaves

o These two parts of the spectrum share a lot of similarities and uses. Their main uses
concern wireless communication – in fact many things that people often assume use radio
waves actually use microwaves (e.g. WiFi, radar, mobile phones, satellite
communications…)
o At very high intensity, microwaves can also be used to heat things: this is what happens in
a microwave oven.

• Infrared

o Infrared is emitted by warm objects and can be detected using special cameras (thermal
imaging cameras). These can be used in industry, in research and also in medicine.

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Topic- Page | 12

o Many security cameras are capable of seeing slightly into the infrared part of the spectrum
and this can be used to allow them to see in the dark: infrared lights are used to illuminate
an area without being seen, which is then detected using the camera.
o Remote controls also have small infrared LEDs that can send invisible signals to an infrared
receiver on a device such as a TV.
o Infrared travels down fibre optic cables more efficiently than visible light, and so
most fibre optic communication systems use infrared.

• Ultraviolet

o Ultraviolet is responsible for giving you a suntan, which is your body’s way of protecting
itself against the ultraviolet.
o When certain substances are exposed to ultraviolet, they absorb it and re-emit it as visible
light (making them glow). This process is known as fluorescence.
o Fluorescence can be used to secretly mark things using special ink – in fact most bank
notes have invisible fluorescent markings on them.
o Fluorescent light bulbs also use this principle to emit visible light.

• X-rays

o The most obvious use of x-rays is in medicine. X-rays are able to pass through most body
tissues, but are absorbed by the denser parts of the body, such as bones.
o When exposed to x-rays, bones create a shadow which can be seen using a special x-ray
detector or using photographic film.

• Gamma rays
o Gamma rays are very dangerous and can be used to kill cells and living tissue.
o If the gamma rays are carefully aimed at cancerous tissue they can be very effective at
killing it.
o Gamma rays can also be used to sterilise things by killing off the bacteria.

Dangers
Electromagnetic Waves can have some harmful side effects. In particular:
• Microwaves:
o High levels of microwaves can cause heating of internal organs. (Although there is no
evidence that the levels emitted by mobile phones or WiFi devices cause any harm).
• X-Rays
o X-rays, Gamma rays and (to a lesser extent) ultra-violet are all ionising. This means that
they can cause harm to living tissues: killing cells or possibly mutating them or causing
cancer.
o Whilst the levels used in most medical x-rays pose a minimum risk, hospitals are careful to
minimise the amount of x-ray exposure that individuals (including hospital staff) receive.

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