SUPPORT MATERIAL FOR CLASS-X(2021-22)

LIGHT – REFLECTION AND REFRACTION

IMPORTANT POINTS:

❖ Light is a form of energy, which gives us the power of vision.

❖ Reflection of Light
When the light is allowed to fall on highly polished surface, such as mirror,
most of the light gets reflected.
❖ Laws of Reflection
1. The angle of incidence is always equal to angle of reflection.
2. The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal to the reflecting surface at
the point of incidence lie in the same plane.

❖ Reflection of light by spherical Mirrors

Mirrors, whose reflecting surface are curved inward or outward spherically
are called spherical mirror. For example – Spoon. The curved surface of
shinning spoon can be considered as curved mirror.

Curved mirrors whose reflecting surfaces curve inwards are called concave
mirrors while those whose reflecting surfaces bulge outwards are called
convex mirrors.
❖ Few Basic terms related to Spherical Mirror:
1. Principal axis: Line joining the pole and centre of curvature of the
spherical mirror.
2. Pole: The geometrical central point of the reflecting spherical surface.
Denoted by (P).
3. Aperture: The width of reflecting spherical surface.
4. Centre of curvature: The centre of the hollow glass sphere of which the
spherical mirror is a part is called as centre of curvature.
5. Radius of curvature: The distance between the pole and the centre of
curvature. I.e. PC = R or The radius of the hollow sphere of which the
mirror is a part.

6. Focus point: The point on the principal axis, where all parallel rays meet
after reflection is called as Principal Focus or Focus. It is denoted by letter
‘F’.

7. Focal length: The distance between the pole and focus point i.e. PF = f

8. Relationship between focal length and Radius of curvature. F= R/2

❖ Image formation by spherical mirrors

Before we learn the formation of image or ray diagram, let us go through
few tips:
(a) Remember, a ray of light which is parallel to principle axis always pass
through focus (meet at focus) or vice-versa.

(b) A ray of light which passes through centre of curvature (it is also known
as normal at the point of incidence on spherical mirror) will retrace their path
after reflection.

(c) A ray of light falling on pole get reflected at the same angle on the other
side of principal axis.

Note: The image will only form when two or more rays meets at a point.

For objects at various positions, the image formed can be found using the ray
diagrams for the special two rays. The following table is for a concave
mirror.

Note: The ray diagrams given in NCERT Books are to be followed.

Image formation by convex mirror:
❖ Uses of Concave Mirror
1. Used in torches, search light and headlight of vehicle.
2. Used to see large image of face as shaving mirror
3. Used by dentist to see large images of the teeth
4. Large concave mirror used to focus sunlight (heat) in solar furnaces.
❖ Uses of Convex Mirror
Used as rear-view mirror in vehicles because it gives erect image.
It also helps the driver to view large area.

❖ Sign Convention for Reflection by Spherical Mirror

1. The object is always placed to the left side of mirror.
2. All distance should be measured from pole (P); parallel to principal
axis.
3. Take 'P' as origin for measuring distances.
Right of the origin (+x-Axis) are taken positive
Left of the origin (–x-Axis) are taken negative
Perpendicular to and above principal axis (+y-Axis) are taken positive
Perpendicular to and below principal axis (–y-Axis) are taken negative
❖ Mirror formula and Magnification
A formula which gives the relationship between object distance (u),
image distance (v) and focal length (f) of a spherical mirror is known
as mirror formula. It can be written as:
• 1/v + 1/u = 1/f
Where ‘u’ is object distance, ‘v’ is the image distance and ‘f’ is the focal
length of spherical mirror, which is found by similarity of triangles.

• The magnification produced by a spherical mirror is the ratio of the

height of the image to the height of the object. It is usually represented as
‘m’.
m = h2 / h1
Where h2 is height of the image and h1 is height of the object.
• If the magnification has a plus sign, then the image is virtual and
erect.
• If the magnification has a minus sign, the image is real and inverted.

In terms of object distance and image distance, magnification is equal

to the ratio of the image distance to the object distance, with a minus
sign.
m = -v/u
 ❖ Refraction of light:

Light travels in a straight line path as long as it is travelling in the same

medium. If, however the light rays are made to go from one medium to
another, the light rays change their direction at the boundary between the
two media.
The phenomenon of bending of light or change in direction of light
when it passes from one medium to another obliquely is called
refraction of light.
Cause of refraction: The refraction of light is due to change in the speed
of light on going from one medium to another.
Optically rarer medium and optically denser medium:
A medium in which speed of light is more is known as optically rarer
medium.
A medium in which speed of light is less is known as optically denser
medium.
Note: When a ray of light goes from a rarer medium to a denser
medium, it bends towards the normal.
When a ray of light goes from a denser medium to a rarer medium, it
bends away from the normal.

❖ Laws of Refraction

• The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal to the interface of two
transparent media at the point of incidence, all lie in the same plane.
• The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of
refraction is a constant, for the light of a given colour and for the given
pair of media. This law is also known as Snell’s law of refraction.

sin i / sin r = constant

This constant is called refractive index.

Refractive index of a medium gives an indication of the light bending
ability of that medium. The refractive index can also be written as a ratio
of speeds of light in the two media. Since the refractive index is a ratio of
two similar quantities, it has no units. It is denoted by:
n = sin ∠i / sin ∠r = speed of light in medium 1 / speed of light in medium2.
❖ Refraction of light by spherical lenses:
When light is incident on a curved surface and passes through, the laws of
refraction still hold true. For example lenses.

• Spherical lenses
Spherical lenses are the lenses formed by binding two spherical
transparent surfaces together. Spherical lenses formed by binding two
spherical surfaces bulging outward are known as convex lenses while the
spherical lenses formed by binding two spherical surfaces such that they
are curved inward are known as concave lenses.
❖ Principal focus and focal length of a convex lens:

The principal focus of a convex lens is a point on its principal axis to

which light rays parallel to the principal axis converge after passing
through the lens.

The focal length of a lens is the distance between optical centre and
principal focus of the lens.

Note: The centre point of a lens is known as optical centre.

❖ Principal focus and focal length of a concave lens:

The principal focus of a concave lens is a point on its principal axis from
which light rays appear to diverge after passing through the concave lens.

The focal length of a lens is the distance between optical centre and
principal focus of the lens.
 ❖ Rules for obtaining images formed by convex lenses

1. A ray of light which is parallel to principal axis of a convex lens,

passes through its focus after refraction through the lens.

2. A ray of light passing through the optical centre of a convex lens goes
straight after refraction through the lens.

3. A ray of light passing through the focus of a convex lens becomes

parallel to its principal axis after refraction through the lens.

❖ Image formation by spherical lenses

The following table shows image formation by a convex lens.

Note: The ray diagrams given in NCERT Books are to be followed.

❖ Rules for obtaining images formed by concave lenses

1. A ray of light which is parallel to principal axis of a concave lens,

appears to be coming from its focus after refraction through the lens.

2. A ray of light passing through the optical centre of a concave lens goes
straight after refraction through the lens.

3. A ray of light going towards the focus of a concave lens becomes

parallel to its principal axis after refraction through the lens.

❖ Image formation by concave lens:

❖ Uses of convex lens:
1) The lens is employed in microscopes and magnifying glasses to
converge all the incoming light rays to a specific point
2) The lens is used as a lens system in cameras as they focus light rays for
a clear image
3) Lens has medical purposes as well, like the correction of
hypermetropia.
4) It is used in a projector.
❖ Uses of concave lens:
1) Concave lenses are used in spectacles to correct the defect of vision
called myopia.
2) Concave lens is used in wide-angle spy hole in doors.

❖ Lens Formula:
In simple words, the Lens Formula is a formula that shows the
relationship between the distance of the object, the distance of the image,
and the focal length of the lens is called Lens Formula.

The lens formula is given below:

1/v - 1/u = 1/f , where,
v is the distance of the image formed
u is the distance of the object and,
f is the focal length of the lens
 The images which are formed by the Concave and the Convex lens
can be real or virtual as well as they may have different sizes. The
lens formula is applicable to both the concave and the convex lenses.

• If the distance of the image is negative, then it is a virtual image and is on

the same side of the object.
• If the formula claims focal length to be negative, then the lens is
converging, not diverging.

We should know that the distance is always measured from the optical
centre of the lenses.

• If the image formed is virtual, then the distance of the image (v) is
negative.
• If the image is formed real the distance of the image (v) is positive.

❖ Magnification

Magnification of a lens is the ratio of the height of the image formed by

the lens to the height of the object.

Magnification is equal to the ratio of the image distance to that of the

distance of the object. It is denoted by m. The formula of magnification
using lens formula is:

Magnification (m) = h'/h

Where,
m = Magnification
h' = height of the image
h = height of the object

The magnification that is produced by the lens is also related to the ratio
of image distance to the object distance.
m = h'/h = v/u

❖ Power of lens
The power of a lens is the measure of the degree of convergence or
divergence of the light rays falling on it. The degree of convergence or
divergence depends upon the focal length of the lens. Thus, we define the
power of the lens as the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens used. It is
given as:
P = 1/f (in metres)
 Where f is the focal length of the lens used.
SI unit of power is Dioptre (D).
The power of the concave lens is negative, while the power of
the convex lens can be positive.
❖ Power of combination of lenses:
If a number of lenses are placed in close contact, then the power of
combination of the lenses is equal to the algebraic sum of the powers of
individual lenses.
If two lenses of powers p1 and p2 are placed in contact with each other
then their resultant power is given by:
P = p1 + p 2

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. Focal length of plane mirror is
a. At infinity
b. Zero
c. Negative
d. None of these
2. Image formed by plane mirror is
a. Real and erect
b. Real and inverted
c. Virtual and erect
d. Virtual and inverted
3. A concave mirror gives real, inverted and same size image if the
object is placed
a. At F
b. At infinity
c. At C
d. Beyond C
4. Power of the lens is -40, its focal length is
a. 4m
b. -40m
c. -0.25m
d. -25m
5. A concave mirror gives virtual, refract and enlarged image of the
object but image of smaller size than the size of the object is
a. At infinity
b. Between F and C
 c. Between P and F
d. At E
6. In optics an object which has higher refractive index is called
a. Optically rarer
b. Optically denser
c. Optical density
d. Refractive index
7. The optical phenomena, twinkling of stars, is due to
a. Atmospheric reflection
b. Total reflection
c. Atmospheric refraction
d. Total refraction
8. Convex lens focus a real, point sized image at focus, the object is placed
a. At focus
b. Between F and 2F
c. At infinity
d. At 2F
9. The unit of power of lens is
a. Metre
b. Centimeter
c. Diopter
d. M-1
10. The radius of curvature of a mirror is 20cm the focal length is
a. 20cm
b. 10cm
c. 40cm
d. 5cm

Answers
1. A
2. C
3. C
4. C
5. C
6. B
7. C
8. C
9. C
10. B
PREPARED BY:
Ms. Anu Bala (TGT Science)
Kendriya Vidyalaya Gajj Bhunga