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Notes - Reflection of Light

The document discusses the reflection of light, including types of reflection (regular and irregular), laws of reflection, and the formation of images by mirrors. It explains the characteristics of images formed by plane mirrors, the concept of lateral inversion, and the use of plane mirrors in various applications. Additionally, it covers spherical mirrors, their properties, and the concepts of focus and focal length.

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15 views5 pages

Notes - Reflection of Light

The document discusses the reflection of light, including types of reflection (regular and irregular), laws of reflection, and the formation of images by mirrors. It explains the characteristics of images formed by plane mirrors, the concept of lateral inversion, and the use of plane mirrors in various applications. Additionally, it covers spherical mirrors, their properties, and the concepts of focus and focal length.

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rayray.randm
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Reflection of Light

Reflection of Light

he return of light into the same medium after striking a surface is called reflection.
We see the objects around us due to reflection.
A plane minor reflects almost all the light falling on it.

Kinds of Reflection:

Regular Reflection

 When a beam of light falls on a smooth and polished surface (a plane mirror), regular
reflection occurs
 The incident rays and reflected rays are parallel beams.

Irregular Reflection

 When a beam of light falls on a rough surface (a wall or a mad), irregular reflection occurs.
 The incident rays are parallel beams, but the light reflected from different surfaces will reflect at
different angles obeying the laws of reflection.

Terms Related to Reflection


 Incident ray: The light ray striking a reflecting surface is called the incident ray
 Point of incidence: The point at which the incident ray strikes the reflecting surface is called the
point of incidence
 Reflected ray: The light ray obtained after reflection from the surface in the same medium as the
incident ray is called the reflected ray.
 Normal: The perpendicular drawn to the surface at the point of incidence is the normal
 Angle of incidence: The angle made by the incident ray with the normal at the point of incidence
is called the angle of incidence. Plane of incidence: The plane containing the incident ray and the
normal is called the plane of incidence
 Angle of reflection: The angle made by the reflected ray with the normal at the point of
incidence is called the angle of incidence.
 Plane of reflection: The plane containing the reflected ray and the normal is called the
plane of incidence
Laws of Reflection
Reflection at a surface obeys two laws of reflection:
 First law of reflection.: The incident ray, the normal to the surface at the point of incidence and
the reflected ray, all lie in the same plane

 Second law of reflection. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

Formation of Image by Reflection


There are two types of images-real and virtual images.
1) Real image. It is the image which can be obtained on a screen. It is the image formed when light
rays actually intersect after reflection. It is an inverted image.
2) Virtual image: it cannot be obtained on a screen. It is the image formed when light rays do not
actually intersect after reflection but appear to diverge from the image. The light rays intersect
geometrically when they are produced backwards. It is an erect image

Image of a Point Object Formed by a Plane Mirror


 OA and OB are the two rays from object O incident on a plane mirror MM. They get reflected
from the mirror by obeying the laws of reflection. AC and BD are the reflected rays.
 The image I is formed behind the mirror and is located by producing AC and BD backwards. This
image is a virtual image because the reflected rays do not intersect actually

 Position of Image: The image I is as far behind the mirror as the object O is in front of it
Image of an Extended Object Formed by a Plane Mirror

 An object AB is placed in front of a minor MM. Light rays travel from all points of the object in all
directions.
 A' is the virtual image of point A, and B' is the virtual image of point B
 In a similar way, all the points on object AB form virtual images on the mirror between A and B,
giving rise to the virtual image A'B' of AB
 This image is erect and of the same size as the object. The perpendicular distance of each point
behind the mirror is equal to the corresponding point of the object in front of the mirror.

Lateral Inversion
 The interchange of left and right sides in the image of an object in a plane mirror is called lateral
inversion.
 Any symmetrical letter will appear as is after lateral inversion. Examples: A, H, I, M, O, T, U, V, W
and X.
 The word AMBULANCE' is written UBMA' on ambulances. If a car driver is driving in
front of the ambulance, then the image on the rear view mirror will appear normal to him, and
he can give way to the ambulance

Characteristics of the Image Formed by the Plane Mirror


The characteristics of the image formed by a plane mirror are:
 The image formed by a plane mirror is always virtual and erect.
 The size of the image is equal to the size of the object, and the image is laterally inverted.
 The image formed by the plane mirror is as far behind the mirror as the object is in front of it.

Images Formed in Two Inclined Mirrors


 If n = 360/θ is odd
then the number of images formed is n when the object is placed asymmetrically between the
two mirrors.
 If n = 360/θ is odd, then the number of images formed is n-1
when the object is placed symmetrically between the two mirrors.
 If n = 360/θ is even, then the number of images formed is always n-1 no matter how the object is
placed between the two mirrors.

Images Formed by Two Mirrors Placed Parallel to Each Other


 The number of images formed in this case will be infinite as n = 360/θ = ∞
Refer to diagram from book
Images Formed by Two Mirrors Placed Perpendicular to Each Other
 In this case, n= 360 /90= 4. Thus, the number of images will be n-1=3 (fixed)
Refer to diagram from book

Uses of Plane Mirror


 An optician has a plane minor mounted on the front wall where a patient sills and a sign
board on the back wall
 In a kaleidoscope, three plane mirrors are inclined at an angle of 60° to each other This
forms some very beautiful patterns with the help of a glass pieces
 In a barber's shop, two mirrors face each other so that a person can see the hair at the back
of the head.
 In a periscope, two mirrors are inclined at 45" with the vertical walls kept facing each other.

Spherical Mirrors
• A reflecting surface which is a part of a sphere is called a spherical mirror
A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved outwards and polished on the inner
spherical surface is a convex mirror.
• A spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is carved inwards and polished on the outer
spherical surface is a concave mirror.
• The geometric centre of the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is a point called the pole.
• The reflecting surface of a spherical mirror forms a part of a sphere. The centre of this sphere is
called the centre of curvature of a spherical mirror. It is represented by C
• The horizontal line passing through the centre of curvature and the pole of the spherical mirror
is known as the principal axis.
• The radius of curvature of a spherical mirror is the radius of the sphere of which the reflecting
surface of the spherical mirror is a part and is represented by R.
• The part of the mirror which is exposed to incident light is called the aperture of the mirror.
Thus, it is the surface from which reflection occurs

Focus and Focal Length


•The point at which a number of parallel rays intersect on the principal axis after reflecting from
the mirror is called the focus of a concave mirror. It is represented by F
•The point from which a number of parallel rays appear to emerge after reflecting from the
mirror is called the principal focus of a convex mirror. It is also represented by F

•The distance between the pole and the focus of the mirror is known as the focal length of the
mirror. It is denoted as f.
•For spherical mirrors of small aperture, R = 2f or f= 1/2 R

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