Module 2 Optics

Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its
interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. The speed of
light in vacuum is 3 x 108m/s. It is the fastest thing in this universe.
The important Properties of light are, Reflection, Refraction, Diffraction, Interference,
Polarization, Dispersion and Scattering of light. The first two properties are discussed here,
We are concentrating only on reflection and refraction of light

Reflection of Light
Reflection is the bouncing back of light when it strikes a smooth surface.
Generally occurs on shinny surfaces that only allow rebounding of light without permitting
penetration through it.

Laws of reflection

A light ray is reflected from a plane smooth surface according to two laws of reflection:
a) The incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface lie in the same
plane at the point of incidence.
b) The angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection.

Spherical mirrors
A mirror with a surface that is either concave or convex and forms a portion of a true
sphere.
A spherical mirror is categorised into two forms, namely: concave and convex
The mirror that has its reflecting surface curved inwards is called a concave mirror, and the
mirror that has its reflecting surface curved outwards is called a convex mirror.

Spherical mirrors as a part of a sphere (a) Concave mirror (b) Convex mirror
Principal focus (F): A narrow beam of light parallel to the principal axis after reflection
converges to a point on the principal axis in the case of a concave mirror and appears to
diverge from a point on the principal axis in the case of a concave mirror. This point is
called the principal focus.
Focal length(f): It is the distance between the pole and the principal focus. For a spherical
mirror, focus lie on the principal axis at the midpoint between pole and center of curvature.
1
R
f

Principal focus and focal length of (a) concave mirror and (b) convex mirror

Mirror formula
1 1 1
 
u v f
Uses of spherical mirrors
a) Concave mirror is used as shaving mirrors.
b) Parabolic mirrors are used in astronomical telescopes and searchlights.
c) Convex mirrorsare used in vehicles to see the rear side.
Refraction
Refraction is the bending of light rays when it travels from one medium to another.
When light travels from a rarer medium to a denser medium (eg. From air to glass), light
bends towards the normal at the point of incidence. When light travels from a denser medium
to a rarer medium, light bends away from the normal
The angle between the incident ray and the normal is known as angle incidence (i). The
angle between the refracted ray and the normal is known as the angle of refraction (r).
The angle between the incident ray and the refracted ray is called the angle of deviation (d).

Laws of Refraction
1. The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal, to the interface of any two given
mediums; all lie in the same plane.
2. The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence and sine of the angle of refraction is
constant.
If ‘i’ is the angle of incidence in the first medium and ‘r’ the angle of refraction in the

second medium then

n2 sin i
n1 sin i  n2 sin r or   n21
n1 sin r
Where n21 is the refractive index of the second medium with respect to the first
medium.
Refractive index of a medium is defined as the ratio of the speed of the light in vacuum (c)
to the speed of the light in the medium (v)
𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑚 = speed of light in vacuum/𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑚
𝑛 = 𝑐/ 𝑣

Some practical examples of refraction

a) Twinkling of stars: The density of different layers of the atmosphere continuously
changes. So due to the refraction of light at these layers, the apparent image of the star
appears to be at S1 . The position of S1 also changes with time. Thus,the star appears to be
twinkling.

Twinkling of a star due to refraction of light at atmospheric

b) Apparent depth and real depth

Consider an object kept in a medium at a depth D. When it is viewed from a rarer medium
(air) apparent depth (d) seems to be less than the actual depth as shown in fig. Apparent depth
of an object in denser medium as viewed from a rarer

The apparent depth of an object depends on the refractive index of the medium. If n is the
refractive index of the denser medium with respect to the rarer medium then,
𝑛 =𝐷/𝑑
c) Apparent shift in the position of the sun at sunrise and sunset:
Sun is visible before sunrise and after sunset because of atmospheric refraction. The density
of atmospheric air decreases as we go up. So, the rays coming from the sun deviate towards
the normal after refraction at each layer. If the sun is below the horizon at S, light appears to
come from S1as shown in fig. given below. For an observer on earth. So, the observer can see
the sun before sunrise.

Apparent Shift in the position sunrise due to atmospheric refraction

Therefore, due to refraction, the sun appears to rise early by 2 minutes and set late by 2
minutes. The day thus becomes longer by about 4 minutes

Spherical lenses

A lens is made of transparent materials bound by two refracting surfaces. If the two surfaces
are curved, they are known as spherical lenses.
 If the middle part of the lens is thicker than the edges it is s convex lens. If the middle part of
the lens is thinner than the edges it is a concave lens

a)Optic center: The geometric center of the lens is called the optic center.
b) Principal axis: There are two centers of curvatures for a lens. The
principal axis of a lens is the line joining the centers of curvature.
c)Principal focus: There are two principal foci each on either side of the lens. The
definition of principal focus is different for the two types of spherical lenses.
i. Convex lens: A parallel beam of light parallel to the principal axis after refraction
converges to a fixed point on the principal axis called the principal focus.
ii. Concave lens: A parallel beam of light parallel to the principal axis after refraction
diverges from a fixed point on the principal axis. This fixed point is called the
principal focus.

Lens formula
1 1 1
 
v u f
Power of lens
1
P
f in meters
The unit of power is m-1 or Diopter (D).The power of a convex lens is positive and that of a
concave lens is negative

Magnification of a lens
If ℎo is the height of the object and ℎi is the height of the image, then linear
magnification is given by
h
m i
ho
If the image is erect (above principal axis), image height is positive. If the image is inverted
below the principal axis), the image height is negative.

Also, if u is the object distance and v is the image distance, then magnification is given by

v
m
u
Magnification is negative for real images and positive for virtual images.
Image formed by concave lens
Combination of lenses

Consider a number of lenses of focal length 𝑓1,f2, 𝑓3 etc. are kept in contact. The effective
focal length of the combination is given by

1 1 1 1
   ;.....
f f1 f 2 f 3
The effective power of lens combination is given by 𝑃 = 𝑃1+ 𝑃2 + 𝑃3 + ⋯
where 𝑃1, 𝑃2 ,𝑃3 etc. are the powers of individual lenses. If 𝑚1, 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 etc. are the
magnifications produced by the lenses, then the net magnification produced by the
combination is given by
𝑚 = 𝑚1 × 𝑚2 × 𝑚3 × …
Lens defects

1. Spherical Abberation

Spherical aberration is present when the outer parts of a lens do not bring light rays into
the same focus as the central part. Images formed by the lens at large apertures are
therefore unsharp but get sharper at smaller apertures.

This defect can be removed by blocking marginal rays. This can be done by using a circular
annular mask over the lens.
Spherical aberration can be minimized by using stops, crossed lenses, and plano-convex
lenses.
2. Chromatic Abberation
The inability of a lens to focus all the colours to a single point is called chromatic aberration.
Chromatic aberration can be eliminated by combining a convex lens and concave lens of
suitable focal length and material. Such a combination is called an achromatic doublet or
achromat.

Optical Instruments
Optical instruments are mainly classified into two categories: a) Visual optical instruments b)
Spectral optical instruments Microscopes and telescopes are examples of visual optical
instruments. Prisms and gratings are examples of spectral optical instruments.

1 Simple microscope
A simple microscope or magnifier is an optical instrument to see the magnified image of an
object. A simple microscope consists of a convex lens of a short focal length.

The principle behind the simple microscope is that when a tiny object is placed between the
principal focus and optic centre of a convex lens, a virtual, erect, and magnified image of the
object is formed on the same side of the lens as shown in figure.
The least distance of distinct vision(D) is the
minimum distance of the object from the
eye, which can be seen distinctly without
strain. For a normal human eye, this distance
is 25 cm.
Principle behind the working of a simple
microscope
The magnifying power formula:
D
M  1
f

Astronomical Telescope
An astronomical telescope is an optical instrument used to see a magnified image of distant
objects like planets, satellites, stars, galaxies, etc. The telescope provides angular
magnification of distant objects. It consists of an objective and an eyepiece. The objective has
a large focal length and a much larger aperture. Light from a distant object enters the
objective and a real image is formed in the tube at the focal point of the objective lens. If this
image is at the focal point of the eyepiece, a final magnified inverted image is formed at
infinity.

Magnification of the telescope

m is given by

m

f 
m  f0 
1 e 
fe  D 
where 𝛽is the angle subtended at the eye by the image,𝛼 is the angle subtended
at the eye by the object, 𝑓o and 𝑓e are the focal length of the objective and eyepiece and D is
the image distance.

The ability of an instrument to show two very closed objects as separate is called its resolving
power. The resolving power of a telescope is defined as the reciprocalof the smallest angular
separation 𝑑θ between two distant objects whose images are distinctly separated by the
telescope.
The resolving power of a telescope is defined as the reciprocal of the smallest angular
separation 𝑑θ between two distant objects whose images are distinctly separated by the
telescope.
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 =1/𝑑θ =𝑑/1.22λ
where λ is the wavelength of the light used and d is the diameter (aperture) of the telescope.
Total internal reflection
The angle of incidence in the denser medium for which the angle of refraction is 900 in the
air is known as the critical angle of the denser medium. It is represented by ‘C’.If the angle of
incidence is greater than the critical angle the ray returns to the denser medium shown in
This is known as total internal reflection.
 Total internal reflection is defined as the complete reflection of light back into a medium
when light travels from a denser medium to a rarer medium and the angle of incidence in the
denser medium is greater than the critical angle.
If ‘n’ is the refractive index of the denser medium with respect to the rarer medium and the
angle of incidence in the rarer medium is the critical angle ‘C’, then the angle of refraction in
the rarer medium is 90 o. Using Snell’s law,

sin 90 1
n 
sin C sin C

Applications of total internal reflection

a) Brilliance of diamond: Refractive index of diamond is high ( n= 2.42)

and the critical angle is small ( C = 24.410).

The light entering into the face undergoes total internal reflection many
times inside the crystal and comes out through one or two faces. So these
faces appear glittering. This is the reason why diamonds and certain
precious stones exhibit brilliance.

b) Mirage :
Mirage is due to total internal reflection.
The layers of air in contact with desert or hot
roads are less denser than the air above it. The
rays of light from distant objects bend more and
more when they pass through these layers. and
when the angle of incidence is greater than the
critical angle it gets totally reflected back. When
these rays enter into the observer’s eye, he can
see the inverted image as though reflected from
a pond.
a) Total reflection prisms

Total reflection prisms are right-angled isosceles prisms made of crown glass of refractive
index 1.5. A prism having an angle of 90 o between its two refracting surfaces
and the other two angles each equal to 45 o, is called a total reflecting prism. The
critical angle of the crown is the glass is 41.8o. Therefore when the ray is incident at an
angle greater than 41.8 o within the glass, the ray undergoes total internal reflection.
Optical fiber
Optical fiber is a device which works on the principle of total internal reflection and transmits
light signals from one place to another without much loss of energy. Optical fiber is very a thin
fiber made of glass,quartz, or plastic of very high refractive index.

The applications of optical fibers

a) Optical fibers are used to transmit light from one place to another
b) Optical fiber cables are used to transmit communication signals (telephone signals, internet
data).
c) Optical fibers are used for decoration purposes.
d) Optical fibers are used in the medical field to examine the interior parts of the human
body like the stomach, intestine, etc.(Endoscopy)
e) Optical fibers can be used in toxic and hazardous environments instead of electrical
cables.
Use of optical fibers in telecommunication
Fiber-optic communication has revolutionized the telecommunications industry. Optical fiber is used
by telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals, internet data, and cable television
signals. Due to lower attenuation and interference, optical fiber has advantages over the copper wire
in long-distance, high-bandwidth applications. There are several compelling reasons that lead to the
widespread adoption of fiber optic cabling for telecommunication
applications:
i) Much lower levels of signal attenuation
ii) Fiber optic cabling provides a much higher bandwidth allowing more data to be
delivered
iii) Fiber optic cables are much lighter than the coaxial cables that might otherwise be
used.
iv) Fiber optics do not suffer from stray interference pickup that occurs with coaxial
cabling