- Insights By Rohit

Light – Reflection and Refraction

Light is a form of energy which enables us to see objects from which it comes.

Light always travel in a straight line. The speed of light is 3x108 m/s. Reflection

of light :

The process of sending back the light rays which fall on the surface of an object is
called reflection of light.

The objects having polished, shining surfaces reflect more light than objects having
unpolished, dull surfaces.

A plane mirror is a thin, flat and smooth sheet of glass having a shining coating of
silver metal on one side.

A ray of light is the straight line along which light travels.

A ‘bundle of light rays’ is called beam of light.

Reflection of light from plane mirror :

Incident ray : The ray of light which falls on the surface of mirror is called incident
ray. In fig. OI is incident ray.

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Point of incidence : The point at which the incident ray falls on the mirror is called
the point of incidence. In fig O is the point of incidence.

Reflected ray : The ray of light which is sent back by the mirror is called the reflected
ray. In fig RO is reflected ray.

Normal : It is a line at right angle to the mirror surface at the point of incidence. In fig
NO is normal ray.

Angle of incidence : The angle made by the incident ray with the normal at the point of
incidence. In fig angle ION is angle of incidence.

Angle of reflection : The angle made by the reflected ray with the normal at the point of
incidence. In fig angle RON is angle of reflection.

Laws of reflection :

1. First law of reflection : The incident ray , the reflected ray and the normal all lie
in the same plane.
2. Second law of reflection : The angle of incidence is always equal to angle of
reflection.

∠i =∠r

Object : Anything which gives out light rays is called an object.

Image : Image is an optical appearance produced when light rays coming from an
object are reflected from a mirror.

The images are of two types :

(i) Real image : The image which can be obtained on a screen is called real
image. Images formed on a cinema screen is an example of real image. (ii) Virtual
image : The image which can’t be obtained on a screen is called virtual image. A
virtual image is just an illusion. Image of our face in a plane mirror is an example
of virtual image.

Image formed by a plane mirror is always virtual and erect. The size of the image is
equal to that of the object. The image is laterally inverted.

Spherical Mirror : It is that mirror whose reflecting surface is the part of a hollow
sphere of glass. They are of two types:

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(a) Concave mirror: It is that spherical mirror in which the reflection of light takes
place at concave surface( or bent in) surface. The inner surface of spoon is an
example of concave mirror.
(b) Convex mirror : It is that spherical mirror in which the reflection of light takes
place at convex surface( or bulging out) surface. The outer surface of spoon is an
example of convex mirror.

Centre of curvature : The centre of curvature of a spherical mirror is the centre of a

hollow sphere of glass of which the mirror is part.

Radius of curvature : The radius of curvature of a spherical mirror is the radius of

hollow sphere of glass of which the mirror is a part.

Pole : The centre of a spherical mirror is called its pole.

Principal Axis : The straight line passing through the centre of curvature and pole of
a spherical mirror is called its principal axis.

Aperture : That portion of a mirror from which the reflection of light actually
takes place is called the aperture of the mirror.

Principal focus of concave mirror : It is a point on its principal axis to which all
the light rays which are parallel and close to the axis, converge after reflection from
the concave mirror.

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Principal focus of convex mirror : It is a point on its principal axis from which a
beam of light rays, initially parallel to the axis, appears to diverge after being
reflected from the convex mirror.

Focal length : It is the distance between the pole of a mirror and its principal
focus.

Relation between Radius of curvature and Focal length :

The focal length of a spherical mirror is equal to half of its radius of curvature. If

f is the focal length of a spherical mirror and R is radius of curvature, then f = R/2

Formation of different types of images by a concave mirror :

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1. When the object is at infinity :

When an object is at infinity from a concave mirror, the image formed is:
(i) At the focus
(ii) Real and inverted
(iii) Much smaller than object

2. When the object is beyond the centre of curvature :

When the object is beyond the centre of curvature of a concave mirror, the image
formed is :

(i) Between the focus and centre of curvature

(ii) Real and inverted
(iii) Smaller than the object

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3. When the object is placed at the centre of curvature :

When an object is placed at the centre of curvature of a concave mirror, the image
formed is :

(i) At the centre of curvature

(ii) Real and inverted
(iii) Same size as the object

4. When the object is placed between focus and centre of curvature :

When an object is placed between focus and centre of curvature of concave mirror,
the image formed is:

(i) Beyond the centre of curvature

(ii) Real and inverted
(iii) Larger than the object

5. When the object is at the focus of concave mirror :

When an object is placed at the focus of concave mirror, the image formed is:

(i) At infinity
(ii) Real and inverted
(iii) Highly enlarged

6. When the object is placed between pole and focus of concave mirror :

When an object is placed between pole and focus of concave mirror, the image
formed is :

(i) Behind the mirror

(ii) Virtual and erect
(iii) Larger than the object

Uses of concave mirror :

1. They are used in torches,search-lights and vehicles headlights.

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2. They are used as shving mirrors.
3. They are used by dentists to see the large images of the teeth of the patients. 4.
They are used to concentrate sunlight to produce heat in solar furnaces.

Image formation by convex mirror:

Position of object Position of image Size of the image Nature of image

At infinity At the focus F, Highly Virtual and erect

behind the mirror diminished, point
sized
Between the Behind the Dimnished Virtual and erect
pole and mirror, between
infinity of P and F
mirror

1. When the object is at infinity from a convex mirror :

Image formed will be
(a) Behind the mirror at focus(F)
(b) Virtual and erect
(c) Highly diminished.

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2. When the object is placed between pole and infinity in front of convex
mirror :
Image formed will be
(a) Behind the mirror between pole and focus
(b) Virtual and erect
(c) Diminished

Uses of convex mirror :

Convex mirrors are used as rear-view mirror in vehicles to see the traffic at the
rear side.
A driver prefers to use convex mirror as rear view mirror because of two
reasons:
(a) It always produces an erect image of the objects.
(b) The image formed in convex mirror is much smaller than the object due to
which a convex mirror gives a wide field of view.

Mirror Formula :

f = focal length

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u = distance of object from the mirror

v = distance of image from the mirror

Magnification :

The ratio of the height of image to the height of object is called linear magnification. m
= h2/h1 ----- (1) m = linear magnification

h2 = height of image

h1 = height of object

If the magnification comes out to be positive, then the image is virtual and erect. If

the magnification has a minus sign, then the image is real and inverted. If m>1,

then the image is bigger than the object

m=1, then the image size is equal to the object size

m<1, then the image size is smaller than the object

The linear magnification produced by a mirror is equal to the ratio of the image
distance to the object distance, with a minus sign.

m = - v/u -------(2) m = magnification

v = image distance from the pole of a mirror

u = object distance from the pole of a mirror

From (1) and (2)

h2/h1 = - v/u

Refraction of light :

The bending of light when it passes from one medium to another is called refraction of
light.

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Angle of incidence : The angle between the incident ray and normal is called angle of
incidence.

Angle of refraction : The angle between the refracted ray and the normal is called
angle of refraction.

Cause of refraction : The refraction of light is due to the change in the speed of light on
going from one medium to another.

The speed of light is different in different media. E.g., Speed of light in air is
3x108m/s , in glass it is 2x108m/s , in water is 2.25x108m/s.

Optically rarer medium : A medium in which the speed of light is more is called
optically rarer medium.

Optically denser medium : A medium in which the speed of light is less is called
optically denser medium.

Glass is an optically denser medium than air and water.

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.

Light going from Air to glass and again to air :

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When a ray of light goes from air to glass , it bend towards the normal making angle of
refraction with the normal and then that refracted ray goes from glass to air bending away
from the normal making itself as emergent ray and an angle of emergence with the
normal.

Lateral Displacement :The perpendicular shift in the path of the incident ray, as it
emerges out from the denser medium, is called lateral displacement. It is calculated as
the perpendicular distance between the incident ray and the emergent ray, which are
parallel to each other.

Laws of refraction :

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

Sin i / Sin r = constant

This constant value is called the refractive index of second medium with respect to
first medium.

Refractive Index

The refractive index of medium 2 with respect to medium 1 is given by ratio of speed of
light in medium 2 to the speed of light in medium 1.

n21 = v1 / v2

Spherical Lens

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A transparent material bound by two surfaces, of which one or both surfaces are
spherical, forms a lens.
Convex lens Concave lens 1. Bulging outwards 1. Bulging inwards.

2. Converging lens. 2. Diverging lens.

Concave Lens
A lens bounded by two spherical surfaces, curved inwards is known as concave lens. It
is also known as diverging lens because it diverges the light.

Convex Lens
A lens bounded by two spherical surfaces, curved outwards is known as convex lens. It
is also known as converging lens because it converges the light.

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 Lens Formula

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f = focal length

u = distance of object from the mirror

v = distance of image from the mirror

Magnification :

The ratio of the height of image to the height of object is called linear magnification. m
= h2/h1 ----- (1) m = linear magnification

h2 = height of image

h1 = height of object

If the magnification comes out to be positive, then the image is virtual and erect. If

the magnification has a minus sign, then the image is real and inverted. If m>1,

then the image is bigger than the object

m=1, then the image size is equal to the object size

m<1, then the image size is smaller than the object

The linear magnification produced by a mirror is equal to the ratio of the image
distance to the object distance, with a minus sign.

m = v/u

m = magnification

v = image distance from the pole of a mirror

u = object distance from the pole of a mirror

From (1) and (2)

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h2/h1 = v/u

Power of Lens
The degree of convergence or divergence of light ray achieved by a lens is known as
power of a lens.
It is defined as the reciprocal of its focal length (in metres), represented by P. If

F is given in metre, then P = 1/f

SI unit of power of a lens is “dioptre” denoted by ‘D’

1 dioptre : It is the power of lens whose focal length is 1 m.

Note : Power of concave lens or diverging lens is always negative. Power of convex
lens or converging lens is always positive.

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