Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Refraction Notes
A ray of light travels along a straight path within the same medium, e.g. Air, water or glass. However, experiments show that
when a ray of light enters one medium from another, the ray often changes direction at the point of incidence. This change of
path is due to refraction. Refraction is the bending of the light path as it passes from one transparent material to another.
The angle between the incident ray and the normal to the boundary between the two media is called the angle of incidence. The
angle between the refracted ray and the normal is called the angle of refraction. The change of direction depends on the angle of
incidence and the media.
LAWS OF REFRACTION.
The laws of refraction state that when a ray of light enters one medium from another:
1.the incident ray, the normal to the interface at the point of incidence, and the refracted ray are in the same plane;
1. The ratio of the sine of the incident angle to the sine of the refracted angle is a constant. (Snells Law).
Other observations may be summarised as follows:
1. When the incident ray is at right angle to the interface between the media, the ray is not bent.
P a g e | 2
2. When a light ray enters a medium such as glass from air, the ray is refracted towards the normal.
3. Conversely, when a light ray enters air from glass, the ray is refracted away from the normal.
4. When two faces of a glass block are parallel, the emerging ray is parallel to the incident ray. But is laterally displaced. If the
two faces are not parallel, the ray is deviated from its original direction.
REFRACTIVE INDEX
In going from one medium to another, the amount that the light bends depends on the refractive indices of the two media.
This constant depends on the nature of the media. It is called the relative refractive index. The relative refractive index of the two
media is the ratio of the speeds of light in the two media. For a ray of light travelling from medium A to medium B; we find that
= refractive index of medium 2, = angle of refraction in medium 2
P a g e | 3
Where = speed of light in medium 1,
= speed of light in medium 2,
= absolute refractive index of medium 1
= absolute refractive index of medium 2
1 2
The absolute refractive index of a substance is the relative refractive index from a vacuum (n = 1.00) to the substance. The
refractive index of air is so close to 1.00 that for practical purposes, its value is taken to be exactly 1.00. The refractive index for
glass varies with the composition of the glass. The most common value is 1.5.
The absolute refractive index is worked out according to the following formula:
1
Examples that will be done on board will explain all the above concepts systematically!
P a g e | 4
Example 1
The speed of light in Perspex is 2.0 × 10 8 m s–1.Calculate the refractive index of perspex, given
that the speed of light in a vacuum is3.00 × 10 8 m s–1.
Solution:
3.00 × 10 8
=
2.0 × 10 8
=1.5
Example 2
The refractive indices for crown glass and alcohol are 1.52 and 1.36 respectively.
A ray of light passes from alcohol to crown glass. If the angle of incidence is 50º, calculate the
angle of refraction.
n1 sin θ1 = n2 sin θ 2
= 0.6854
θ = 43.3°
2
Angle of refraction is 43.3º
Example 3
The refractive index of water is 1.33. Calculate
the speed of light in water given that the speed of light in a vacuum is 3.00 × 10 8 m s–1.
3.00 ×108
speed of light vacuum =
nwater = speed of lightwater 1.33
speed of light water
= 2.26 ×10 m s
8 −1
3.00 × 108
1.33 =
speed of light water
P a g e | 5
Lenses
A lens is made of any transparent material bounded by curved surfaces. It causes a beam of light to bend on passing through it.
The line joining the centres of curvature of the two surfaces is the principal axis of the lens. A convex (converging) lens is one that
is wider at the centre than at the edges. A concave (diverging) lens is one that is narrower at the centre than at the edges.
CONCAVE CONVEX
The principal focus F of a lens is that point through which the rays of light parallel to the principal axis either pass through or
appear to pass through.
Images formed by lenses.
To locate the position of the image of an object, two of the following rays are required.
• A ray leaving the same point on the object, through the centre of the lens, which is undeviated.
• A ray parallel to the principal axis, which passes or appears to pass through the principal focus.
• A ray passing or appearing to pass through the principal focus, emerging from the lens parallel to the principal axis.
Describing images
Images are described by
• Nature is the image real or virtual
• Orientation is the image upright or inverted
• Position the distance of the image from the optical axis
• Size (what is the height of the image) and magnification.
P a g e | 6
Convex lenses
When the object is beyond 2 × the focal point
Description of image
When the object is at 2 × the focal point
Description of image
When the object is between 2 × the focal point and the focal point
Description of image
When the object is at the focal point
Description of image
When the object is in front of the focal point
Description of image
P a g e | 8
Concave lenses
Concave lenses are not very commonly used, but are important in some optical systems.
When the object is beyond 2 × the focal point
Description of image
When the object is at 2 × the focal point
Description of image
P a g e | 9
When the object is between 2 × the focal point and the focal point.
Description of image
When the object is in front of the focal point
Description of image
P a g e | 10
Summary
• The path of light is bent as it both enters and exits a lens, this is due to refraction.
• A converging lens (convex) brings parallel rays of light to a focus.
• A diverging lens (concave) spreads parallel rays apart.
• The focal length of a lens is determined by its radius of curvature. Thinner lenses have longer focal lengths.
• Graphical ray tracing can be used to locate the image formed by lenses. There are 3 rays to choose from.
• The nature, orientation, position and size of the image depends on the position of the object relative to the focal length
of the lens.
• In general convex lenses form real images of distant objects and virtual images of very close objects.
Lens equation and linear magnification
This is the same principal as the mirror equation.
1 1 1
The linear magnification is given by = +
f u v
where f is the focal length
u is the object distance
v is the image distance.
Hi v
Magnification M = =−
Ho u
Example 1
Use a ray‐tracing diagram to locate the image formed.