Light

Youngs Double slit Experiment

Light from a monochromatic light source (producing light of a

single wavelength to ensure that fringes are of only one
colour) is directed at the single slit. The single slit is narrow
and considered to be a point source. Waves from this point
source are further split into two coherent sources (produce
waves that are in phase and of the same frequency,
amplitude, and wavelength) at the double slits.
Youngs Double slit Experiment
The waves emerging from
S1 and S2 interfere in space
producing interference
fringes which can be
viewed on a screen. The
slits S1 and S2, d, must be
very close together
(~0.1mm) in order for the
waves to be able to overlap
over a large region. The
distance from the double
slit to the screen ,D, is
much larger (~ 1m).
 Interference patterns

Interference fringes consisting of dark and light band which

are equally spaced appear on the screen. So S1 and S2 act like
coherent waves sources and to two sets of waves interfere
constructively (bright fringe forms-waves in phase) and
destructively (dark fringe forms-waves directly out of phase).
[light +light =brighter light, light + light = darkness]
Interference
 Interference patterns

Constructive interference occurs if the path difference for the

waves from the 2 slits is 1, 2, 3 , i.e. a whole number of
wavelengths. Destructive interference occurs if the path
difference for the waves from the 2 slits is an odd number of
1 3 5 7
half wavelengths i.e. , , , and so on.
2 2 2 2
 Observance of light diffraction
The diffraction of light is not normally observed
because width of the aperture or slit through which
it passes has to be comparable to the wavelength of
light for any spreading of light waves to occur; Light
waves have very short wavelengths. To diffract the
gap needs to be extremely small: around one
thousands of 1mm.
 Propagation of Light
Light can be considered as a wave or as a stream
of particles called photons. Photons leaving a
light source travel in straight lines called rays;
the way that it travels in a straight line is called
rectilinear propagation.
 Ray of light
A ray of light is a narrow beam of parallel light
which can be drawn as a single line on a
diagram. In diagrams rays are drawn with a
arrow on them showing the direction of travel of
light.
 Rays and wavefronts

Rays are always drawn perpendicular to

the direction of travel of the respective
wavefronts.
 Shadows
Because light travels in straight lines a shadow is
formed when an opaque object is placed in the
path of a beam of light. If point source (source
whose dimensions is small where rays of light come
from the same point) is used a shadow of uniform
darkness is formed called an umbra.
 Shadows
If an extended light source (source whose dimensions is
large and from which rays arrive at an object from
different points on the source ) is used two shadows are
formed: a shadow of uniform darkness (the umbra) in the
centre, and a partial shadow called the penumbra around
the umbra. Moving outwards from the centre the
penumbra becomes lighter. Also, there are no sharp
edges between the umbra-penumbra and the penumbra-
bright region boundaries.
 Eclipse of the Sun
A solar eclipse is produced when light from the
Sun is blocked off by the moon. People in the
umbra of the earth see a total eclipse, while
those in the penumbra experience a partial
eclipse.
 Eclipse of the moon
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the Sun
and the Moon and the three are in line. During the event,
the Moon enters the Earths penumbra and becomes less
bright; then it enter the umbra where it is totally eclipsed
and it reenters the penumbra on the other side getting
brighter and brighter.
 The Pinhole Camera
This construction can be used to demonstrate rectilinear
propagation. It consists of black paper with a tiny hole for the
entrance for light and a crumple-free white tracing paper or grease-
proof paper pasted at the back of the box as a screen. The outside
surface of the sturdy cardboard box is lined with black paper. An
actual photo can be take if the screen replaced with photographic
film
Image formed on Camera
A clear and inverted image of
the object is formed on the
screen. An image that can be
formed on a screen is called a
real image. Moving the object
closer to the camera increase
the size of the image.
Increasing the size of the
pinhole allows more rays from
a particular point to enter the
camera and there is more
divergence between the rays.
This makes the image less
sharp or blurred although it
looks brighter.
 Magnification of an image
The ratio of the image height to the object height , H/h,
and the image distance form pinhole to the object
distance from pinhole, v/u, are equal. These ratios gives
the linear magnification of the image.

, ,
= =
, ,

Also = for an object seen in a liquid

from above.
 Light Incidence on a surface
When a wave strikes a smooth plane (flat)
surface it may be reflected / refracted (bent)
or absorbed or any combination of these.
 Reflection of light
We see most objects because light falls on them
and is reflected off their surfaces into our eyes.
It is the bouncing of light at the interface
between two media with different densities.
 Laws of reflection
When light waves reflection they obey the laws of
reflection:
The incident ray the reflected ray and the normal at the
point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of
reflection
 Reflection of wavefront/ray
PQ: Plane reflecting surface

A1A, B1C: Incident rays

AB: Incident wave front

CD: Reflected wave front

AD1, CC1: Reflected rays

MAM' and NCN' are normals to the surface at A

and C

A1AM = i = Angle of incidence

MAD = r = Angle of reflection

 Experiment for law of reflection
Use a protractor mark several angles of incidence
on the paper
Stand a plane mirror upright with its reflecting
surface on the line , XMY, and shine the ray of
light along each of the directions, being careful
each time that the ray strikes the mirror at M
Mark the direction of each of the reflected rays
with a cross
Draw the reflected rays and measure the angle of
reflection.
 Construction of a ray diagram

A ray box is used to create a narrow beam of light and the path of the ray is traced by
marking two points and drawing a straight line to represent the beam. They ray box is the
arrangement of a lamp and a single slit and usually a cylindrical converging lens.
 Types of reflection
Reflection off of smooth surfaces such as mirrors or
a calm body of water leads to a type of reflection
known as regular or specular reflection; parallel
rays from a light source are reflected in the same
direction. Reflection off of rough surfaces such as
clothing, paper, and the asphalt roadway leads to a
type of reflection known as irregular or diffuse
reflection; parallel rays are randomly reflected in
different directions.
Experiment for determining image

Finding the positon of the image in a

plane mirror by ray tracing
 Mirror Images: Ray plotting
Draw a straight line to represent a mirror line at the centre of a page.

Draw the normal at 90 through the centre of the mirror line.

Place the mirror in position with the silver part on the mirror line.

Insert optical pin O at a distance x from the mirror line along the normal .

Place P1 on one side of the normal as close to the mirror as possible and pin P2 as
close to the edge of the paper as possible so that they are aligned with the image
of O in the mirror.

Remove pins and draw a line through P1 and P2 and extend it back to the mirror
line.

Repeat the process on the other side of the normal, with pins P3 and P4.

Extend the reflected rays back behind the mirror to find the position of the image.
Mirror Images: No parallax method
Place a mirror on a mirror line and place an
optical pin in front of it. Place a search pin behind
the mirror such that the top can be seen over the
mirror.
Adjust the search pin until there is no separation
between the such pin and the image of O (They
appear to be one when parallax is eliminated)
Indicate the correct position of the search pin and
the object pin.
 Object viewed using flat mirror
An object viewed using a flat mirror appears to
be located behind the mirror, because to the
observer the diverging rays from the source
appear to come from behind the mirror.
Formation of images in Plane mirror
The object distance, u, and the
image distance, v, from the
mirror line are equal. Thus, the
magnification is 1.
The image is virtual (the rays only
appear to come from a point
behind the mirror). The rays
producing the virtual image are
diverging and thus cannot be
formed on a screen
The object size is equal to the
image size (This proves again that
the magnification is 1)
The image is upright and laterally
inverted (left-right reversal)
Real and virtual images
Virtual images are
those which rays of
light only appear to
come from but which
no real light ever
reaches. Broken line
are to represent
virtual rays
Real images are
formed when all the
rays coming from a
point on the object
are brought together
again at another
single point.
 Convex mirrors
Images formed with convex mirrors are always right
side up and reduced in size.
Convex mirrors
 Concave Mirrors
In the concave
mirror, the reflected
image is upright and
magnified if object is
in front of the focus
which is close to the
reflecting surface.
Concave mirrors
 Refraction of light
The bending or changing in direction of travel of light as the light crosses the
boundary between one transparent medium to another. The change in
direction occurs as a result of a change in the speed of light as it travels across
the boundary separating two media of different optical density.
 Which way does light get bent
When light passes from a fast medium (optically less dense) to
a slow medium (optically dense medium) it bends towards the
normal. Thus as light goes into water or glass it bends towards
the normal. When it travels from a slower to a faster medium,
it bends away from the normal.
 Why does refraction occur
As the wavefront AC approaches the boundary at an angle, end A gets to the low
speed medium first. While C has just reached the boundary at , end A has been
travelling through the slower medium and so has covered a shorter distance to .
Thus, after the wavefront has completely crossed the boundary it finds itself
aligned in a different direction. All parts of the wavefront then moves slower at the
same slower speed. The opposite happen from a slow medium to a fast medium.

Consider a car (the light) driving along a smooth highway (the air). If the right passenger
side of the vehicle strays into the rough shoulder (the glass material) adjacent to the road,
the right side of the vehicle starts to drag. Consequently, since the left side of the vehicle i
traveling faster than its right side, the vehicle veers towards the shoulder (or material).
 Refraction of wavefront/ray
MN: Refracting surface

A1A, B1C: Incident rays

AB: Incident wave front

CD: Refracted wave front

AD1, CC1: Refracted rays

PAQ: Normal to surface MN at A

P'CQ': Normal to surface MN at C

A1AP: angle of incidence = i

QAD: angle of refraction = r

c1 = velocity of light in medium 1

c2 = velocity of light in medium 2

 Observations which indicate the
Refraction of light
Due to refraction in the atmosphere no star is where
they appear to be unless they are directly above.
A shimmer effect can be observed above a Bunsen
burner or very hot surface, as hot air swirls upwards
and its density keeps changing randomly. The object
appears to shift position slightly as the light crossing
the hot air is refracted one way and then the other.
 Observations which indicate the
refraction of light
What is seen is the image of the object, which
appears to be near to the surface. Notice that the
lines from the surface to the image are shown
dotted. This is because no light takes that part of
the path: they are just construction lines to pinpoint
where the image appear to be. The path of light as
it enters the eyes is what determine where the
object seems to be.
Refraction of light by glass block
A narrow beam of light
incident on one face of a
rectangular glass block is
refracted as it crosses the
boundary. Since the two
opposite faces of the block are
parallel, if light enters the glass
at 20, when it leaves in the
opposite direction it is
refracted by the same amount
the other way. The Light ray
travels parallel to the direction
it was originally travelling in
but is displaced sideways. The
sideway shift of the beam of
light is called lateral
displacement.
Refraction of light by glass block
Place a rectangular block of
glass in the middle of a sheet
of paper and draw around it
with a sharp pencil. Use a ray
box to shine a narrow beam of
light across the paper and into
the glass block. Mark the
position of the beam of light,
then mark the route the light
must have taken through the
glass block since light travels
in a straight line apart from
when it crosses a boundary.
Normals are drawn to the
surface at the points where the
incident ray enters and
emergent rays leaves the glass
block.
 Refraction through a glass block
A beam of light is incident on one face of a rectangular
glass block at an angle 1 and is refracted across the
boundary. It enters the glass at an angle 2 . Since the two
faces of the block are parallel by geometry light must
meet the second face at the same angle, 2 . This means
that as the light leaves the glass it refracted by the same
amount the other way and so immerges on a path parallel
to the original one.
 Laws of Refraction
The incident and the refracted rays lie on opposite sides of the
normal
The incident, the normal and the refracted rays all lie in the
same plane.
The sine of the angle of incidence divided by the sine of the
angle of refraction is a constant known as the refractive index, n.
1
1 2 =
2
where 1 refers to the incident medium and 2 refers to the
refracting medium.

The refractive index of a material is a number larger than one such

that the greater the number the greater the refraction produced. It
is a measure of the amount of refraction or bending that takes
place at a boundary between the material and a vacuum, if a ray of
light passed from the vacuum to the medium. In practice , a
boundary with air is used since it behaves virtually the same way
as a vacuum.
 Definition of Refractive index

, =

, =

= =

The formula with the angles is more practical sine the angles can
be easily measured, unlike measuring the speed of light in the
two media.
Refractive indices of different
materials
 Refractive indices of two media in
contact: General Formulas
1 1 1 2
1 2 = = = =
2 2 2 1
Where
1 and 2 refers to medium 1 and medium 2 respectively
(Medium 1 is the medium in which the light ray is
travelling and medium 2 refers to the other medium
that it has entered.)
c refers to the speed of light in each medium
refers to the wavelength of light in the each media
n refers to the refractive index of each medium
is the angle formed with the normal in each medium
 Refractive index: direction of bending
Refractive Index Ray direction What happens to
the ray
n>1 Ray entering an Ray is bent towards
optically denser the normal
medium
n=1 Either direction, no No bending occurs
change in optical
density
n<1 Ray entering an Ray is bent away
optically less dense from the normal
medium
Here the refraction index for two media indicates the extent
to which the ray is bent as it passes from one medium to
another.
 Refractive index: real and apparent
depth method
The apparent depth of a liquid is less than the real depth since the point on the
object, x, will seem to be at y, the virtual image of x. The brain interprets the
rays as having travelled in a straight line and therefore forms an image at the
point the refracted rays appear to come from not taking into account the fact
that they have been bent as they leave the water. Thus, refraction leads to
optical illusions.
The refractive index of the medium is given by

=

This is only accurate when the object
is seen from directly above.
 Critical angle and its calculation
When a ray of light passes from a medium of refractive
index n1 into another of refractive index n2, where n1 is
larger than n2, in the angle of incidence in the first
medium is increased then the angle of refraction is also
increased. A point is reached where the angle of
refraction in medium 2 will become 90 and the ray will
travel along the interface between the two media. This is
called the critical ray and the angle it make with the
normal in the first medium is called the critical angle.
 Critical angle and its calculation
For a critical angle to be obtained the ray must travel from a slower
medium to a faster one (i.e. medium of higher refractive index to one
of lower refractive index). The critical angel is the particular angle of
incidence for which the angle of refraction is 90.

In general

=

If the ray is travel from a specific medium of to air

1
=

 Internal Reflection
At x the incident ray is divided, part of it being
reflected from the glass and part enter the glass. The
reflected ray, A, is fainter than the refracted as most
of the light enters the glass. The reflected ray obeys
the law of reflection. At, Y, some of the light is
internally reflected. Thus, the outside surface and the
inside surface act like partial mirrors.
 Total Internal Reflection
When there is refraction there will also be some reflection at the interface
of the media. However, most of the incident light will be transmitted as
refracted light. If the angle of incidence slowly exceed the critical angle, all
the incident light energy will be reflected in the slower medium, resulting in
total internal reflection.
Total Internal Reflection
For a semi-circular glass
block, to observe total
internal reflection, the light
is shone towards the
midpoint of the straight side
(the ray of light will always
be incident on the curved
surface at an angle of
incidence of 0, so no
bending will occur there but
as the light ray leaves the
glass block it will refract
away from the normal.) If
you increase the angle a
little at a time you can find
the critical angle.

In total internal reflection

none of the incident energy
is transmitted.
 Total Internal Reflection
This phenomenon is put into practice in optical
fibres, where light signals will travel along a glass
fibres providing the angle of incidence exceeds the
critical angle of 42
 Concepts in refraction
An incident ray which forms an angle of incidence of 0 with the surface does
not change direction when it enters and leaves the glass block; If the angle of
incidence is less than the critical angle, ordinary refraction occurs; If the angle
of incidence is greater than the critical angle, the ray of light is internally
reflected; Light always meets the curved surface of a semi-circular glass block
at an angle of incidence of 0 so no bending will occur as the light enters the
glass.
 Optic fibres
An optical fibre consists of a high
quality glass or quartz fibre at its core,
and are very thin so that it can also be
flexible. It is coated with a thin layer of
material of lower refractive index than
that of the fibre. When the light enters
one end, its reflected internally
multiple times all the way to the other
end, where it will be as bright as when
it went in, even if the fibre is several
kilometres long. As the angle of
incidence of the ray of light inside the
glass is greater than the critical angle,
total internal reflection traps the light
inside.
 Application of total internal reflection
Before optical fibres had been developed,
telecommunications used copper cables. Because of copper's
resistance (changing some of the energy into heat), signals
were reduced and had to be re-amplified every few
kilometers. Compared to copper cables, optical fibres are far
more efficient, less bulky and heavy and much cheaper.

Management of shared open-access

underwater fiber optic cable land stations.
 Application of total internal reflection
The endoscope --An endoscope is any instrument used to
view and photograph the internal structure of the body.
Thousands of optical fibres are bundled together in an
endoscope which is inserted into a human body so that
the doctor can 'see' inside. Light can be directed down
the fibres even if they are bent, allowing the surgeon to
illuminate the area under observation. Usually consisting
of a fiber-optic tube attached to a viewing device,
endoscopes can be used to explore and biopsy such areas
as the colon, the stomach and the bronchi of the lungs.
 Application of total internal reflection
These cables are used in
Local Area Networks
Cable TV--Cable television and most long distance
telecommunications cables use infra-red light to carry the signal
from the sender to the receiver.
CCTV
Astronomy-- Optical fibres are then bundled together and placed at
the focus of a telescope in a block. Each optical fibre receives light
from parts of the image of the sky, fibres then lead the light to an
instrument where it can be studied by translating the light into an
electrical signal and feeding the collected data into a computer.
 Total internal reflection in nature
The surface of the water acts as a mirror, because of total internal reflection. Thus, a
diver is able to see a reflected image of the sea organism at the surface

The Sun that we see during sunrise and

Rays A and B are totally internally reflected.
Therefore the fish can see the worm. Outside the
98 degree cone, the fish sees light reflected from
the pond.
sunset is only an image. Light entering
the atmosphere is refracted by layers of
air of different densities producing an
apparent shift in the position of the sun.
The sun is visible at the horizon about 2
minutes before the actual sunrise, and
about 2 minutes after the actual sunset
 Reflecting prisms
A glass prism which has one 90 and the other
two 45 has useful reflecting properties:
Light hitting a glass surface at an angle of
incidence of 0 will go straight on with no
refraction
Since the critical angle of glass is 42 , light which
hit the inside face at 45 cannot escape and so
will be totally internally reflected.
Light hitting a face at 45 will, by the laws of
reflection, come off at 45 . thus it will be turned
through a total of 90 .
Total internal reflection: glass prism
 Application of total internal reflection
Prismatic Optical Instruments
Some optical instruments, such as
periscopes and binoculars use prisms
instead of mirrors to reflect light
around corners. This is because
mirrors do not reflect light as totally as
prisms do . Also refraction distortion
can result in using a glass fronted
mirror. Therefore the image is crisper
and brighter. In prismatic binoculars,
total internal reflection in prisms is
used to extend the path length
between objective and eyepiece,
effectively `folding' the optical path.
This makes them compact and easy to
carry
Applications of total internal Reflection
Applications of total internal Reflection
The brilliance of diamond gemstone is due to total internal
reflection. The critical angle is 24.4o for diamond-air interface.
The faces of the diamond are so cut that a ray of light entering
the diamond fall at angle greater than 24.4o. This results in
multiple, total internal reflections at various angles and
remains within the diamond. Hence diamond sparkles.
 Path of light through a prism: angle of
incidence less than critical angle
As the light ray passes from the optically less denser medium to the
optically more dense medium, its path is refracted toward the normal.
As the ray passes from the optically more dense to the optically less
dense medium, it path is refracted away form the normal.
 Light Spectrum
The light spectrum consists of electromagnetic
waves of a range of different wavelengths, with red
having the longest wavelength (lowest frequency)
and violet having the shortest wavelength (highest
frequency ). All travel at the same speed in air
(strictly in a vacuum), but not in other media.
 Dispersion of light
When white light passes through a triangular prism, the component light of
longer wavelength (such as red) is slowed down less and therefore refracted
less at both surfaces of the prism than the light of shorter wavelength (such
as violet). Thus the light wave of different wavelengths (and thus different
colors) take different paths, splitting up the original white light into its
component colours. (roygbiv) This effect is called dispersion.
 Dispersion and Deviation
Both words apply to what happens when light is split up into a
spectrum of colours by a prism.
Deviation is the change in direction of a ray of light produced by a
prism. Each colour of light has a slightly different deviation which is
caused by the refractive index of light being different for each color.
The angle of deviation is the angle between the initial path of the
ray and the emergent path
Dispersion is the separation of white light into it constituent colours.
 Recombination of components
The dispersion produced can also be reversed using
another prism which is inverted with respect to the first
one. A single beam of white light disperses as it passes
through prism. The second prism reverses the deviation
and dispersion of the first prism so that the colours of the
spectrum recombine when the beams overlap.
 Rainbows
Part of the light falling on this water drop
enters and is reflected internally from
the back of the drop. This light is
refracted and dispersed both as it enters
and as it leaves the drop. Light refracts as
it goes form a faster (air) to a slower
medium (water) and vice.