REFLECTION

Characteristic of the image formed by reflection of light

The distance between the image and mirror is the same as distance between object and mirror.
The size of the image is the same as the object.
The image is virtual.
The image is upright but laterally inverted.

Question 1
Question 2
Diagram 1 shows a boy looking at the image of a Diagram 2 shows a boy standing in front of a plane
letter P in a mirror.
mirror.

Diagram 2
Diagram 1
How far is the image from the boy?
A 4m
C 8m
.
.
B. 6 m
D 10 m
.

The boy moves 4 m forward.

Calculate the distance between the boy and his
image.
A 6m
C 10 m
.
.
B. 8 m
D 12 m
.

Question 3
Question 4
Diagram 3 shows a girl standing 5 m in front of a Diagram 4 shows a boy standing between a cat and
plane mirror. The mirror is moved 1 m backwards.
a mirror. The boy sees the image of the cat in the
mirror. The distance between the mirror and the boy
is 1 m. The distance between the image of the cat
and the boy is 6 m.

Diagram 3
Calculate the distance between the initial image and
her new image.
A 2m
C 12 m
.
.
B. 4 m
D 14 m
.

Diagram 2
What is the distance between the boy and the cat?
A 3m
C 5m
.
.

B. 4 m

D
.

6m

Laws of reflection
1. The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal all lie in the same plane.
ir
2. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, i.e.
.

Fill in the blank

1.

The __________ is the light ray that strikes the surface of the mirror.

2.

The __________ is the light ray the bounces off the surface of the mirror.

3.

The angle of incidence,

4.

The angle of reflection,

5.

The normal is the line that is __________ to the mirror.

is the angle between the __________ and the __________ ray.

is the angle between the __________ and the __________ ray.

Question 5
Question 6
Diagram 5 shows the reflection of a light ray with Diagram 6 shows a light ray being reflected by a
plane mirror.
PQ
15
an incident angle of
by a plane mirror
.

Diagram 6
Diagram 5
When the mirror is rotated clockwise through an What is the angle of incidence,
25
20
angle of
, what is the new angle of reflection of A.
45
the light ray?
B.

A.
B.
C.
D.

C.

15

D.

55

35

20

35

Ray diagrams for plane mirror

A ray diagram can be drawn on plane mirrors based on the characteristics of the image formed by plane mirrors.
Step 1 : Mark the position of the image, I and draw a straight line joining the object, O, mirror, M and
image, I.
Note that the image distance, IM is equal to the object distance, OM and the size of the image is
equal to the size of the object.
Step 2 : Draw the reflected rays from the image, I.
Dotted lines from the image to the mirror represent the virtual rays whereas solid lines represent
the reflected rays from the mirror to the observers eye.
Step 3: Draw the incident rays from the object to the mirror. These rays are represent by the lines
joining the object to the positions of the reflected rays on the mirror.
Complete the ray diagram below.

Choose the correct answer

The characteristics of the image formed by a plane mirror are
same size as the object

smaller than the size of the object

bigger than the size of the object

object distance > image distance

object distance < image distance

object distance = image distance

Upright

Inverted

Laterally inverted

real image

virtual image

no image

Ray diagrams for concave mirror (1)

There are three basic rays that need to be drawn in drawing ray diagrams for concave mirror.
Incident ray

Reflection ray
reflected through F

A ray parallel to the principal axis

reflected parallel to the principal axis

A ray through F

reflected along the original path

A ray through C

Ray diagrams for concave mirror (2)

The characteristic of image formed by a concave mirror based on different positions of an object.

Position of object

Object, O is between F and

P.
u f

Ray diagram

Position of image and

characteristic of
image

Object, O is at F
u f

Object, O is between F and C

f u 2f

Ray diagrams for concave mirror (3)

The characteristic of image formed by a concave mirror based on different positions of an object.

Position of object

Ray diagram

Position of image and

characteristic of
image

Object, O is at C
u2f

Object, O is beyond C
u 2C

Object is at infinity
u

Ray diagrams for convex mirror (1)

There are three basic rays that need to be drawn in drawing ray diagrams for convex mirror.
Incident ray

Reflection ray

reflected as if it comes from F

A ray parallel to the principal axis

reflected parallel to the principal axis

A ray through F

reflected along the original path

A ray through C

Ray diagrams for convex mirror (2)

The characteristic of the image by a convex mirror are the same for different positions of the object.
Position of object

Ray diagram

Position of image and

characteristic of
image

Object, O is between F and P

0u f

Object, O is beyond F
u f

Refraction
Match column A to column B correctly
Column A

Column B

Refraction of light

Snells law states that

n
Refraction index of medium, can be
expressed as

and

sin i
sin r

the bending of a light ray when the light ray

travels from one medium to another medium

For a given transparent medium,

refractive index can be expressed as

Refractive index in terms of

c
v

Real depth
Apparent depth

when light travels from air into another

sin i
sin r
medium, the ratio
is constant.

is

The angle between the incident ray and

the normal is the

angle of refraction

The angle between the refracted ray and

the normal is the

angle of incidence

Laws of refraction
1. The incident ray, refracted ray and the normal all lie in the same plane.
sin i
i
sin r
r
2. The ratio
is a constant, where is the angle of incidence and is the angle of refraction.
Label the diagram below which show how light rays refract when passing
through air to glass and glass to air.
Normal

angle of incidence,

angle of refraction,

incident ray

refracted ray

Complete the diagram below which describe ways in which a light ray is
refracted when it travels to a medium of different optical density.

Light travels from an

optically less dense medium
to an optically denser
medium

The light ray is refracted

__________ the normal. The
speed of light __________ .

Light travels from an

optically denser medium to
an optically less dense
medium

The light ray is refracted

__________ from normal. The
speed of light __________ .

Light travels through two

medium of different optical
densities perpendicularly

The light ray does not

__________ its direction. The
speed of light __________ .

Refractive index
1. For light rays entering a medium from vacuum, the refractive index,
sin i
Refractive index, n
sin r

speed of light in vacuum or air, c

speed of light in a medium, v

real depth, D
apparent depth, d

for the medium is expressed as

Question 7
Question 8
The figure below shows a light ray passing through In diagram below, a thick line is drawn on a piece
a plastic block.
of white paper. A glass block of a thickness of
12 cm
is placed on it. The line seemed to rise by

3.8 cm

The refractive index of the plastic block is 1.24,

find
(a) the speed of light in the plastic block
(b) the angle of refraction
c 3.0 108 m s 1
[speed of light,
]

What is the refractive index of the glass?

Complete the ray diagram for the following situation

Total Internal Reflection

1. Total internal reflection is the reflection of the total amount of incident light rays at the boundary between
two mediums of different optical densities.
2. Total internal reflection can only occur when
(a) light rays travel from an optically denser medium to a less dense medium, and
(b) the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle.
Draw the ray diagram for the following situation
ic
ic
Condition

ic

Diagram

- Light ray is refracted away- Light ray is refracted along- Light ray is no longer
from the normal
the boundary between the refracted but is totally
- A weak reflected ray is two mediums.
internally reflected.
produced
- A stronger reflected ray can- Hence, a refracted ray cannot
Descriptio - Increasing the angle of be seen as a weak refracted be seen at all.
incidence will increase the ray travels along the- Total internal reflection is
n
angle of refraction and boundary.
said to have occur.
produce a reflected ray with
increasing intensity.
Answer the following question.
c
90
i
r
1. When the angle of incidence, is the critical angle, , the angle of refraction, is
.
c
Derive the formula for critical angle, .
42
2. The critical angle of a glass is
. If a light ray travels from the glass to air,
(a) state the phenomenon that will happen if the angle of incidence is
40
(i)
: _______________________
42
(ii)
: _______________________
44
(iii)
: _______________________
(b) determine the refractive index of the glass

3. Given that the critical angle of glass is

after it strikes the prism.

42

, complete the following diagrams to show the path of each ray