Optics: Reflection & Refraction

Many people have already created notes on this topic, so this set of notes will mainly focus on problem solving, which is a skill that all of us will need when doing the physics problems in the EOY Science paper. However, ray diagrams will not be covered, because they are rather straightforward. Just be careful and do not make stupid mistakes such as drawing a single ray when two rays are required (clarification: drawing the incident and reflected ray is counted as one ray because its the same ray of light, not two rays. This applies to the incident and refracted ray too.). Important formulas and concepts

Note: All of the above (except for similarity of triangles, which is a mathematical concept) are related to one another. (In my opinion)The most important formula to remember is Snells law, because many optics problems can be solved using it. Derivation of Snells law (optional)

Similarity of triangles (Fermats) principle of least time

= (Note: The value of c is often taken to be 3 108/)

2

1 sin = 2 sin (Snells law/law of refraction) 1 sin = 1 (for calculating the critical angle, beyond which TIR occurs)

Let: The time taken for the light ray to travel from (-y, a) to (x-y, -b) be T. 1 and 2 be the speed of light in the mediums with refractive indices 1 and 2 respectively.

T=

By the principle of least time, we get

Then, we move the second term on the LHS to the RHS to form the equation Multiply both sides by c 1 2 + 2 = 2 2 + ( )2

=0

2+2 1

2 +()2

1 2 + 2

2 2 + ( )2

=0

And voila, we get Snells law! 1 sin = 2 sin Problem 1

= 1 2 + 2 2 2 + ( )2

A light ray travels in a medium A at a speed of 2.4 108 m/s. Upon reaching the boundary between medium A and another medium B, the light ray undergoes refraction, and travels at a speed of 2.0 108 m/s at an angle 23 to the normal in medium B. Find the angle of incidence at which the light ray hits the boundary.

Solution This question involves refraction, and angles and speeds of light in different mediums are mentioned too. Thus, we know that Snells law has to be used. Then, realise that the angle of refraction () is provided, and we want to find the angle of incidence (). In order to do this, the values of the refractive indices of mediums A and B (1 and 2 respectively) have to be calculated. Hence, we use the information provided, which are the speeds of light in medium A and medium B, to calculate the refractive indices. 1 = 3 108 2 = = = 1.5 2 2.0 108 3 108 = = 1.25 1 2.4 108

Now, substitute these values and the relevant values provided in the question into the equation of Snells law. 1.25 sin = 1.5 sin 23 We then find that = 28.0, correct to three significant figures. Thus the angle of incidence at which the light hits the boundary is approximately 28.0.

Problem 2

A light ray travels in a medium A at a certain speed below the speed of light in vacuum. The speed at which it travels in a less-dense medium B is two times of its speed in medium A. Find the critical angle, if mediums A and B are next to each other, and the light is travelling in medium A towards medium B in the same plane.

Solution This question seems difficult at first sight, because no numerical values are provided. However, all you need to do is just to use simple algebra, and this question will be a piece of cake for you! From the formula for calculating the critical angle, we realise that the value of 1 /2 has to be calculated first. twice that of medium A, it is 2X. Thus, the refractive index of medium B is 2 =

Now, do you see the magic? 1 = 2 = 2 2

Let the speed at which the light travels in medium A be X. Thus, the refractive index of medium A is 1 = . Since the speed at which the light travels in medium B is
2

Thus, sin = 0.5 = 30. The critical angle is 30. Problem 3

A boy is standing in between a mirror and a huge notice board, more specifically, two metres behind the mirror (he is facing it though) and 4 metres in front of the noticeboard. The length of the noticeboard is 12 metres, and the boy is standing 4 metres to the right of the left side of the noticeboard (i.e., he is standing 8 metres to the left of the right side of the notice board). What is the minimum length of the mirror for the boy to be able to see the entire length of the noticeboard?

Solution First, we draw a diagram (which will be severely out-of-scale) so that we can understand the scenario better (unless if you are comfortable with visualising in your head).
?

2m

4m 4m

12m

The minimum length of the mirror is equivalent to the distance between the two corners of the mirror such that two light rays from the two corners of the noticeboard will reflect off the two edges of the mirror and into the boys eyes (represented by the black dot in the diagram). The two light rays are the red and purple lines in the diagram above. Then, we know that one of the laws of reflection states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. So, we draw the normals at both corners of the mirror (represented by the blue lines). Next, we draw a line across the boys eyes and touching both normals perpendicularly. Now, do you see two pairs of similar triangles? Thus, we have the following equations: Let a metres be the horizontal distance between the left corner of the noticeboard and the left corner of the mirror. Let b metres be the horizontal distance between the left corner of the mirror and the boys eyes. + = 4 2 = 4 + 2

= 3, = 1

Let c metres be the horizontal distance between the boys eyes and the right corner of the mirror. Let d metres be the horizontal distance between the right corner of the mirror and the right corner of the noticeboard. + = 12 4 = 8 2 = 4 + 2
= 2, = 6

Minimum length of the mirror is the length of the green line in the diagram.

= + = (1 + 2) = 3 Therefore, the minimum length of the mirror is 3 metres.

Conclusion

The Physics section of the EOYs is actually very easy (compared to biology, at least), because there are very little things that are covered this year in Physics. Also, many of the questions are actually just simple Mathematics questions, once you understand the question. Thus, just read through the notes and practise a few questions and you will be ready for the test. Hope you found this useful!